So a whole bunch of Nintendo nerds are paralyzed with outrage that Nintendo changed the name of the Revolution to Wii. Some of them, I've heard, are even considering having their tattoos of Link, Mario, and Kirby removed (but not Samus and Pikachu; those stay. Even pissed off nerds have their limits, you know.)[1]
Nintendo says,
"Wii sounds like 'we,' which emphasizes that the console is for
everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no
matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate.
Just Wii.
Wikipedia adds,
Nintendo spells "Wii" with two "i"s to create an image of players
gathering together to play. The spelling also is intended to invoke the
controllers the Wii uses.
I actually think that logic is extremely cool, very non-linear, and surprisingly poetic for a video game company. And guess what? Nintendo now has people who are not Nintendo fanboys talking and thinking about the Wii. Brilliant.
Why are so many Nintendo fanboys taking it so personally? I wonder why the name of a gaming console is such a big deal? Isn't it the catalogue of games and how well they play what really matters?
There wasn't this much outrage from Trekkies when Rick Berman destroyed the Enterprise D, and that was worth some serious tattoo removal.
UPDATE: Looks like 1UP and I agree on this:. . . for sheer polarizing power, no one comes close to Nintendo. Its detractors genuinely despise the company and everything it stands for, while its supporters are a living reminder that "fan" is short for "fanatic."
I'm here to say that it's OK, guys. Nintendo will be fine without you leading the cheer section. You can join the rational 99% of the world and shrug and sigh and accept that Nintendo's next console is going to have a really goofy name. Because in the end, it doesn't matter. It's going to have a goofy name sitting in your living room, and mine, and in millions of others the world over.
. . . the name Wii doesn't really matter at all, in the long run. Gamers may choke on bile when they try to call the system by name, but if the software is there they'll buy it anyway. Very few serious gamers are going to refuse to buy a console because of its name -- and the ones who will are very likely the same ones who decided Nintendo was uncool ages ago anyway.
[1] Okay, I made that up, but the point stands.
