Electronic and gaming giant Nintendo officially announced their new Wii game system yesterday, along with the system’s name and logo – mostly to a luke-warm (at best) reception from gamers.
Originally code named ‘Revolution‘, Nintendo revealed that the new Wii system (due out end of this year) will be called simply – Wii. That’s right – Wii (pronounced “We”) consisting of a W and 2 ‘i’s. Hmmm. According to the company, the two ‘i’s in the logo represents either gamers playing together and/or the shape of the new systems controllers (I’m all for visual metaphors folks, but that’s a bit of stretch).
Related press statements went on to say:
While the code name ‘Revolution’ expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. What does the name mean?’ Wii sounds like ‘we,’ which emphasizes this 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.
You can view a small video (as well as a lengthy ‘official’ rationale behind Wii here. Gamers the world over almost brought the internet to a shuddering halt as they debated the new name on their favorite gaming forums and design blogs. Presently, the response tilts overwhelmingly towards negative. In fact, some of the reaction is downright hostile…
Me? I think it’s okay. Barely…
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