At first I thought it was a misspelling of the phrase "WiFi".

Me too.  I saw the title in my e-mail and thought "Man, Ron really dropped the ball on that one.  Maybe he was typing while intoxicated."

I think wii all wiill get used to the name. I mean...wiiy not make it differently than the competition? For sure wii wiil be remembered wiirry easily. Wii wiill.

So wiill english native speakers pronounce it now "why"? Or "W-2"? Or can you imagine calling a shop and asking for "wee-games"?

For germans it´s also a problem since "wie" (english word for that is "how") could cause problems. "Haben sie Wii Spiele?" "Wie wie?" "Nein Wii!!" "Wie?" "Nein Wii mit ii" "Ach Wii! Von Nintendo!"

The best comment was by a person over at Eurogamer: "Does it have streaming content?"

Yeah, nothing says 'awesome' like a scatological console moniker.

:(

I prefer to pronounce it like "WHY-EEEEE".

It explains itself.

a bitt off-topic first: urine has nothing to do with scatology, that's the other kind of human waste! :|

On-topic: I love how this news is stiring people everywhere. If all PR is good, the good ol' Nintendo just laid the golden egg.

Pissed the golden shower, maybe?

Sounds a bit like Pokemon 2 :D

Oh. My. God.
I simply have no words for such a...  such a...  
I really have no words for it.
How...    can human beings create...  something...  ARG!
WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!11111oneoneeleven  
jumping out of the window

I was quite surprised when I saw this name, but I think it best to let the geniuses at Nintendo do their thing. They've yet to let me down!

I thinks it's a very interesting choice. Nintendo has explained the name as if it is answering a short answer question on an English test. There's some kind of thought behind it. What was the reasoning behind "XBox 360"? What in the world is an XBox? Xtreme Box? How pedestrian is that? But in the case of Wii, we have something like "The Catcher in the Rye." At first you've no idea what it's about, but further investigation reveals the importance of the reference. Nintendo is invading fine culture, and breaking away from the simple, "whammy!" names attributed to systems thus far.

When I first read about it at 1UP, I was kind of excited. Then the long list of comments below absolutely bashing the choice made me a little bit sad. The first thing all of these gamers do is call it stupid, basing their opinion on their years of marketing experience. But secretly, I think all of the naysayers are people who were looking forward to it, and now must live up to the thought of using the term "Wii" on a regular basis. I'm sorry the name isn't as manly and extreme as you'd like. But dare I ask, "What's in a name?"

So, to Nintendo, I thank you. Because when my parents inevitably ask why it is named "Wii," I will have a very thoughtful and deep response to that. That should keep them from rolling their eyes at it like the XBOX. Seems like a solid step to building rapport with consumers that otherwise would avoid the straight forward, hardcore gamer market. Because inevitably, everyone in the world, at some point in their life, will have to explain why the system is named the way it is.

It might be fanboyism, but at the same time, I'm grateful for any opportunity to look at video games in a new light. People who visit Ron Gilbert's site should be able to appreciate that. (Even though he applauds Nintendo for sticking it to conventions.)

"I think all of the naysayers are people who were looking forward to it, and now must live up to the thought of using the term "Wii" on a regular basis" - This is true.... but is that a bad reason for complaining???! I don't WANT to go into the shop and ask for a Wii, let alone tell my mother that I am playing with my Wii, or spend the run up it it's release wishing that I could have a Wii.

What was wrong with Revolution?

"What was wrong with Revolution?"

A couple things come to mind:

1. a one syllable ubiquitous word is easier to remember than a four syllable English word, especially when it comes to the rest of the world. In Japan you'd pronounce Revolution as "re-ba-ru-shi-ya-n-u" (or some equivalent). Global recognition is very important. After people get used to saying it, Wii is second nature.

2. They can register the trademark for "Wii." I'm pretty sure the registered trademark for something as general as "Revolution" would be taken.

