So, E3 is just a couple of weeks away and we will finally know a lot more about the Wii U. Do you think Nintendo will keep the current Wii U name? Or will it listen to fans and change it?

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@Davoid

Man, we ARE 'The Best' fans. Awesome.

--Haha, "Reggie here."

I think they can get away with Wii as a fun name that can basically mean nothing but also be a word...WiiU I think just pushes it too far.


I also kind of hate the fact that I'm going to have to explain the name of the console to people every time I mention it.

@Mr_Mustache, we are "THE betterests" of the fanz.

@PogueSquadron don't. Give it all you got. It's a WiiU bros, deal with it. "You cannot comprehend that much awesomeness with your feeble brain."

@Davoid
@PogueSquadron

I'm ..reminded of an idiot when the Wii was first coming out. I've told this story a few times on here before.


At Gamestop, I was there along with the Mrs_, a kid we ran into that she knew from school, and a Gamestop employee.

Idiot Kid: Wii. Thats such a stupid name. Now XBOX 360 or PS3, THATS a cool name.
Gamestop guy: Yeah, I know, right? It'll never sell.

CLASSIC....

Never mind the fact that I don't personally like the name, but like Mop it up (seriously, when did they allow username with spaces?) already mentioned, Wii U will foment confusion. We already saw this effect with the 3DS. Although the claim to be targeting the "core" audience (whatever that means) but obviously not everyone is going to be in the know. Most of the consumers that buy the bulk of the Xbox 360 titles don't frequent boards like a lot of us do here. The average consumer thinks it is just a DS with 3D capabilities. Knowing Nintendo and their obstinate ways, they'll just release the product knowing this anyway.

In hindsight, the name Wii was ingenious, Wii U isn't. If they are going to go ahead and release it with the name, they should talk about the console itself more, since honestly the tablet controller is not as novel as motion controls were back in the day with all the ipads and android tablets sold.

Just to clarify, the 3DS is a great name (it may have been just about the only thing it could have been named given the circumstances but still). Nevertheless, it was still confusing for the mass consumer due to the poor job Nintendo did with it's advertising (plus they have had 3 other revisions to the DS) so it is understandable people would be confused. I worry Wii U will suffer the same fate. Again, if Nintendo will keep the name, they need to do a hell of a better job advertising.

Game Informer just published an article making a case both for and against a possible name change. I actually agree with both, except for one little detail they missed. Nintendo doesn't have to drop the Wii brand, just the U.

Game Informer said:

Nintendo’s E3 2011 press conference left more than a few attendees confused. Was the newly announced Wii U a Wii accessory? Was it a new console? A console was indeed ever-so-briefly shown during the company’s presentation, but Nintendo didn’t linger on that detail. Instead, it highlighted the system’s backwards compatibility with older peripherals such as the Wii’s controller and balance board, while showing off the Wii U’s touchscreen. Afterward, there were rumblings that Nintendo was less than pleased with the post-E3 reaction. Months later, there was chatter online that Nintendo was considering a name change for the system. Was that just a silly rumor, or could it happen at this year’s E3? The Game Informer offices are divided on this one, and here are our arguments for and against.

The case for a name change:
Late-game name changes aren’t exactly uncharted territory for the big N. If you followed Nintendo 64 coverage before the console was released, you know that it was originally called the Ultra 64. This wasn’t just an internal code name, either (that was Project Reality). Early renders of the hardware released by Nintendo were even branded with the Ultra 64 logo. Nintendo of Japan changed the name to the Nintendo 64 at its Shoshinkai Expo in November, but the company planned on sticking with the Ultra 64 name in Europe and North America. Game Informer interviewed Nintendo of America’s then-CEO Howard Lincoln in January 1996, and he was still calling it the Ultra 64 a mere eight months before the system’s U.S. launch. It’s been speculated that Nintendo was forced to change the name because Konami had a trademark on the Ultra brand (which Konami used to circumvent Nintendo’s policy that third-party publishers could only release five NES games annually).

At any rate, that’s a long-winded way to at least establish some degree of precedent in the name-changing department. Of course, Nintendo probably has better lawyers at this point, so the Wii U name isn’t likely to be derailed over a trademark issue. So why change it? It’s simple, argue proponents of name change: It stinks.

With the Wii U, Nintendo is courting a more hardcore player base. Nintendo hasn’t confirmed its exact specifications, but developers working with the hardware have told us that it is a significant upgrade over the Wii. Couple that with those earlier rumors that Nintendo wasn’t happy with the Wii U’s reception, and you have the case for a relaunch.

Core gamers, who may have been cool to the Wii brand and its focus on casual audiences, may be drawn to Nintendo’s willingness to start with a clean slate. And calling it something else would eliminate that pesky confusion about whether this new system was an extension of the Wii or an entirely new entity.

Which leads to…


The case against a name change:

Nintendo blew its chance at starting fresh when it incorporated support for the Wii remote and balance board. At least, that’s what the folks in our office against the name change argue. People who don’t follow every turn of the screw in the video game industry already know about the Wii. It has tremendous name recognition, and that E3 2011 presentation made it clear that Nintendo’s strategy was about widening audiences more than ever.

Wii U is the best of both worlds. It keeps mom and dad informed about what this thing is, while separating it from the Wii in the eyes of core gamers. Nintendo has an established track record of manipulating previous brand names rather than starting from scratch. The NES was succeeded by the Super NES. The Game Boy Advance followed the Game Boy. Nintendo can’t resist the occasional play on words, either, as demonstrated by the DS’ latest iteration, the 3DS. The Wii U follows that path, phonetically adding a “you” to the “we.” (At the same time, don’t forget that “GameCube” sprang out of nowhere, and the DS shed all attachment from the Game Boy brand.)

A leaked image of a Wii U test kit shows that the controller was emblazoned with the Wii U logo. While that doesn’t mean that a rebranding isn’t possible, it makes it increasingly unlikely. At least, that’s how that argument goes.

Personally, I’m completely on the fence on this one. I know it’s a copout, but I think the cases both for and against are interesting. We’ll only have to wait a few weeks to see what Nintendo decides to do. In the meantime, what do you think? Are we going to see a new name for this sucker? If you think we will, do you have any suggestions? Commence speculation in the comments.

Wii U facebook page. Why change it now. They even apparently changed the shade of blue in the logo haha