Wii React, As In “We The Gamers”

And all at once there came a mighty rumbling, and the net did shake, and unto thee did Wii reveal ourselves to the world.

Ok, Ok. So we’ve all had our fun at the expense of Nintendo and it’s been a few days since Ninty first pulled the old switcheroo on us. Gone was the Revolution we had all come to know and love, and at the dinner table appeared the newly christened “Wii”, to a stunned silence.

Since then the jokes and derision have come thick and fast (amidst one or two positive and even a few insightful comments). Now for your enjoyment we’ve scoured the length, breadth and hepth of the interweb and brought you the ones that seem to  best sum up gamer’s current sentiment. Enjoy!

Read the full article, after the jump!

And all at once there came a mighty rumbling, and the net did shake, and unto thee did Wii reveal ourselves to the world.

Ok, Ok. So we’ve all had our fun at the expense of Nintendo and it’s been a few days since Ninty first pulled the old switcheroo on us. Gone was the Revolution we had all come to know and love, and at the dinner table appeared the newly christened “Wii”, to a stunned silence.

Since then the jokes and derision have come thick and fast (amidst one or two positive and even a few insightful comments). Now for your enjoyment we’ve scoured the length, breadth and hepth of the interweb and brought you the ones that seem to  best sum up gamer’s current sentiment. Enjoy!

Please tell me you don’t pronounce that “wee”? – Thraktor (The Gaming Age Forums)

God i love this industry. – Scrow (The Gaming Age Forums)

…and Nintendo went Wii, Wii, Wii all the way home. – Baron Aloha (The Gaming Age Forums)

I don’t get it. Months of positive hype, a genuine competitive advantage, and they named the thing wii? If consumers don’t even want to say the name of a product, they’re not going to buy it. – Speevy (The Gaming Age Forums)

Having a product name that can’t be deterministically pronounced is ALWAYS a bad idea. I wonder if they’re going to call the remotes “I”s. I’d love to see people instruct how to play games. “Well you take your i and then i wiggle my i, no, not my eye, the controller…”

God, I feel like writing a “who’s on first” script for it. – Juice (The Gaming Age Forums)

We can’t call it a Revmote now. It will now be a Wemote Contwol. – AdmiralViscen (The Gaming Age Forums)

Super Mario ThWii has already been taken. – DefectiveReject (The Gaming Age Forums)

Actually, the full name of the system is the “WiiNES.” – Synthesizer Patel (The Gaming Age Forums)

This is the Last Test for the Nintendo Rapture. If you can force yourself to say that you like this name, you may ascend to the Mushroom Kingdom and sit at the right hand of Miyamoto.

Rejoice!

Believe! – krypt0nian (The Gaming Age Forums)

I like what Nintendo is trying to do here. I like the concept. It’ll do huuuge in Japan, and American’s will scoff and scoff…. like I did …. till they realize that a Revolution By Any Other Name Plays Just As Great – John Harker (The Gaming Age Forums)

BTW, since my mother language is not english, can anyone tell me the connotations that make Wii so stupid for you? I´m a bit puzzled. Thanks in advance. – nine words (The Gaming Age Forums)

You know, Nintendo is lucky they’ve got so many franchises or I just wouldn’t bother putting up with the odd looks and having to explain the name. 3D Mario, Zelda, and Metroid are completely skippable to me and inferior to their 2D counterparts, but they’re still going to suck me in with SSB, Pokemon, and the blasted virtual console and its TG-16 vertical shooters and such.

Sigh. Maybe I’ll just order off the Internet or something. – Jiggy37 (The Gaming Age Forums)


So with the name outta the way, does that mean that the release date comes at E3? or the price? or both? What’s so bad about the name? Like PS3 is very original in the first place. X-box 360 is a very original name too. – kelekod (Joystiq)

“Wanna play with my Wii?”
“It is VERY motion sensitive”
“My Wii’s controller is about 6 inches long, and quite responsive to touch” – Jonathan (Joystiq)

Wii are Nintendo. Your gameological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile. – Paul (Joystiq)

When the iPod was announced did you all think apple released a giant whale egg? The name is simple, the name stands out, and the name doesn’t matter the games do. “Wii” seems to summarize Nintendo’s next-gen strategy quite well, and the name is iconic like the “iPod” is today. It’s universal because it’s not entirely a word – it’s a picture/word. Never thought there could be a combination of that before – I mean in the English language. – Vik (Joystiq)

I get it. It took me a few minutes but I think Nintendo wants to reinvent their console by not even associating it gaming consoles or typical names. It’s something completely different then what were use to as gamers but Wii doesn’t sound any weirder for a console then iPod for an MP3 player. The hardest Hard Core gamers are going to hate it. – Princess Zelda (Joystiq)

Im not a fanboy to any company, but this truly is a bizarre name… it would not stop me buying a ‘Wii’ if I really wanted to, but I agree… the embarassment of telling someone you have a ‘Wii’ or you want a ‘Wii’ or asking for a ‘Wii’ game. – plastik (QJ.net)

At least they have the creativity to make a new name every once and awhile, unlike Sony and Microsoft who just throw a few numbers on the end of the name, change the colors of the controllers, and call it “the best new system”. – NewNeighbor (QJ.net)

customer: Can I get Super Fario Bros for the Wii?
employee: I think you mean, “for us”
customer: What?
employee: You said “we,” but the correct English would be “for us”
customer: …
employee: Anyway, you wanted that for why (wrongly pronouncing Wii)?
customer: Uh…what? Now, you’re using crappy English. I think you meant to say “for what system” Right?
employee: What?
customer: Yeah, for Wii
employee: For you?
customer: No, for Wii
employee: Why we and not just you?
customer: What?
employee: Get the hell out of this store!!! – Clueless (QJ.net)

Nintendo isn’t going to go down the drain and completely fail just because of the console’s name. If they do, then this world just isn’t good enough for them. – Anonymous (QJ.net)

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – Reneid Klein, via Shakespeare (QJ.net)

Why is this news on a PSP site?
It doesn’t make any sense. – dfsdfsd (QJ.net)

Wii dont like it – meh (QJ.net)

So there you have it, that’s what we as gamers (well most of us) think of Nintendo’s bonkers moniker – it stinks. Many however are quick to point out (and I’m inclined to agree) that whatever the system might be called, they’ll always have the games. This sentiment is perhaps most eloquently expressed in a quote from QJ.net reader Reneid Klein (via Shakespeare) “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Tell it like it is Willy.

One thing’s for certain, Nintendo has your undivided attention right now, and for better or worse you’ll probably never forget the name Wii.

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