Trademarks (at least in the U.S.) are for categories, so Nintendo could register "Revolution" under "Games" and "Electronics".  Trademark granting is based around the "likelihood of confusion".  The "Revolution" razor is not likely to be confused with the "Revolution" console game.

But not something Nintendo would have wanted probably. Nintendo wants a unique label that people can identify towards. By taking something like this, you can't go around and start selling Wii t-shirts etc.

As well, those same trademarks may not be the same in other countries. By taking a word that doesn't exist, Nintendo garunteed itself a worldwide trademarked name.

You're right, Ron. I'd forgotten that it's category based... in the US at least. I'm not sure myself how other countries handle trademark registration.

As Johnny G said, it's probably the case that Nintendo didn't want their registered trademark to be associated with something else and instead opt for a unique property. I'm already reminded of Revolution Studios when I think of "Revolution."

Funny thing is that rumor has it they haven't registered the trademark for "Wii." Strange.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/punkd/did-nintendo-punk-us-with-wii-170381.php

I'd be very surprised if it's all a marketing ploy.  People accused Coke of doing the same thing when they release "New Coke" back in the 80's.

Off topic, I read an article once about coca cola being used as a spermicidal douche in some countries.  From the article, old coke worked better than new coke.

on topic, As far as marketing goes, my guess is that the marketing guys who come up with the names gave up on the DS and just said "Screw it" and this time around Nintendo said "You just got lucky, try harder." and Wii is the result.

Maybe they tried too hard, or maybe they just kept simplifying it until it became what it is.

All I know is that, if I get one I'm going to pronounce it "Wheee!"

Or maybe they just called it whee because they couldn't call it "GamePod" or "iGame" or something like that without some kind of lawsuit.  You know...cashing in on other brand name success.  Maybe Wii is supposed to be like "iPod" but twice as good because it has two "i"s.

Maybe someone suggested the name Wifi, and mispelled it, and then just went with it.

Or maybe Wii is a very good name in China, and Nintendo plans on the Wii being the top console in China when it takes over the world.

"Or maybe Wii is a very good name in China, and Nintendo plans on the Wii being the top console in China when it takes over the world."

I posted this before reading this article-->http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/26/1828219 which claims "Chinese gaming market is likely to hit $2.1 Billion in 2010" and"While much of this growth has been and will continue to be fueled by the popularity of MMORPGs, Niko points to another trend: the rise of casual games."

Coke as a spermicide?  Urban legend alert!

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/sperm.asp

New Coke? If only they'd called it "Wii" instead.

Ok. Looks like they did file for the trademark, much to the chagrin of the "mature" teenage crowd.

http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78870906

Check out that list of Goods and/or services. Gives me a headache just looking at it, but it would be cool to own a gas mask with the "Wii" logo. I'm sure a Wii "design or squirting apparatus" would be good for a chuckle as well.

It isn't registred in the european union either.
You can look ist up easy:
http://oami.eu.int/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_DetailCTM_NoReg
there you will find Xbox, Playstation etc. But there is nothing new from Nintendo, neither revolution nor Wii.

i argre what the hell is wrong with revolution

nintendo must be having a laff at us

what do you call agrop of people all in the same place playing wiis i would think it would be calld a wii party

or a kid sez to his mom "mom can i buy some wii games it is the stupedist thing i have ever herd

Gotta love the Japanese!

"wii" stands to represent the oink a happy gamer makes when he buys the console. "Wee" would be too conventional, so here we go, "wii".

lol, it's just so silly.

After a little reflection, I like it better than "Xbox"...or "Xbox360" which is even worse.  Those just makes me think of the latest BS, trendy phrase that numerous corporations try to use to market to young adult audiences.  They should

However, it reminds me a little of "Dubya", which just makes me feel a little sick to my stomach.  Seriously.  Maybe I should go take a tums or something.

Is this really any stranger than a console that is inevitably called "pee-ess"? How many people actually say "Playstation"?

Everyone I know says Playstation. Never heard anyone actually say PSX or PS2, though they write it a lot.

