Saturday, May 06, 2006

GEE WHIZ, WHAT A BAD NAME

The gaming world is pissed off. Nintendo, developing a new system, used the code name "Revolution." Bitchin' name, insiders said.

Guess what the system's new name is? Prepare to be nauseated.

Wii. Spelled W-I-I. Pronounced "Whee."

The Mailbox is stunned at Nintendo's marketing retarditude. The company had a great name, but they replaced it with a Donkey Kong-sized turd. Gamers across the nation are laughing their heads off. The funniest part is that Nintendo claims they put a lot of thought into the name. From IGN.com:


In an interview with CNN Money, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan, defended the title. "I think people have to look back and let it settle in," Kaplan said. "I'm sure people felt the same way when Google was named - or the iPod. Napster. Yahoo. There's a whole host of unusual names that have become a part of everyday conversation and I think they're viewed now as unique."

Funny: It doesn't take the Mailbox nearly as much time to come up with some new marketing slogans. How about:






Comments:
People are so pissed about this! No pun intended. Really, they are. But I think the dude is right, if it's cool, the name will be unusual but accepted. I think it's gonna be weird at first, though. A lot of people are going to furrow their brows when it first comes to market.

Oh, well. They could call it the Nintendo Steaming Hobo Turd. I'm still getting one.
 
For all the marketing work that went into it, I wish they would have come up with something not so synonymous with urine. The name is going to take away from that cool new controller and innovative new games, all because Nintendo didn't want an abbreviation like PS2. Xbox found a way around that problem pretty well...
 
Steaming Hobo Turd is pretty good, though. :)
 
Well, you know, I DID turn down that job offer at the Nintendo branding office...

Anyway, I'm gonna blog soon about the fallout from the three press conferences the last couple of days. I can't believe Sony ripped off N's idea -- oh, wait, yes I can.
 
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