Topic: Wii U is offically the final name

Nintendo needs to just market it well and strongly get the fact across that its not just a new controller for the Wii. I think keeping the Wii name is actually smart on Nintendo's part. I know plenty of people who know what the Wii is, but don't know who made it. Nintendo can't expect to attain a whole new audience from this past generation and just leave them behind going into a new one. Having the Wii brand will definitely help Wii U be more successful in marketing, and that's something Nintendo needs to really enforce this coming year. The competition is getting a lot more fierce, I don't blame them for keeping the Wii name, they'll be needing it.

Edit : They also need to re-establish the Nintendo name on their products. Like I said, the Wii to everyone was just Wii, not "Nintendo Wii". If Nintendo's name was more out there to the average consumer, they probably wouldn't have needed to keep the Wii name for the next generation.

seriously, who cares? nintendo 64, gamecube, wii...they're all horrible names and wii u is no exception. the games are what matters. not the title. not in any way. stop crying

Good points. If they want to keep the new audience they gained with the Wii, the branding is vital. I don't think further Nintendo branding is absolutely necessary though.

I think Nintendo will treat the Wii U as a part 2 of their plan with their newly established audience. If they can get the same audience that bought a Wii to buy a Wii U, I think they will try to 'convert' that audience to enjoy games like Mario and Zelda. They have already hinted that the 'U' in Wii U signifies their focus on the 'core' gamers, and of they can bridge the gap of the two audiences, Nintendo will burst with money.

There's a difference between saying that it's not the most important factor and saying that it doesn't matter at all. You're sitting here in this thread saying it's a non-issue but you're in the HD remasters thread saying

so clearly even you think it's important otherwise you would have said "nah man, I'm fine with 480p. I don't need HD remakes".

In 2006 I was at the front of the whole "games > graphics" thing and that's still true but back then massive 1080p TVs were still almost a niche thing. My Wii was hooked upto a 22" SD TV for the first couple of years of it's life so HD meant nothing. In 2012 however I have, and I'm sure most people have, a massive 1080p screen. I want to use it to it's full extent as much as I can and so today graphics matter a hell of a lot more. This is why we both want HD remasters and it's also why graphics are a large part of why most people would want to buy Wii U.

The legacy of the "Wii" name means nothing if the Wii U does something different and I really do hope it does do something different.

............. with all that said the thing that's got me most excited about the Wii U thus far is the possibility of playing SNES VC games on the controller. So you might want to throw all my "ZOMG it does HD" stuffs right out the window after that revelation.

The name and branding doesn't really matter in the hardcore gamer's minds. Like myself, the PlayStation 3 didn't attract or disgust upon its name. No, it attracted me with its rich library. If Nintendo wants the core fans it had 5+ years ago, it needs to release core sequels of franchises while releasing new IPs with quality in the mix.

Who cares? I actually kinda liked that name. If you get it confused, well, you should really know better. Do your research. Unless the name is Wii 1.5 or something, I don't see the reasons why you should have to limit the names you can give it. I can distinguish it well enough. When I first heard DSi, I looked it up. Turns out, it was a half-step up. When I first heard 3DS, I did the same. Winds up it did happen to be completely different. Wii U'll be different enough to the point where we'll ask/look to see what the U means. As for legacy - the Wii left a mixed legacy. It had great games, revolutionized how we control them, and introduced gaming to the masses. At the same time, it had crappy graphics (SD did not hold up well against HD by 2010, though a game doesn't have to be SD to be pretty), and had an online system of the stone age. That did not leave a positive reputation for the Wii name. I like how the Wii U is doing things though; Nintendo Network functionality, the eShop, full 1080p HD, and more seem to be remedying most of the issues that plagued the Wii.

Shovelware was a problem on all consoles, but because Wii introduced gaming to the masses, crappy devs took more advantage of the target audience than they could've on the 360. But the Wii U won't be the family system at its launch: the Wii will. The Wii was the cheapest option for its time, and it will be again. So hardcore gamers will be the target demographic for the Wii U's early days, and we're not stupid. Add in the fact that motion control was a mixed bag that will have less emphasis this time around, and you've got it good. I mean, how could you mess up a touch screen interface? Not so easy, unless you make it gimmicky. But there's the thing that almost everyone ignores: touch screens nor did motion control have to be gimmicky. See Skyward Sword? It made the impossible possible. And that's what the devs should do w/ the Wii U. Touch screens, motion control, and more are not made to be gimmicks, they are meant to become something more...they are meant to enable more possibilities. It is innovation that drives the gaming industry forward - without it we'd all be playing Pac Man, Super Mario Bros., or Ocarina of Time right now. And albeit one exception, we mostly aren't playing either of those primarily. More opportunities for the game devs for how to let us interact with the game world and how the game world can be is what changes games, and w/ them, change can be good. I think that solves most of our doubts on how the Wii U will turn out. I'm excited for the future of gaming, the 8th gen of systems. Now Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and all the other devs out there, bring it on. Show us what's next. Pave the way for the future of gaming.

Who cares what it's called? If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds, it succeeds. Do you need a name change for better sales? No, you just need a good console with some good games. I didn't mind if it was called that Nintendo Ultra White Basher or something like that.

Too bad. i was hoping for a name change. But I'll buy it nonetheless, I'll get used to the name.

Maybe they should have changed the color of the "Wii" font in order to further differentiate it from the previous Wii.

What a tragedy.

So who wants to play on my police siren? I mean Wii U...

Awaits new "Wii would ike to play.. with U" commercial.

People sure do have a lot of time on their hands in here...

It's called Wii U. Fin

I see you commenting all the time, in fact I saw your profile and it says you commented 9 times on "pledge to cloudberry kingdom" article and there were some long comments.
Plus in the past 24 hours, you posted 24 comments (this does not count threads)

Get owned!

Wii U isn't the most amazing name, but hey, neither was Wii and look how that turned out.

Should be called my body is ready.

I am officially disappointed. It's the perfect name for a kids toy...ts.