And sorry, but Wii is a bad name. Never mind the obvious jokes (and believe me, I know about those, I work for a company called Mandriva...), it just doesn't look good.

I don't know anyone who says "PlayStation" anymore. Everyone I know refers to them either as PS1, PS2 or PS3. When was the last time you hear anyone call their handheld console a PlayStation Portable? That's a mouthfull right there.

I've grown used to the name now, and I can sort-of understand the "Philosophy" (if you like) behind it. By keeping it short, there's no need to abbreviate it, and the distinctive spelling means that people will always associate it with the console. Wii also rolls off of the tongue a lot easier than XBox 260, or PlayStation 3. Like iPod, the unique name will always be associated with Nintendo's console. Irrespective of what the word may also mean in other languages, it's quite a clever choice of name, even if it does sound stupid.

If nothing else, I fully expect to hear people say, "Ooh, I must go for a Nintendo before I head off on that long car journey." That, in itself, is worth it.

I figured it alllllll out.

The truth is, you don't need a name that makes sense to have a succesful product;

BigMac : Mac who? We're talking about a burger, right?
iPod: You Pod? Me Pod? What's a pod? Bleh
IBM: Hum. What does it mean?
DVD: We all know what it means. but for your mom, it means nothing.
Walkman: Hehehe

What happens when you give something a name that just doesn't make sense is that you actually baptised it. Its name becomes IT. Unlike the Revolution, Wii still has to make a name for itself.

I think that what Nintendo is trying to is to tap into the endless casual gamer, but very, very agressively. I went to their website and all I could see was the iPod. I think what they're trying to do is bring the home console to the mass market, like Apple did with the Mp3 player.

It's stylish, it's simple, easy to remember. If they could make the Wii a "cool" new product, a must own, it could easily find its way into the homes of a lot more people than we'd even believe.

IBM - in spanish it means " I nmensa B ola de M ierda", or Massive Ball of Shit.

Well, actually, I like their thinkpad laptops a lot, though those are made by Lenovo these days. :P

International Business Machines

Guess what, Nintendo regardless of Wii being a good or bad name has every one talking about the name, thus we're doing all of the work for them as far as brand recognition goes.

As for the pee jokes, please people we constantly complain that the mainstream doesn't respect our medium as an art form or legitimate rivals of the movie industry. These Wee Wee jokes are a blatant example of why.

I'm wasn't a fan of the name until I saw the promotional trailer explaining the name... then it made sense. Now ultimately anyone can tell you a name should stand on its own and be an entity unto itself without explanation.

I guess it's up to Nintendo to bombard people with the meaning so it just becomes a given.

I'm sure most laymen, and woman don't realize that Nike is the Greek goddess of victory.

It doesn’t matter it is synonymous with athletics and everything that encompasses.

As a fan of Nintendo and their innovation I can only hope Wii will be synonymous with ground breaking revolutionary games.

Like I said on various other places, I think I'll eventually like the name, but my current strong anti-reaction has less to do with the name itself and more with the way they tried to market it: by being all artsy and explanative about it, trying to justify it and tell us how hip they are. The written stuff on that site is so horrible and contrived that it makes my skin crawl.

If they would have just said it was an expression of exuberance, as in ,,Whii! Whiiiii!", I would have loved it. The medium is in the message.

eric: doesn't matter if anyone knows what Nike is. It looks good. Sensible distribution of verbs and consonants, looks vaguely like a real word. Sorted. Wii? Fails all tests. As for jokes, yes, of course, no one ever makes puerile jokes about (or in...) movies. Heck no.

er. clearly I mean vowels, not verbs. It's late. :)

Well, we had a TV station over here in the Netherlands, called Yorin.....  "You're In", gettit? sigh. I remember looking at the cube, saying "what?!", so who knows...

Plainly it should be pronounced 'Wye-eye'. As anyone from Liverpool (England) knows, 'Wye-eye man' is an affectionate greeting.

Sounds more like Newcastle (England) to me..

I like it, it's nice.
A lot better than "playstation" or "xbox".

