The shock will fade over time and we'll all get used to it

Aside from replacing the letter "e" with two "i"'s in modern language, something that will no doubt permeate Internet-speak, the announcement that Nintendo dropped the "Revolution" in favor of "Wii" strikes an odd chord. Is this smart? How will Nintendo brand and market the product? This morning at Ziff Davis, we gathered around the water cooler to argue, bitch, piss, moan and (some of us) defend Nintendo's remade name - below are some highlights. Make sure to check out the editor blogs today, there'll be worthwhile reading all day long.
"Oh, we'll get used to it, just like 'Dreamcast.'" That's what some people around here are saying about Wii's newly announced handle. Does that make it a good brand name? C'mon...how about coming up with something cool that you don't need to "get used to"? How about one that just impresses right from the get-go? Something like..."Revolution"? Hmm? Dan "Shoe" Hsu

Actually, it's probably smart. It will never be a good name for a videogame console, but it's so unbelievably weird that it's bound to have people talking. Plus, the whole iPod-ish marketing plan probably involves selling this to moms during programming on Oprah's We network ... think of the tie-in potential! And really, is anybody going to not buy a console because of its name? I bought a freakin' TurboGrafx-16! - Shane Bettenhausen

The icons on the white background and the simple, straightforward yet slightly intellectual tone of the words really evoke the Apple brand. But the name itself and the awkward spelling, while justifiable when you explain it as Nintendo has (the two iis stand for the parts of the controller, the different name captures the different market they're going for), definitely don't evoke Apple with its elegance, grace, and obvious utility. Apple never had to explain the name iMac, or iTunes, or iPod. They never had to say "we didn't want to think differently dammit, because 'we think different' hits our target market better." They just make their statement, without explanation, and while I admit I sort of enjoy hearing Nintendo's rationale behind the product name, I feel it's a sign of weakness that in their introductory splash of an announcement, they couldn't just let the name stand for itself. - Jennifer Tsao

OK, so I get what Nintendo's trying to express here. It's about US, or rather, about WE. Ho ho ho. But seriously, no, guys. The 'I have to wee' jokes are already, uh, flowing freely, so to speak, and let's not even discuss the looming penis jokes. I think Nintendo's nuts for abandoning the Revolution name -- it defined the system, it was catchy, it was bold, it had mindshare. Wii, though ... well, it should be popular in French-speaking nations, I guess. And here you Euro dudes thought Nintendo didn't care about you. - Jeremy Parish

It just had to happen, didn't it? Hope, as I did, that somehow, someway, Nintendo would just this once recognize that its development codename -- the Revolution -- could have been one of the coolest console names, ever, we all knew inside that it wouldn't be. But as I sit here the Internet is melting down in one of the quickest turning of the tides in recent memory. Maybe Wii'll make a comeback, but at this point you just sort of sigh and wonder what the hell. I mean, can you picture calling Wal-Mart to ask "hey, do you have Wii in stock" without one or the other of you giggling? - Garnett Lee

Haha, urine! Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to buck the knee-jerk reactions and ask a question to everyone who thinks this is surprisingly ridiculous&where have you been the last two years? From its inception, Revol -- sorry, Wii, was meant to be something completely different from the competition, so it's silly to expect a traditional "game word + geometrical shape" console name. You better believe Nintendo is confident they know what they're doing, because it's clear they know just how wildly different this is: by announcing it now instead of at their E3 press conference, they can avoid the stunned silence and confused looks, and now they can pre-spin the name. Not only can they pre-spin, they can prepare for whatever other system secrets and games they're going to announce. The name itself might not look like the smartest move right now, but we still haven't seen the full picture. - Andrew Pfister

