Topic: Nintendo keeping the Wii brand name with their next console? Yay or nay?

With the recent rumors flying about the Wii having some sort of a system upgrade (the Wii 2), it got me thinking that it makes sense to simply upgrade the Wii and to keep that brand name with their next console, if you really think about it. Here's why I think this is so...

1. Nintendo doesn't have to start from zero with their next console, nor will they have to fight to establish their product with the masses that already accepted the Wii as a brand name. I mean, the Wii went mainstream in ways the PS2 never did. (i.e. It branched into new demographics that never before considered playing videogames; it became accepted by quite a lot of Hollywood celebrities and featured in many TV/Cable shows and events such as the Oscars; The Wii was featured in many international and national news stories over the last few years, many of which were quite controversial or just plain weird - much to the delight of Nintendo, who was thankful for the free publicity, etc.). So anyway, there is a good reason to keep that brand name intact and to exploit it's popularity and brand recognition. It would be foolish to drop the name at this point in time.

2. The Wii brand is also synonymous with motion controls. It is with the great majority of consumers that have tried said technology or that are familiar with it. That is a great advantage over the PS3 and 360, which will need to convince new consumers that their consoles also offer motion controls. THEY have to start from zero in that arena. Nintendo does not. Unless they drop the Wii name, that is.

3. A system upgrade seems the best option considering that it is safer for Nintendo to take such strategy. Because if the upgrade were to ever fail, they could quickly announce the release of the actual system that was to replace the Wii. Thus saving face from the hypothetical scenario of failing to capitalize on the Wii's success.

What is your opinion on this matter?

Nay.

1) The DS has shared much the same success, and there's no "Wii" in that name. There's no problem with changing a name. It's the Nintendo brand that's important. Infact, a name change will help significantly differentiate it from the Wii and sell as it's own console. Otherwise people will just go "well, why should I get one? My Wii 1 still works." Look at the iPod. There's so many different varieties of that (nano, touch, shuffle, etc - and different builds of each one) that new customers are getting a little perplexed. For someone who doesn't own an iPod of any description, I simply wouldn't have a clue where to start if I was to get one. It'd be like asking your gran to go buy you a new laptop and expect to get the very best one on the market for the money you have. You'd have to be lucky.

2) Again, it will be the Nintendo brand that's synonymous with controls - the touchscreen of the DS and the motion of the Wii. Provided that the "Nintendo" part stays a main part of the name, then people should know what to expect.

3) A system upgrade with a home console is a much harder sell. With a handheld, the consumer is aware of the entire console - they're carrying it about with them, and they are constantly interacting with the entire device. Making it smaller, lighter, or more battery-efficient are all strong selling points. But with a console? It just sits on a cupboard. The controller is all you really care about, chances are most people only actually go to the console to swap the disk. And if we're going on the buying habits of the casual market, they're neither likely to know nor care whether it has a beefier hard-drive, or improved support in other areas. There's no point trying to make it lighter, as Sony are doing with the PS3 Slimline, as the Wii is already a small and light package.

Miyamoto doesn't agree with you.

Well with "upgrade" I didn't meant ala PS3 Fat-PS3 Slim. Basically you got pretty much the same console there. A better comparison of a system upgrade would be the DS-DSi or the PSP-PSPGo.

The Wii was itself merely an upgrade of the console that came before it (GameCube). The Wiimote was originally suppose to be a GCN peripheral. The console itself is a GameCube 2.5 under a new casing. So why would anybody find it strange that Ninty could do that again?

Regarding the Nintendo brand name itself.... this one is mostly known by ppl familiar with gaming. And that brand name has some extra baggage attached that isn't entirely desirable (i.e. Nintendo is teh kiddie).

However, Nintendo find themselves in a similar situation that Sony was when they first hit it big with the PS1. They have in their hands yet ANOTHER brand name that has become more popular than the brand name of the companies themselves. Sony hit it big with the PLAYSTATION brand name and Nintendo did it with the Wii (not just with the console but also with popular products such as Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Wiimote, etc.)

What did Sony do back in the days? They kept the Playstation brand name intact with their next consoles. Thus allowing for said brand name to become synonymous with gaming over time. That only started to change when the Wii came on board.

The Playstation brand is still popular but it has to share the stage with the Wii brand name. And if Nintendo re-uses it for the rumored console upgrade (Wii 2.0 WiiHD, etc.), then it could potentially take the top spot for a good few years to come.