Wheeeeeeeeee!! It's great...

Here's my theory:

"Wii" isn't the real new name of the console. It's all a marketing stunt by Nintendo to steal the spotlight before E3. They come up with the stupidest yet believable name to get everybody going "WTF?" and to get them talking about it.

When E3 comes around, Nintendo yells surprise, and reveals that the name of the console is completely different, and again they steal the spotlight. It's a double whammy, they can't lose!

Nah, by the time E3 comes around all the jokes you could possibly make about the name will have become old. It's really only fun for a couple of days, after that people will just accept the name and move on.

I don't really see why "Wii" would be a better name than XBox. The name doesn't explain itself (look at the website of Nintendo - so many words just to explain a three-letter-name), so there's no advantage to the name XBox. And XBox doesn't sound like a body fluid.

Well explain "360" then?  Which IMHO is an even WORSE name!

Actually, first let's let him explain "X" and "Box."

The first can be used to denote pornographic material (Rated X!).  The second could be a very crude reference.  Much moreso than 'wee'.

It's just that with it together, and especially with the 360 tagged on the end, it hides the crassness in the name with many layers of complete sillyness.  Xbox360...  Whatever that means.

Actually, the funny thing is that when Baumer introduced the Xbox360, he did what nintendo did. He had to explain and defend the naming of the console.

Does anybody even care about the name now? No.

Hypocritcal to all the xbox players? Obviously.

360 means that it's 357 times better than the PS3, nevermind the nintendo Wii. And you think I'm joking.

I find it interesting that the name Play-Station was the code name that nitendo and sony came up with (history: playstation was going to be a nintendo product until nintendo decided not to use CDs...), I guess if nintendo had stuck around it would have probably been called some totally different game like uh... FamiCDcom or something weird. Or maybe Ultra 64.

I would have gotten together with the DS team and called it the HC (home console :P). Wait, wasn't the DS the code name for the DS?

DS code name was Nitro as far as I can remember.

afaik the pulicly released codename of the join nintendo/sony playstation was 'project reality' this was the name talked about in nintendo power all those years ago (I still have my old membership card, it expired on may 31, 1995)

I totaly won the X-games with this Xtreeme 360 trick and all I won was this lousy console.

360 = 360 degrees = full circle = not restricted to a certain direction
That was my association when I first heard the name "XBox 360".

Well... anyway, who invented the word joystick? That´s even worse translated into other languages than english.... Also the dutch Company who gave their fruitdrink the Name Phhooo was not quite happy when it tryed pushing its product into the american market.

Wii is not that bad... and I think it is going to be the same as with U2... just W2.

Will you be developing something to the Nintendo Wii?

Wii Wiill bii diiviilopiing somethiing for the nitnendo wii indiid.

Yeah, yeah, lots of "i"s....

I think "Wii" sounds silly.  I like silly.

Wii?!  Ha!

Xbox and Playstation are better names because:
1)  People can figure out how to pronounce them
2)  They are names that didn't exist before.  When you say "Xbox" there's no confusion over your meaning.

Wii fails at both of these.  Can't tell how to pronounce it, and it has ambiguous preexisting meanings.

But who cares.  It'll come down to who has the best games, as it always does.

X-box is a button with which you close your window in err... Windows. It has an "x" written on it.

To be honest, I kinda like it. At least it's getting people talking.

xD Well...

"What do you want for christmas, Tiny Tim??"

"I wanna Wii, I wanna Wii. I need one. Mommy, can I have a Wii?"

"Ok Timmy, but only if you're good"

A case for child abuse I think. Cruel and unusual punishment that.

do you know Richard Posner??? :D

Isn't there a character in one of Ron's game that goes "Weeeeeeee!!!" ?
Nurse Edna maybe ?

Newsflash !!!!!

The Gaming world, does NOT revolve around Japan, repeat, does NOT revolve around Japan.

Who cares what Wii stands for in Japan ? I don't live in Japan, and I don't care about Japan.