Nintendo is out of its collective mind. It's difficult to believe that a company that measures its revenue in the billions didn't take naming their next-gen console very seriously. What, did all the name-development and focus-group testing happen in Japan only? Geez. Back when I was in marketing, I had to name games all the time. Eventually, I developed a list of Dos and Don'ts and one of them was "think about how the name might be parodied if things go wrong." Look, I know that a company can "fill a name with meaning;" hey, I hated the name Dreamcast, but now I think it's one of the best console names ever -- so who knows? After the first wave of obvious derision, Wii may emerge as a brilliant name. - Tom Byron

What the holy hell are they smoking over there in Nintendoland? This is a classic cross-culture blunder; it may not be "bite the wax tadpole" but lord, it ain't good. Although, I do appreciate that it opens the door to some awesomely bad urine jokes. - Joe Rybicki

While I went through the initial shock over the name as everyone else did (which some assert is a bad thing), it does grab you and get you talking, which is never bad. While we will all be cool with it in a year, if not a few months, I think Nintendo should have gone the route of a recent naming genius: Snakes on a Plane. Games on the Internet, anyone? - Greg Ford

It's not the worst name ever. It evokes discussion much more then a name like, say, PlayStation 3. But it's strange how much the game companies want to mimic Apple's image. Tell me they didn't originally want to call this thing the WeGame... - Ryan O'Donnell

First thing *I* thought when I first saw the name and logo: Korean MP3 player. The thing people have to remember is, Nintendo's trying really hard to change, and if you've followed all the craziness surrounding this thing, a goofy-sounding name shouldn't be that shocking, especially following the initial controller reveal. Now they're saving the best for last: the games. - Ray Barnholt

Because it's Nintendo it almost always seems to get a pass on stuff. Why? Is it because they always come up with some off-the-wall designs. More likely, it's because they have an army of fanboys that would follow Reggie to the gates of hell.

But seriously, though, WTF? Everyone knew it as the Revolution. Is that such a horrible name? Then again, I play games with a keyboard and a mouse. What the hell do I know? - Darren Gladstone

Nintendo continues with the tradition of being the "least cool" console. "Darling (gf or bf), I'd like a Wii for my birthday"..."Wii play lots of games on our Wii!"..."Have You Ever Needed a Wii So Bad?"

Perhaps that's not what they're trying to do. Perhaps someone up in Marketing thought that Wii would be cool and catchy. Nintendo could have saved a ton of money on their Marketing and "hipness" consultation and paid me a grand to tell them that the name Wii, in fact, is not cool, not catchy, and not good. I hope at least the console itself is cool...what's in a name right?

I can't wait to start using Wii around the office as a common term, like we did for Odama. - Kimi Matsuzaki

Wow, Nintendo is brilliant (or crazy -- well, probably both). Just when I thought I had them all figured out, they surprised me with Wii. The name, though tardo, is by far the best name I've heard for a video game console. Why? We cannot shut up about it in the office. There is no such thing as bad PR, right? Wii Wii! - Michael Donahoe

All I keep thinking is, maybe they can change it after E3. Even though they won't. Because they have never been afraid of doing their own thing no matter what anyone else thinks, both to their benefit and their detriment. This time they may be going wii-wii-wii all the way home, though... - Dana Jongewaard

It's actually kind of cool if you think about it. I mean, "Wii" symbolizes the duality of...oh screw it, I just can't. We should all take a moment and consider the real victims in all of this -- the knee jerk Nintendo forum trolls who are actually going to have to come up with reasons why they think this new name is brilliant, and just more proof that Nintendo is going to "win" the next generation. All I can really say is this: it's not too late to change the name. Revolution was kind of nice, you know? - Demian Linn

Nintendo's managed to concoct what could be the stupidest console name of all time. Despite that, I don't think the sky's falling just yet -- after all, it's just a name. I can't help but think back to everyone's apprehension toward the DS ... and look how wrong we all were about that. I predict that -- in typical Nintendo fashion--the next-gen hardware will impress gamers despite the company's unorthodox marketing techniques. I really do think Nintendo could benefit from a strong brand name (i.e. Sony's PlayStation or Microsoft's Xbox -- brands that have carried through multiple generations). - Ryan Scott