I refuse to call it the Wii.
Update: While it’s obviously impossible to not call it the Wii with all of the news I cover related to it, this article should be taken in jest.
When the Nintendo Wii launched I made the decision to camp out at my local San Francisco Best Buy. It is the first console I have owned since the Sega Genesis and that was a long time ago when the only way a kid like me could obtain a video game console was from Santa.
I’ve found my loves and annoyances of the system. It’s great for friends who regularly would not play video games. Especially at parties. Zelda is the only game I bought with it. It’s a great flagship title and I really value the time I can sink into it finding every little secret and finishing the main plot. Game cube controllers have been purchased for Mario Kart: Double Dash and SSX3 and I’ve even purchased over 30 dollars with of virtual console games, mostly TurboGrafx16 titles. It’s an all around wonderful machine and the few places it slacks such as original Wii launch titles with any substance, it picks up with game cube and virtual console games. However, the one thing I really am not happy with is the name. Wii.
Atari. nes. Sega. Snes. Saturn. Playstation. N64. PS2. Xbox. Gamecube. 360. PS3.
Wii?
When I say “Yeah it was a great weekend. Sunday, I played Wii all day.” it sounds like I was touching myself, all day. When I talk to co-workers and say I was playing Wii, they kind of smirk a little as if it’s either a toy or my dick. It sounds so phallic that only a toy could be named ‘Wii’ and get away with it. It’s a lot like that Super Soaker Ooze commercial that ran a while ago which I have generously embeded below:
These super soakers could be called Wii. The Super Soaker Wii. Can you imagine now a Wii commercial with kids jerking their controllers around, faces contorted in ecstasy while playing Wii Boxing? That’s what this Wii name does.
Not long after I got my Nintendo Wii (see how retarded this sounds?), I made a kind of subconscious decision. I stopped calling it the Nintendo Wii and just called it my Nintendo. Most of the people I am talking to know what I’m talking about when I say Nintendo. It is a communication thing, an honest attempt at helping those people who I am talking to understand. Non gamers know the name Nintendo as “video games” and that’s all they really need to understand. Gamers know that I’m playing the latest Nintendo system because how could I be playing Twilight Princess on my NES? This isn’t the first time gamers have found better ways to call out their systems. Super Nintendo was too many syllables and we turned it into ‘snes’. Same with the acronyms created for PS2 and N64.
We have all owned the system for a while now, and have discussed it (hopefully in person) with many people. So If you are like me and have found saying the word “Wii” (and not just typing it) has had the same effect as saying “penis” in your conversations start calling your Wii your Nintendo and let’s turn this new console from a toy to a gaming system that will go down in history with the original NES.