Nintendo, on the other hand, clearly thinks the ONLY gaming region that matters, is Japan, and sod the rest of the world.

Well heres some news for you, Nintendo, YOU do NOT revolve around gaming, and this name is going to be your much appreciated downfall.

You treat Europe, like second-class nobodies, and the UK, even worse.
So, sod you, I'm sticking with PC,Xbox360, and PS3.
And I think YOU, should stick to just making games for other systems, like Sega.

Stupid name, stupid company.

And lastly, I have NEVER, in all my travels, on the interweb, seen such pathetic fanboyism, ever. The great lengths, to what these Nintendo fanboys go to, is just laughable. Nintendo, could have called it the w*nk box, and you all would have been saying stupid things like "Yeah, thats going to work". NO, it's NOT.

And, IF this all turns out to be a huge joke, will the fanboys then turn around and now laugh at the Wii name ? Because, I bet Bill Gate's bank account, that they will, or should that be, They Wii, lol.

Calm down there Chrisw70 :P. "Wii" is a harmless name really, not provoking like "w*nk box". And I thought the idea with the name was to make the system "more international", not the opposite as you suggest.

What did Nintendo ever do to you?

Who cares what Wii stands for in Japan ? I don't live in Japan, and I don't care about Japan.

Wii doesn't have a meaning in Japanese either. There isn't even the syllable "wi" in Japanese.

Darn you, Chris

Beat'n

Technically there is ... but the Europeans who came up with the latin transcriptions for the hiragana alphabet decided to write it as "bi" because that's what it sounded to them when Japanese used it in words. But the Japanese know the difference between B and W as much as between R and L.

"Wi" can be rendered in Japanese by one of a set of characters that were phased out after WW2. Nowadays, all native usage of "wi" has been phased out, and when it is needed for loan words, it's conventional to write it with the equivalents of a big U and a small I.

The character for "wi" has not, to my knowledge, ever been transcribed by anyone as "bi", nor do the Japanese have any historical reason that I'm aware of, either within their own language or with others for confusing "b" with "w." Unlike the case of "r" and "l" (where the sound of "l" more or less blends with the clipped "r" sound of English), the Japanese language accounts for both of "b" and "w."

Now, it does happen that the sounds for b and p are both represented by modifications of another set of characters, namely the "h" line. Each character in the Japanese "alphabet" represents a consonant combined with one of five vowels, so what this means is that "ha," "ba" and "pa" are written as variations of the same character, but 'w' has it's own set. It just happens that most of them were phased out after the war, including "wi"

China

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/28/forum-chatter-japan-responds-to-wii/

Explains that it basically means nothing in Japan except the english synonym for "pee"

The post and the comments give responses from other countries about the title.   Someone claims that in cantonese chinese it means "two kung pow chicken with white rice and sauce on the side to go" but that could be a lie.

I'd just like to point out something that I haven't seen anyone saying anywhere: The Japanese word for "good" is "ii".  When you transcribe it into Roman letters, it's spelled exactly that way; as a double "i".  And yes, you pronounce it to rhyme with "cheese".  Furthermore, when a Japanese person tries to say "Wii", it's probably going to come out sounding like "vuee", which is exactly the sound that Japanese people use to refer to holding their fingers up in a "V for victory" sign.

So, just a quick recap; This supposedly "international" name sounds, in one of the most widely-spoken languages on the planet, exactly like a child's word for urine.  However, in the language of the country it comes from, it sounds quite a lot like the word for "good", and also like "V" for "victory".

Very international that, yes.

Also, just to clarify, Wii means nothing in Japanese.

So, uh, calm down.

Chrisw70
              Nintendo doesn't go for the  market by doing the same thing sony and microsoft do.  They have planned 2 go for those who used to game, those who do game and those who have never played a game b4.

The name wii according to an interview with nintendo of american on www.ign.com refers to the word 'we' which sticks to the consoles' concept. it makes enough sense even through i would have preferred the name Revolution but who cares itz just a name.

