New Wii U logo confirms name is here to stay

Brian Ambrozy 28 May, 2012 at 4:23am ET Article published in Gaming

Nintendo released a new Wii U logo on their official press channel:

This makes it officially official: The Wii U is going to be the name. Like Revolution and Dolphin before it, Nintendo has a history of taking awesome codenames and turning them into head-scratching retail release names.

We’ll have more from E3, including full coverage of the usually-awesome Nintendo press conference from Binh “Church4252” Nguyen, our man on the showfloor.

Comments

28 May 2012 ~ 1:13pm UPSLynx Ugh. So bad.
28 May 2012 ~ 1:21pm TheAlertHusky The new WIIU logo you say?
http://www.wiiu.org/

But in all seriousness it's a reeeeeally bad logo
28 May 2012 ~ 2:38pm Canti In 2017 Nintendo will release the Wii U Them.
28 May 2012 ~ 5:02pm Bandrik

Wii U? MORE LIKE PEEYOUUUU AMIRITE????

Seriously though, this name stinks. I'd rather call it the Nintendo Mirage. It actually sounds cool, avoids the tired Nintendo Penis jokes, and it's all the big N will be if they don't step up their game. OH GOSH ALL THE PUNS.
28 May 2012 ~ 7:51pm Guppy That's disappointing, but I can deal with the name if the system has a decent software library.
28 May 2012 ~ 8:51pm Chooch This year E3 will be interesting. I too not a big fan of the name but it is what it is. Gotta deal with it.
28 May 2012 ~ 11:11pm Bandrik
In 2017 Nintendo will release the Wii U Them.
Good guess, but I'm betting Nintendo will follow Apple's lead and add the letter "S" to the end of the product name.

And thus, the Wii US will be born.
28 May 2012 ~ 11:40pm Thrax This name will be a winner in the market, because it's easy to remember, banks on a well-known name and is easily differentiated from its predecessor.
29 May 2012 ~ 3:48am UPSLynx Meh. People aren't going to buy the Wii U for the name. They're going to buy it because it's Nintendo. It could be called the Wii Asscrack but as long as Nintendo is on it, it'll print money.
29 May 2012 ~ 4:11am Chooch As long as they release the software comes out for the Wii U, people will buy it. No one in their right mind would buy a new system that doesn't have that strong of a library from the start. For example (and I am guilty for this) The Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
29 May 2012 ~ 8:36am CB
Meh. People aren't going to buy the Wii U for the name. They're going to buy it because it's Nintendo. It could be called the Wii Asscrack but as long as Nintendo is on it, it'll print money.
This my have been true once, but I don't think it is anymore. The 3DS didn't sell well until after they lowered the price, and I think it was partly because the name was too similar to the DS. Parents saw it and said "don't you already have a DS?"

I've been a diehard Nintendo adherant for years, but even I'm starting to slip lately. The Wii really is underpowered for the marketplace now, and their multi-player matchmaking it too much of a PITA for most American adults. The WiiU isn't a new, more powerful system, it's really just a new way to interact with the Wii and its existing library, something I'm not sure I need right now.

The Japanese market may be another story. I can't speak to that.
29 May 2012 ~ 1:20pm UPSLynx But the 3DS has still sold a ton of units, even without a library to back it up. More than it should have, anyways. Regardless, I agree with you. I was just thinking this morning that I haven't bought a Wii game in.... I think it's been about two years now. I haven't even picked up the newest Zelda because the thought of controller waggling has become a negative to me. I can think of only a handful of games on that system that I'd actually care about buying at this point, but the input mechanism keeps me from bothering.
29 May 2012 ~ 1:37pm Cliff_Forster The name won't matter. What will matter is the same thing that always matters for a console launch... Are there compelling exclusive titles that gamers want on that platform? If yes, it sells, if no, it flops. The name won't matter.
29 May 2012 ~ 3:01pm Canti Needs more Pikmin 3.
29 May 2012 ~ 11:44pm Bandrik Nintendo Entertainment System. Game Boy. Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Virtual Boy. Nintendo Sixty-Four. Nintendo Game Boy Pocket, Color, and Light. Game Boy Advance, Ess Pee, and Micro. Nintendo Gamecube. Nintendo Dee Ess and Lite. Nintendo Wii. Nintendo Three Dee Ess. Nintendo Wii You.

Thinking about it, Nintendo has always had relatively thoughtless and throwaway console names. Meanwhile, Sony keeps adding numbers, and Microsoft adds geometric definitions. Sega had cool names (Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast), but they don't count anymore.

End of argument: all (successful) game consoles had names that suck.
29 May 2012 ~ 11:58pm CrazyJoe The Dreamcast was the best console of all time!!
30 May 2012 ~ 2:49pm midga
The Dreamcast was the best console of all time!!
And not because of the release titles. ...or any other actual titles on it for that matter.
30 May 2012 ~ 3:19pm Canti Obviously because of this.
31 May 2012 ~ 1:24pm Bandrik

That Dreamcast controller has always looked like an old-school spaceship to me. Needs more pew-pew.