I never thought it was a bad name, actually. They had a nice, logo, a cool teaser and it rolled off the tongue.
The mantra "No need to abbreviate" is very true and very smart; 360, PS3 -- all sorts of stuff! -- gets abbreviated. Wii does not... in fact, for that matter, it can't be.
I think that makes the system more friendly to those mysterious "non-gamer" folk, and it makes the name just easier to handle.
Besides, let's face it: Game consoles have stupid names:
-"XBox"?! Enough Xs, damnit Microsoft! (And why a box?)
-"XBox 360". They do realize that a 360 degree turn is where you look in the other direction, then you return to where you started, right? Doesn't that sort of imply that they didn't evolve the thing at all? Wouldn't 180 better suggest a new direction? Anyway, it also sounds like version numbers taken too far. I wonder if the next one will be XBox 720...
-"PlayStation". How did that name last 3 whole consoles? Sony made a bad decision when they forced themselves to stick to the PlayStation name for eternity. (Although they could come up with something unique and drop the whole thing mysteriously, like Nintendo may have done with GameBoy). This is especially bad for Sony, because now they seem focussed on turning the PS into a serious PC. Who buys a serious PC that has "PlayStation" written across it in sparkly letters?
-"GameBoy". I'm glad the DS wasn't called a Game Boy. Too bad so many people still call it one. They did well marketing Game Boy and came up with a really well-known brand, so I guess it's not all bad. It just seems a bit too restricted to a single demographic. Not the worst, not the best.
-"Nintendo DS". A mouthful, and completely uninspired. It's an abbreviation and you don't even have a choice; it's like the opposite of the thought behind Wii. This is not good! Few actually know what DS stands for (Nintendo says it means Developer's System, though many people think it means Dual Screen. I'd rather neither, since both are ridiculous names), and there are people who call it Game Boy DS. The name does not roll off anyone's tongue; it sounds ridiculous.
-"Game Cube". It's shaped like a cube; it plays games. Or is it a game itself? Sounds a lot like XBox, no? If the cube shape had a big impact on the thing's feel or operation, it would be more worthy of having Cube in the name. However, it does not. It works and acts just like any other rectangular, ovular, triangular or even pentagonal game console. (And people will be really confused one day if they play GameCube games on something that is not cubular).
-"N64". Honestly, one of the best names so far. Sad though it is. Sounds like they ran out of ideas and decided to just toss out system specs to sound impressive.
Obviously I'm thinking of the more recent, popular consoles. Amiga is still a good name, and NES/SNES remain fine somehow (though few non-gamers know what "ness" is).
Anyway, back to the point.
Wii, compared to those names, is a breath of fresh air!
It is a name that doesn't mention Game or the system's physical form, that doesn't consist of 10 conflicting syllables, and that doesn't immediately set itself to a single demographic (in fact, it cleverly says that it is for everyone).
Remember how a good essay, a good book, a good magazine, and even a good web site needs a unique name?
The same goes for game consoles.
Those other boring, uninspired names like GameCube have always felt like version numbers to me.
Wii sounds like something new :)
The mantra "No need to abbreviate" is very true and very smart; 360, PS3 -- all sorts of stuff! -- gets abbreviated. Wii does not... in fact, for that matter, it can't be.
I think that makes the system more friendly to those mysterious "non-gamer" folk, and it makes the name just easier to handle.
Besides, let's face it: Game consoles have stupid names:
-"XBox"?! Enough Xs, damnit Microsoft! (And why a box?)
-"XBox 360". They do realize that a 360 degree turn is where you look in the other direction, then you return to where you started, right? Doesn't that sort of imply that they didn't evolve the thing at all? Wouldn't 180 better suggest a new direction? Anyway, it also sounds like version numbers taken too far. I wonder if the next one will be XBox 720...
-"PlayStation". How did that name last 3 whole consoles? Sony made a bad decision when they forced themselves to stick to the PlayStation name for eternity. (Although they could come up with something unique and drop the whole thing mysteriously, like Nintendo may have done with GameBoy). This is especially bad for Sony, because now they seem focussed on turning the PS into a serious PC. Who buys a serious PC that has "PlayStation" written across it in sparkly letters?
-"GameBoy". I'm glad the DS wasn't called a Game Boy. Too bad so many people still call it one. They did well marketing Game Boy and came up with a really well-known brand, so I guess it's not all bad. It just seems a bit too restricted to a single demographic. Not the worst, not the best.
-"Nintendo DS". A mouthful, and completely uninspired. It's an abbreviation and you don't even have a choice; it's like the opposite of the thought behind Wii. This is not good! Few actually know what DS stands for (Nintendo says it means Developer's System, though many people think it means Dual Screen. I'd rather neither, since both are ridiculous names), and there are people who call it Game Boy DS. The name does not roll off anyone's tongue; it sounds ridiculous.
-"Game Cube". It's shaped like a cube; it plays games. Or is it a game itself? Sounds a lot like XBox, no? If the cube shape had a big impact on the thing's feel or operation, it would be more worthy of having Cube in the name. However, it does not. It works and acts just like any other rectangular, ovular, triangular or even pentagonal game console. (And people will be really confused one day if they play GameCube games on something that is not cubular).
-"N64". Honestly, one of the best names so far. Sad though it is. Sounds like they ran out of ideas and decided to just toss out system specs to sound impressive.
Obviously I'm thinking of the more recent, popular consoles. Amiga is still a good name, and NES/SNES remain fine somehow (though few non-gamers know what "ness" is).
Anyway, back to the point.
Wii, compared to those names, is a breath of fresh air!
It is a name that doesn't mention Game or the system's physical form, that doesn't consist of 10 conflicting syllables, and that doesn't immediately set itself to a single demographic (in fact, it cleverly says that it is for everyone).
Remember how a good essay, a good book, a good magazine, and even a good web site needs a unique name?
The same goes for game consoles.
Those other boring, uninspired names like GameCube have always felt like version numbers to me.
Wii sounds like something new :)