And if you think Nintendo is going to fall, look at the success of
nintendogs. Most people i know dissed concept of a game which involves looking after a pet dog, until they played the game and decided to buy a ds for themselves.

Big publishers like EA and ubisoft are quite enthusiastic about developing for The wii
. I don't Nintendo will fall this time

Are you suppose to say "Nintendo" before "Wii"?  I'd much rather say "Wanna play NintendoWii?" than "Wanna play Wii?"

And what about the French? "Wii?" "Wee wee" "Wee" "Wii, Wee Wee" "Wii, wee wee, wee?" "Wee" ...

Nintendo are funny. It's nearly like they purposefully don't want to hardcore crowd as customers.  (PS This spiel makes extensive use of the word 'hardcore' which I deliberately fail to define :)

It seemed that many of the kids who had idolized nintendo as a child and then jumped ship somewhere in the nineties, were going to jump back on board under the war cry of "revolution".

I know Nintendo wanted to appeal to non-gamers, and the 'revolution' moniker was maybe a little aggressive for non-gamers. But to pick a name that would revolt the revolution crowd - one has to ask why?

Did they learn some compelling lesson about targeting the 'non-gamer' from the DS launch?

Did Nintendo think that the oral support of hardcore gamers would not translate into financial support, because their products are simply not made for the hardcore market?

(But surely even if nintendo didn't make games for their console appealing to his crowd, other companies would - right? )

Were nintendo not willing to let their platform be dominated by 'hardcore' gamers games?

Are nintendo driven more my vision than profit?

Is it because Nintendo actually prefer to make cutesy family games, and thus, at all costs, they must pursue this person - the kind of person to whom Wii is 'cute'?

so many questions...

Wii meinen?

Ron,how do you like GRAW and OBlivion?

I played the demo of GRAW on the 360 and it drove me crazy.  I just don't like playing FPS style games on the console.  When it comes out for the PC, I'll probably buy it.

I've played Oblivion on the PC and while it looks really nice, I like more focused and hand crafted story in my RPG's.  I know opened ended worlds are all the rage, but I get very tried of fill-in the blank quests.

I like to be told a great story by a great storyteller, or I like something like Animal Crossing that doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is.

By the way Ron, do you play BF2 on the PC or on the 360 ? If you play it on the PC, I'm sure we would enjoy a couple of games online together. Would you share your BF2 Player ID, pretty please ? Have a look at mine if you're looking for teamplay. ;-)

I hate fps games on consoles too!  Regardless of the name, im hoping the new controller will improve the way fps game work on a console (and maybe even be BETTER than a mouse/keyboard combo, thanks to 2 analog sticks).

What I love about threads like this though, is that you normally get really intellegent discussion of the plusses and minuses, then an idiot comes along starts slagging of nintendo and calls everyone who's even daring to talk about said console a fanboy.

While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer!

-> Sorry, but WII rawks!!!!

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII :D

totally unrelated:

Have you seen this?  Chris Farley/Ron Gilbert lookalike thing http://thor.mirtna.org/oddities/lookalikes/pics/gilbert-01.jpg

from video game lookalikes http://thor.mirtna.org/oddities/lookalikes/

it's the second image on a google image search for "ron gilbert".  (why was I looking?  I couldn't remember if I saw a picture before.)

On the same page, another example of Nintendos uniqueness, and different take on the concept of cool:

   Miyamoto - wearing a skivvy, and looking like austin powers.

...an outfit that any conformist publicist would reject in a second.  :)

"wee" games... right... Dogs would love the machine I presume.

Hi, A friend of mine gave me this url I hope you'll like it, it's so funny and Nintendo Wii related ^^

http://www.deviantart.com/view/32523123/

Don't those two i's look like a gay pair to you?

Microsoft should call its next console (assuming that there will be one) the "Unko".  The first syllable represents the "Oooh!" sound we all make when experiencing something wonderful and joyous, the way a game should be.  And everyone knows that the last syllable "Ko" stands for "Knock out", and we want our games to floor us with an immersive experience.  So it's "Oooh 'n' KO"... the Unko!  Celebrate the new era of gaming with Unko!

