I think it's a good name. Sure, it's different, and heavily Japanese-orientated, but I think ultimately it works. The fact that it's pronounced "we" suggests Nintendo is going all out to try and attract new people into games so that we can all become one huge game loving population. Which can only be good.
Imagine if they'd stuck with "Revolution" and the console flopped. That wouldn't be pretty...
I understand what you are getting at. Personally I have no problem with the name but marketing wise it may be a wrong move towards unimformed people. Personally I like the bold statement that could have come from 'revolution' but then again 'wii' does sound like they are really pushing for a global connected platform, which is what their current strategy is.
But Wii does sound weird. Imagine all the pun jokes around the new name. They already have trouble trying to shake off the 'kiddie' image, I can't see how this will help.
But hei what do I know. I am not in marketing. ;)
BTW, this is the first Ninty console whose name is made up of a single 'word', I believe.
I have come to the conclusion that Wii would be scrapped and a new name be proposed. Wii might sound ok in Japan but in the US, it is just asking for trouble. The backlash has already begun with the majority of gaming and mainstream commentators protesting. It is silly and an unnecessary bad publicity. It's soundlike pun association with urine is just waiting to be taken advantage off by Microsoft and Sony fanbois and marketing. You just wait and see. A new name will arrive for the US market. Revolution!
I don't know... Some people are comparing the reaction to Wii as similar to the initial cynical reactions when the DS and Freestyle remote was revealed. But I didn't need any convincing to those.
Still, as a single syllabal title, Wii will be easier to pronounce by non English speaking consumers...but they could still have done with 'Rev' and kept the association with the much loved codename. Jennifer and I agreed that Revolution may proved too difficult for some people although we would have preferred a two syllabal 'ReVo'.
I totally understand where the 'Wii' comes from after watching the video. However I agree that their competitors MS and Sony has just been given munitions by Nintendo themselves. I can already picture the counter ads by Sony and MS...
'Do you want to play with a wii or a PS3?'
'Stop playing with your wii. Get a 360!'
But lately this article at http://www.snarkhunting.com/2006/04/nintendo-wii-brilliant/ makes me believe that this is some kind of viral marketing. If it is, it could backfire or could turn up to be the most brilliant and disruptive marketing ever (remember Iwata's speech about Pepsi at GDC). We'll just have to wait for E3.
Labels:
Video Games,
Wii
7 comments:
(Reading your blog for just under a month now)
I think it's a good name. Sure, it's different, and heavily Japanese-orientated, but I think ultimately it works. The fact that it's pronounced "we" suggests Nintendo is going all out to try and attract new people into games so that we can all become one huge game loving population. Which can only be good.
Imagine if they'd stuck with "Revolution" and the console flopped. That wouldn't be pretty...
I understand what you are getting at. Personally I have no problem with the name but marketing wise it may be a wrong move towards unimformed people. Personally I like the bold statement that could have come from 'revolution' but then again 'wii' does sound like they are really pushing for a global connected platform, which is what their current strategy is.
But Wii does sound weird. Imagine all the pun jokes around the new name. They already have trouble trying to shake off the 'kiddie' image, I can't see how this will help.
But hei what do I know. I am not in marketing. ;)
BTW, this is the first Ninty console whose name is made up of a single 'word', I believe.
I have come to the conclusion that Wii would be scrapped and a new name be proposed. Wii might sound ok in Japan but in the US, it is just asking for trouble. The backlash has already begun with the majority of gaming and mainstream commentators protesting. It is silly and an unnecessary bad publicity. It's soundlike pun association with urine is just waiting to be taken advantage off by Microsoft and Sony fanbois and marketing. You just wait and see. A new name will arrive for the US market. Revolution!
I don't know... Some people are comparing the reaction to Wii as similar to the initial cynical reactions when the DS and Freestyle remote was revealed. But I didn't need any convincing to those.
Still, as a single syllabal title, Wii will be easier to pronounce by non English speaking consumers...but they could still have done with 'Rev' and kept the association with the much loved codename. Jennifer and I agreed that Revolution may proved too difficult for some people although we would have preferred a two syllabal 'ReVo'.
I totally understand where the 'Wii' comes from after watching the video. However I agree that their competitors MS and Sony has just been given munitions by Nintendo themselves. I can already picture the counter ads by Sony and MS...
'Do you want to play with a wii or a PS3?'
'Stop playing with your wii. Get a 360!'
But lately this article at
http://www.snarkhunting.com/2006/04/nintendo-wii-brilliant/ makes me believe that this is some kind of viral marketing. If it is, it could backfire or could turn up to be the most brilliant and disruptive marketing ever (remember Iwata's speech about Pepsi at GDC). We'll just have to wait for E3.
Sign the petition against Nintendo Wii. Bring back the Revolution!
www.whywii.com
Everytime I hear that name I keep hearing "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"...
Post a Comment