So IMO Nintendo needs to keep that brand name alive with their next upgrade/console. Unless they want to start from zero and hope that the people that supported the Wii become aware that they are the same company behind the popular game console they came to enjoy and support (fat chance).

Very simply, if the next console is a discontinuous innovation, as in a radically different control scheme, feature set, etc, then it will get a new name to represent a new era. The Wii itself is a perfect example of that.

Personally, I believe that the next generation will carry the Wii branding, because I don't see their next control scheme being radically different. Maybe the feature set, media play options, HD, etc. could combine to warrant a name change, but it would have to be feature update tour de force to do so.

In my opinion, Nintendo snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat with the name "Wii," which went from damn-near universally mocked when announced to being, by a wide margin, the best-selling console of this generation. I doubt Nintendo will disregard that marketing, mindshare, and branding value when the next generation is released.

There are many more factors to consider, including third-party and competitive. I'll save those for another time.

Maybe that could happen when the next generation comes around... but presently, with Sony trying to make the PS3 relevant for the next 5-6 years or so and adopting motion controls to help cement that plan and with MS doing pretty much the same thing with NATAL, you can understand that this current generation is set to last a lot longer than the previous ones.

Nintendo then has the choice of upgrading (talkin' mayor upgrade here not a casing/paint-job change) the popular console it has out there right now or they can take a huge gamble by releasing a brand new console with a different name that nobody knows about. Basically, they would have to build themselves a new user base.

But with a Wii upgrade, they can simply CONTINUE with the same user base and build up from there (as they did with the GB and DS), and also getting into the fold all those people that have rejected the Wii because it didn't have HD capabilities or "next-gen" graphics.

It will keep the Wii branding but I think it won't be "Wii HD" or "Wii 2".

If they want to attract the current MS/Sony/PC gamers, them better they think in a new and way different name.

Well if these gamers would not buy a console on the sole basis that they don't like the name then I would rather they carried on playing their MS/Sony/PC games.

I personally couldn't care less what Nintendo decide to name their next console, it is its feature list that will decide if I invest or not.

Wii has proven to be a huge success, I think Nintendo would be foolish to pick a new name. Think along the lines of the Nintendo, and the the Super Nintendo.

Unless they heavily advertise that it is "the new consoles from the creators of the Wii!"

If they keep the Wii name it'll hurt sales. The "hardcorez" won't buy it because now, to them, the word Wii is synonomous with "casual waggle-fest", and the casual population will probably think it's just some money making scheme from Nintendo. As long as Nintendo puts their name on it it'll sell.
I for one don't care either way, but from a business standpoint I feel it's best to change the name.

Let's assume those hardcorezes are already lost. They're not Nintendo fans to begin with, and the name of the next console won't change that.

Nintendo has spent a bazillion dollars on the Wii branding, and has made a bazillion times that in Wii sales. They caught lightning in a bottle, and the chance of that happening in back-to-back generations is unlikely, putting it mildly.

From a business standpoint, I feel a name change should be reserved for that quantum leap. If the next generation meets that standard (objectively), then fine. If not, we'll be seeing "w-i-i" in some form or another in its name.

Super Wii

Well teh hardcorez have little effect on the Wii as it is. Outside of some gaming forums that is. If all you eat and drink is what the forum haters dish out, then sure, the future seems bleak.

And you're last comment couldn't be more wrong. No offense but I sure hope you're not in charge of any business. I mean, you got a big brand name in your hands and your strategy plan is to do away with it and ditch it? Holy cow!

I mean, you got Apple and their iPod. Said company has established a brand name and a product that has been redesigned and upgraded several times over. And every time you got people waiting in line to get their hands on it. They push millions of dollars down Apple's pockets. Same thing happens with Sony and it's Playstation brand of products. There, the powah of a brand name at work. Oh, but Nintendo shouldn't try to do that. Nooooooo. Bad Nintendo! LOL

And yeah sure, casuals are as cynical as core gamers(pfft!)... Like they'll go into conspiracy mode and believe Nintendo is out to screw them over. I believe you're talking exclusively about those disgruntled ex-nintendo gamers (or SEGA lovers) that believe Iwata is the anti-crist or something. Casuals? Nah! They're not as polluted by all the crap that goes on with us gamers.