Nezuji :)

P.S. "Unko" is the Japanese word for sh!t, but who cares?

After my initial reaction of disgust, I have really now started to like the name. I don't know why. Somehow, after a week or so of use, it's really grown on me. I will now proudly walk into my EB and say "I'd like to pre-order a Wii, please" and they'd damn well better know what I'm talking about.

Ron,
I dont wanna force a long off-topic discussion,but 2 things:

I absolutely agree with your opinion on Oblivion.

I think,the 360-Demo of GRAW is only MP and doesnt represent the quality of the Campaign at all.(Absolutely different Engine etc....)

Since the PC version is different too(and its reviews are worse),I think,you would do yourself a favour,if you'd try out the campaign on 360.

You'll love it

Its doesn't really play like a fps,as the MP mOde does.......

More like Resi 4 or something

The strategy of  Nintendo is brilliant!
I mean they had this video shown already on the games convention 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ilu8fKK_38&search=nintendo%20wii

So they had their name already chosen at this time and they were playing with it in front of everyones eyes! Just brilliant! ;)

I heard that karaoke is very popular in Japan and I was wondering, wii is perfect for karoeke games. The controller could have a microphone inside plus the online content download. We could see wii replacing all those karaoke machines and everbody would be able to have one at home too.

well, it has a speaker in it, which could be used as a microphone

bla

Interesting article on Time...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191861,00.html

..and the revelations begin:

"But the name Wii not wii-thstanding, Nintendo has grasped two important notions that have eluded its competitors. The first is, Don't listen to your customers. <snip> And here's the second notion: Cutting-edge design has become more important than cutting-edge technology. <snip>Look at Apple's iPod<snip>"

stunning.

Should do well up north like, Why-ay, us magpies will love it.

100TH

Did you guys see the nintendo presentation at e3? It clearly shows that they really know what they're doing. A lot of the things they said reminded me of what Grumps has been ranting about for the past 2 years. Maybe you should make games for the Wii, Ron.

Meanwhile, Microsoft talked about marketing strategy and sales numbers, and what star power they have (Molyneux, Sakaguchi, ... even Cliffy B was there), and how you can buy shit on xbox live, and even Bill Gates talks about his Windows Vista-Xbox monopoly strategy. This is an entertainment expo, not a shareholders meeting.

Playstation was another business presentation. Full of buzz words, the same controller as always except with gyroscopes for tilting and so on, and full of cutscenes. And 95% of the games were racing games. This is not a nascar convention. Oh, and overpriced like any shit Sony product would be.

Nintendo's strategy is amazing and funny. It seems that they don't want customers for them. But i love their games.

Does it really matter that Wii doesn't mean anything.
Nintendo doesn't means anything and it has been successful.  after people get used to it it will sound completly natural and when Wii is said in the next 5-10 years it would only be linked to the console. Imagine saying nintedo 20 years ago, people would have thought you went beserk.

it's look amazing!!

I thought the Nintendo press conference hit exactly the right spot. Everyone was just having fun, they said sane things (it's not about the visual candy, it's about FUN) and they were just really enthusiastic. I loved seeing Miyamoto dance around on the stage conducting an orchestra. It seems that with this newfound emphasis on fun, the gaming industry has finally grown up a bit and starts to understand what it's all about. And with enthusiastic people like Miyamoto leading us, I'll be a willing rat, following the tune of their flute. Lead us out of Hameln, please!

I don't think so they r not aware of the fact that what r they doing. But why they r buzzing of such things. Its hard to understand why they r doing this. But what matters most is that we all love playing their games.

Badwan, from the Wikipedia article:
'The name "Nintendo" roughly translates as "leave luck to heaven," "heaven blesses hard work," "in heaven's hands," or "work hard, but in the end it's in heaven's hands."'

brkl Thanks for the info

Ron I would like to see an adventure from you on Wii...=)

seconded. A lot.

i have a dilemma, i want to play with my wii, and invite my friends over so they can watch me wave my wii stick around the room then have a play with it themselves

this sounds simple and fun enough

however im not very comfortable about putting a game disc into my wii, surely it would just get wet?

