Nintendo recently announced a name change for thier upcoming next generation game console. Moving from the ‘Nintendo Revolution’, they have now renamed it the ‘Nintendo Wii’. As in ‘Wee’. Or as the French say, ‘Oui’. However, it’s not likely it’s like the Japanese say it, since the sound ‘Wee’ is a bit difficult for the Japanese to pronounce.
Speculation abounds that this might be a temporary name change, intended to stir up talk prior to (and at) E3. Possible. It’s certainly a strange move. Companies usually spend inordinate amounts of money to avoid having a product name suggest anything odd in other countries. They hire special branding companies who cross reference every language in all target markets. Even phonetically.
Here in the US, certainly a large market for any game console, you would think they’d have done their homework. After all, would EB Games be excited to tell everyone that they’ve got got a big crate of Wii in their back room? Or that Nintendo has paid them to Wii all over their store? At E3, Nintendo will have to tell everyone that they’ve got Wii all over their booth babes!
Kids won’t want to have this console in their bedrooms…after all, junior usually doesn’t Wii on his bed after he turns 10 you know! He’s not going to want to invite his buddies over to play with his Wii either. It might sell well with a console port of Nintendogs, but then again, it might be counterproductive as you don’t want your dog playing on some Wii all day.
If this is a temporary, counter-marketing move, then it’s certainly the going to be biggest marketing Wii that we’ve seen by Nintendo. I’m certain that we’ll never see them Wii like this again. While it’s not unusual for some companies to get excited, it’s surprising for Nintendo to Wii all over a new product like this.
Ultimately, it makes me a bit sad. A bit of ‘On Wii’, if you will.
Kermit
Written by Kermit