A brand name has a bigger impact with casuals because they tend to buy things that everyone else buys. And for several generations, too. That's why the big brand names still are on top despite being better options out there.

They go by what they KNOW. And in regards to the Wii, they know the system and are familiar with the brand. So where do you think they’ll deposit their money? With something they already KNOW or with something they're totally unfamiliar with? The answer to that one is pretty obvious. As well as to why Nintendo should keep the Wii brand name and employ it with their next system/upgrade/version.

I would say "Nay", but I think it'll be like NES and SNES and retain the "Wii" and add something else to it.

Just my two cents.

Super Sonic Wii 2 HD

Nintendo really did everything right with the marketing of the Wii, even if the name sounded lame at first after being called the "Revolution" for so long. The logo is brilliant (including the bendy thing with the "ii" before it straightens up in commercials) and the "We/wii would like to play" commercials made me desperately want to get in on the action. (I only got one this past summer, however, because two conditions were finally met at the same time: 1) I had enough money; and 2) the Wii was available in the store. For years one or the other condition would exist but never both at once.) I mean, even stuff like Sonic and the Secret Rings looked cool back then (never played it, just read a lot of bad press, so no offense to any fans of the game). Carnival Games, not so much...

The Wii brand games are another example of this excellent marketing, many of them some of the biggest-selling games of all time. Even a title which turned out to have less popular appeal, Wii Music (again, haven't played it, and I've read some positive stuff on this site), managed to move a respectable number of copies.

Beyond all this, look at Nintendo's past history. Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System remained as the branding for two generations, and the Game Boy branding stayed around for many different handhelds. Nintendo has again found success in the console department with the Wii and should absolutely keep the branding. The casual users will buy another Wii if the upgrade is significant enough, and I think it will have to be an improvement in the motion controls. Stronger technical specs would help, too, but ultimately I suspect the Wii will have to go camera-based like the competition or risk being usurped by Sony and Microsoft--particularly if Sony and Microsoft manage to come up with family-friendly IPs that don't suck. Which probably means Nintendo has nothing to worry about unless Sony find a way to make a successful franchise around Baby Kratos.

I'm going to play the "I'm an ignorant high school kid who doesn't really know what they're talking about half the time" card on this one
But you don't think that people are going to say "Wii 2? My Wii 1 is working just fine, why should I buy another one?"
And since when has Nintendo used the same name twice? Sure, they always keep the "Nintendo" name on there somewhere, but the name of the console itself is always changing.
And the reason I think that Nintendo does want the "hardcorez" is because they want better 3rd party support. Dead Space Extraction is selling like crap, for example--that's going to make third party developers think twice before they put thier rated M game on Wii. If they can sell their next system to the casual crowd and the hardcore crowd, then they can make tons of money (well, MORE money. They're already making tons of money, but we know they always want more) and keep a steady flow of quality third party games coming in, thus keeping the fans off their back while they wait for the next Mario or Zelda.

I'm sure I'm wrong and you'll write a thirteen page response telling me why, but I'm just going to throw that out there

Nintendo doesn't always do what they did in the past. The whole idea behind the Wii is proof of that. It took guts to take that direction. And the main reason for that move was because "teh hardcorez" had abandoned Nintendo since the N64 days. They really never came back. They ignored the GameCube. I mean, that system was more powerful than the PS2 and yet because it was called NINTENDO GameCube, it was for "teh kiddiez" and thus unworthy of any "true gamer". It got lackluster third party support. So... you think Nintendo wanted some more of that crap this generation? Nope. They adopted another strategy. One that got them right to the top.

Nintendo does want third party support. But third party devs just couldn't get their act together when it came to their support for the Wii. Dead Space Extraction is a perfect example of that. Did you know that EA warned Wii owners that that game was a "test" (ala Capcom with the Chronicles series) ? And if the game failed then they would not see more "mature" games from them? Well sir, Wii owners pretty much said a big F*** YOU to EA. Why? Because we don't want any more freaking "tests". And we sure don't want no more freaking rail-shooters. I am glad the game failed. And I hope Darkside Chronicles fails too. Why? Because I don't want another stupid sequel (we supported Umbrella Chronicles and we got a sequel instead of a proper RE game!). Ask Wii owners what game they want from Capcom... they don't want a rail-shooter. That's for sure.

And I'll report back with the other 12 pages you're expecting from me. Maybe...