Ron, you gotta check out www.soupmovie.com
It's friggin' hilarious

Also, the game Johnny Rocketfingers 2 on Newgrounds has a ScummVM reference right at the beginning, and is a fun game, should you be interested.

-R

There should be a Grumpy Gamer videogame. I don't play many videogames without the words "Mario" or "Monkey" in them, but I'd play one about a guy who sits around playing videogames and complaining about stuff.

Their games are interesting and i love them too.  They dont believe in adding  to their customers list, perfect strategy they follow.

We all love you Nintendo. Hardly matters what all you do.

Wii will be launch in Brazil in the same day as the US launch \o/

Hi there, Ron!

Did you knew about this?

That looks very nice - although it'd be a shame to see all that work wasted if they cop a 'cease and desist'!

I remember seeing a Fate of Atlantis 2 fan-game being made years ago - I wonder if thats the same one mentioned, or if more than one group started work on fan-sequels?

I'll have to try the demo on the weekend!

The names really grown on me tbh. The jokes were funny for like 2 hours and everyone is talking about the Wii so its succeeded in that respect. Its a better name than the Xbox 360.

How about a Grumpy update?

Hey, check out this page it's MI related!!!!
http://stansellseverything.ytmnd.com/

What music is that in the Stan Sells Everything YTMND?

it's Weird Al Yankovic's song "hardware store"

Seeing as this Stan thing is slowly developing into quite a fad on ytmnd, would you mind to share which particular car salesman inspired you to create that character?

please ron, write something, anything!

Don't make me put up the Test Pattern again.

I just finished On Stranger Tides, and I've got to say, thanks for telling us about the book.

It was recently re-released, and I have to say that it is totally cool.

Oh dear Ron!! you're not being grumpy enough! surely theres something you'd like to complain about!!!

or are you too busy making the best adventure game in the world?

I think the Japanese are just having a bit of fun by making people across the world say "Wee" in everyday situations.
Anyone seen the Dilbert comic where they try to boost productivity by dressing up in animal costumes because the Japanese say it helps business? Anybody...?

I too love you Nintendo. Your's are simply the best. Playing your games is in itself an adventure.

I think the Wii is a great name, think about it you and millions of other people started talking about it as soon as it was announced, which is free advertising.  With the addition of the Wiimote you can't say it will be like any other console out there.  Plus you have no idea how many times people will go into a store and ask for the gamecube 360 or the Xbox 3.  It's confusing for all those non gamer types, but the Wii stands out.

Anyone ever hear the Japanese gamers talk about the 360?  That's even more of a trip than "revolution."  Most of the time it's said three-six-zero because it rolls off better than three-hundred-sixty (they don't have a cute verbal abriviation like the Americans with three-sixty).  Unfortunatly, sometimes when you get to talking about it, the order of the numbers gets confused.  I was at a small gathering of gamers, and for a while everyone was calling it the three-circle-six because it was easier to say.  I kid you not.

. . .

Yeah, Nintendo's got the right idea.  Make it easy to say, people will talk about it, and the jokes will get old.

Hi Ron,
I love Nintendo too, and surely love your adventure games.
I just read your interview on Gamasutra, about how the industry gives no space to mid/low-budget games. Don't you think this may be changing, thanks to Nintendo's new philosophy and console? Wii games are going to cost less to produce, or at least should, and surely aren't all out for uber-graphics, after all. Or maybe even thanks to Xbox 360 and its Live Arcade? Geometry Wars is very well-known and loved, and it is cheap, downloadable and was very unexpensive to create.
Maybe the future in which big publishers will accept to fund a 1$ game isn't too far. I hope it sincerely, and hope to see another "Ron Gilbert's"  videogame in my shop sooner or later :)

Cheers from Italy