Yeah yeah, you've all heard by now, the Final name for the Revolution is now the Nintendo Wii.

I kinda like it. Wii as in Small (it's still the size of three stacked DVD cases), Wii as in playing together (The Online service, peeps!), Wii Remember our Wii youth (Virtual Console: Nostalgiavision!), then there's the 2 I's representing the funky Wiimote (get it?), people playing together.. As long as you keep your mind out of the damned Gutter, you'll realise that it's actually a damned good name.

Opinions?

Muskie

I think the true test of the new system is going to be the new controller. Will it be nothing more than a novelty? Will it truly change the way we play games? I think that'll prove to be the biggest question mark about this system.

For what I've read in other forums, the vast majority of people think it's a lame name. There's even a Penny Arcade strip about it.

EDIT: Weeee!!!

i agree, it is somewhat nonsenical, and thinkt hat the revolution was a better name for it, honestly.

Indeed. They keep picking awesome "in testing" names, then switching to lamer names.

Nintendo Dolphin? I'd've played that.
Nintendo Revolution? I'd've played that.

Nintendo Wii? Are they on crack?

I'd have bought the Nintendo Vagina.

Whatever. All consoles are named stupid things.

First it was just plain brand names, which wasn't too bad.

Then came the "cool" prefixes, like Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive.

Then everything was named after some techincal figure nobody really understands eccept that higher is better, like the Nintendo 64 or Amiga CD32.

Last time it was all about the shape of the box, like Xbox or Game Cube. Play Station was a good first name, but then they just slaped on a sequential number each time a new one came out and that's not really a strategy you would like all their rivals use too.

<edit> I happen to think Sony is the most cowardly evil of the companies. People complain about Microsoft, but just look at Sony's hardware destroying copy protection and law breaking witch hunts for pirates. Microsoft may be as greedy as can be (like all major companies), but Sony is actually hostile to their consumers as it's not the pirates that suffer from what they do. Off topic but it just came out < /edit>

And this time we had the usual new sequal to Play Station, and two names that means the same thing; Revolution and 360. Both alluding to the same idea of making a radical turn for something new. Microsoft was first, so Nintendo backed off and renamed their console (as they've done before btw, Super Nintendo was originally code named Dolphin).

The name Wii will not be a controversy for long, and it seems to look nice with the design of the console. Sort of "Macish".

When Nintendo fans were debating the name Revolution's similarity to 360 before the name change—I saw this on some game site's forum—they argued that 360 was just spinning in place. While revolution can mean full circle as well as rebellion, 360 doesn't have that second meaning.

Y'know, it's kind of a shame. I've loved Nintendo with a passion since I counted my age in single digits, but I'm not sure I can really justify buying a system that sounds like something I have to do in the bathroom after too much caffeine.

I have to agree, I'd feel stupid going into a store and saying to the clerk, "I want a Wii." and getting told where the toilet is.

Would you rather they called it the Nintendo Blowjob?

In all seriousness, I trust Nintendo. It single-handedly revitalized the video game market and has consistently shown itself to be the leading innovator in the industry. Their first-party titles are, without exception, of the highest quality and possess superb gameplay. The controller looks gimmicky and it may be, but I said the same about the DS touch screen and was proven wrong. Nintendo hasn't really succumbed to the temptation to make useless gimmick controllers that look great on paper but suck in reality since the Power Glove (and the power glove wasn't even made by Nintendo, just licensed).

Of course, Nintendo of America really should be bombed into oblivion for the absurd censorship policy that ended when Mortal kombat 2 was released for the SNES but which I still feel sore about.

Dude! I would totally pay good money for a Nintendo Blowjob!

I think they should of stayed with Revolution. I do agree with hyzmarca on revitalizing the video game market. I personally like the direction they're going with their games and game systems.

I think right now there's too much emphasis on all this technical bullshit, (e.g. lighting, physics, the amount of polys a system can handle...) and less emphasis on things like game design. Nintendo seems to have recognized this and has taken steps to remedy it.

When I saw the trailer for The Console Formerly Knows as Revolution i was totally sold, and you know Nintendo is "good for it".

Catsnightmare - Sunday, 12:00pm, Dragon's Lair Burnett location. Be there. This is assuming you aren't already a part of our SR group.

Name, shmame.

It looks cool, the controller is interesting, but most importantly, it is backwards compatible. That's something that Nintendo has dropped the ball on far too many times. Add to that the library of games available for download (dare we hope for the Shadowrun game?) and I'll be buying one for the family as soon as I trade in the Gamecube.

I'm a big Sony fan, but there's no way I'll buy a PS3 when it comes out. I like to wait for the price drop. However, if the price in the Wii is anywhere near reasonable, I'll pick it up the first day.

The Wii looks like it'll be the cheapest console of the three, which is always a plus (and Nintendo's SOP). TIME magazine has a huge article about the Wii and its controller, and the reporter couldn't say enough good things about it.

Wii at $249, or even $199?

It sounds like people at E3 can't get enough of the Wii Controller at the demo booth. I just read an article saying the line was a 3 hour wait, and on top of that most of the people who actually got to try it said it was worth the wait.

It seems to me that the Wii is the only "next-gen" console that is really "next-gen". The Xbox 360 and PS3 are just like the Xbox and PS2, only with better graphics, faster, etc. It's the same thing as last generation, only done better. The Wii is actually doing something different.
Granted, the PS3 has a tilt-sensitive controller, but compared to the Wii controller that's hardly anything to get excited about.

A Nintendo system has already had a Shadowrun RPG. It was on the SNES.

However, I think the back library for the Wii is only first-party NIntendo titles, in which case, no Shadowrun.

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all use Draconian copy prevention measures. However, they don't do it for the copyright protection. The amount of piracy they stop by using opy prevention dwarves the cost of implimenting it and they know it. In fact, there are some very large and obvious video game piracy sites operating that the big 3 completely ignore with a wink and a nod.

However, the copy prevention built into their games has a much more sinister role. It also prevents the publication of unlisenced games. Any gamemaker who wants to publish a game for these systems has to pay for a license. This has been going on ever since the NES. But, during the NES days some companies learned how to circumvent Nintendo's lockout chips and they published unlicensed games. Subsequent court cases established that this was completely legal. Hardware manufacturers have no right to prohibit people from writing software for their machines

However, in modern game systems the same measures that prevent the playing of unlicensed software also prevent the playing of unlawfully coppied software. Due to anticirmvention laws that are now common it is illegal for unlicensed publishers to circumvent these measures thus few are willing to risk it. This gives the hardware manufactures monopoly control of game publication.

There are, of course, loopholes that have lead to a thriving homebrew scene but both the PSP and the 360 suffer from forced firmware updates that plug these holes almost as quickly as they are found. Microsoft has been the most draconian of anti-homebrew manufatures with th permenant lockout of modified consoles from Live but the others are certainly not homebrew friendly.

You mean aside from the fact that Sony has already announced that it's going to allow full access to the PS3 hardware and partial access to the PS3's development libraries to all comers? Real hostile towards homebrew, that.

~J

I'll reserve judgement untill I learn exactly how easy it will be to load homebrew on the PS3. There is a thriving PSP homebrew community but loading homebrew on the PSP requires rather annoying exploits and firmware downgrades or access to a UMD printing facility. Since UMD is a properitary Sony format that is impossible without permission. If the PS3 can run unsigned programs from memory card, hard disk, or burned optical disk it will be great and a good excuse to fork over $600 for it. However, if it will only run software from proprietary stamped disks without illegal mods or exploits (like Sony's previous systems) then there is a big problem.