Nintendo Revolution gets an official name: Nintendo Wii

It all smells of Wii.

I doubt it will change

Good point. I never thought about it until now, but "xbox" and "playstation" aren't really great names, either.

I always thought the "X" in xbox was in reference to DirectX, which has nothing to do with X being cool, but the fact that DirectX is a family of technologies (DirectSound, Direct3D, etc).

And the 360 is probably just marketing crap, like AMD's 3200+ style branding of processors to show that even though the clock speed is lower, the processor is just as good. It's a "who would want to buy an Xbox '2' when there is a Playstation '3'??" mentality.

The 360 was actually reported directly from Microsoft as an advertising move to imply same-gen as the PS3. The original codename was "Xenon" and the first seriously considered brand name was Xbox Next.

I suspect that Xbox 360 won out over Xbox Next because of the literal inclusion of "3" and the triple-core CPU architecture. I think the "360" name implied a omnipresence or this-sets-the-new-horizons-of-gaming vibe, as well complete connection (full circle is unbroken), referencing to the new and much-improved Xbox Live and controller functionality (which now sports more buttons than an airline cockpit).

Wii makes more sense than "Revolution" when you consider Nintendo's target demographic isn't "gamers" but "everyone." "Revolution," like Xbox or PS3 (the acronym) are "cool" names. They imply slick and shiny pieces of wickedtastic hardware. While this is great for marketing to gamers, it may well be imposing and intimidating for the population at large.

Wii is a much warmer name. It's fun, whimsical, different, and friendly: exactly what Nintendo is positioning its console as.

The "360" name was picked because otherwise PS3 would have automatically been better than Xbox 2. 3 > 2 and Sony wins by default before they've shipped a single working machine.

360 is also supposed to describe the way Xbox live and even the system menus surround the user with immersive entertainment. It's mostly marketingspeak and branding.

What do you have against microsoft? The 360 is as in all 360 degrees, a total imersion of media, gaming, etc. I will admit that on the OS front, they are woefully old, but on other fronts, they are much better.

The Revoloution, or WII, is a poor attempt at making a next generation console, with graphics little better than todays consoles (excluding 360). I used to like Nintendo, but since the Gamecube, they have gone downhill.

@Paradox460:

Ah, Grasshopper, great graphics do not a good game make.

Just because it's underpowered doesn't mean it sucks. I still play my NES, and it is greatly underpowered compared to even the GameCube.

Besides, Nintendo is not trying to go the route of great graphics, rather, they are trying to go the route of great gameplay and innovation. Look at the DS. It's greatly underpowered compared to the PSP, yet it arguably has much better games and more of them. It's also outselling the PSP by quite a bit.

Age, the DS has been out for a little longer than the PSP. Sony also tried to put to much in one box.

The biggest reason i wont buy a Wii, money. It will be a waste. It will constantly drop.

The 360 has tons of killer aps, what is the revoloution's killer app?
Unless another Super Smash Brothers comes out, there future is abysmal.

I predict that they will be acquired by Msoft, or some other Giant.

Killer Apps:

Zelda, MarioKart, Metroid Prime (Not my favorite, but many others love it) and the list really could go on.

Nintendo has a different idea than you about what a "Killer App" entails, so far as I can see from your comments.

As has been said: Graphics don't mean anything. Some of the best RPGs of all times were on early 8 Bit consoles. The CEO of Nintendo was (in my opinion) correct when he stated that graphics have reached a peak in that it's very difficult to discern "better" at a certain point.

I'd like to see Sony and Microsoft come up with better "gameplay" rather than better graphics. (Oh boy -- another version of Halo that plays the same and only looks slightly better!) Perhaps then I'd consider spending my money on one of their consoles. Nintendo truly has (and always has) revolutionized gameplay and I do not doubt for a second that the Wii will continue this trend.

I notice that you admit that Sony put too much into the PSP but that you praise the XBox 360 for doing virtually the same thing? Interesting.

The biggest reason i wont buy a Wii, money. It will be a waste. It will constantly

What the heck does this even mean? The biggest reason I won't buy an XBox or PS3 is also the money -- they cost too damn much.

Jgreat - I know you're on my side and all - but I would argue that the Nintendo Wii and the DS are -not- underpowered at all - rather they are perfectly powered. They do the job they need to do to run smoothly.

Viva le Wii!

Nintendo's killer-apps are what they always have been: great franchises and highly-recognized characters.

And if the controller is really as great as the media is portraying it, there should be quite a few very fun games. It may not be for the "hardcore testerone-pumped wanna-be-masculine" teenage-gamer who's overly concerned about what will happen to his image by playing a system called "Wii", but I'm betting it will do fairly well. Nintendo is aiming at the general population, including the non-gamers out there.

BTW, I am not a fanboy of any system. I have all 3 of the "current-gen" systems, as well as the XBox 360. I do love the 360's "always connected" approach, and I've been having loads of fun with GRAW and Oblivion, but where are these "tons" of killer-apps? Halo 3 won't be until next year, and Gears of War is still quite a ways off. Meanwhile, Sony will, of course, have the new MGS and Final Fantasy series to tempt people and Nintendo will have Zelda/Mario/Metroid.

When it comes down to it, the PS3 will probably win the console war just because it's the successor to the PS2. It may not win by much, but it will probably still win. In terms of number of consoles sold, I honestly think Nintendo will be in the top two, IF they can hit that "this console is for all people" mark. I would really like to see the 360 succeed over the PS3, however. It may be laden with PC ports, but I don't feel like spending $1000+ on a new PC to play games (nor do I feel like using Windows), so the 360 is my ticket to console and PC gaming goodness.

@Brian Ford:

I didn't mean to say that they were underpowered in general, just compared to the competition (in terms of technical specifications).

And let's not forget that some of the best games ever made were on Nintendo's fine consoles.

Let's also not forget that another one of the greatest games ever, and one of the greatest/prettiest games of the current-gen systems, Resident Evil 4, was on the GameCube FIRST.

Not only that, but what about asking for the "new tony hawk game for the wii" at EB; it's going to embarrassing for us all at first. We all have to say it though, so I'm sure we'll get over it quickly.

wow i totally forgot about it being called ultra 64. i always called it ultra even after the change and i refused to call it N64. i guess now i eventually assimilated and forgot. sounds almost borg like.

Does anyone remember the Super Famicom = Super NES?