In a not-quite-unexpected but still baffling move, Nintendo has ditched the codename \"Revolution\" for their next generation game console.
It\'s now the Nintendo Wii.
Nintendo has always maintained that the Nintendo Revolution name was not necessarily the final console name, but the industry took the title to heart, nonetheless. Across the industry, Nintendo\'s console is known as the Revolution.
According to
Revolution.nintendo.com, Wii - pronounced like the English \"We\" - was chosen because it is easy to remember across languages, is completely different than any other name on the market, and symbolizes the connectedness of people playing together.
That\'s the symbolic nature of the two ii\'s side-by-side.
Also, the flash animation on Nintendo\'s website suggests that - if you don\'t like the new name - the ii\'s are capable of shooting little balls at you as punishment.
We\'re still waiting for the W to pull out its secret kung-fu move; at the moment it\'s just standing there with its arms crossed watching the fight.
The unexpected nature of the name caused quite a double-take here at GamesFirst, and initial reactions from the online community have been mixed. In fact, the general structure of the announcement page at first made us skeptical that maybe it was some form of joke.
Maybe an April Fool\'s prank coming a bit late? Maybe the result of a hacking attack?
However, attempting to verify the announcement through Nintendo.com was out of the question for a good part of this morning, since their main website was reporting an Internal Server Error whenever you attempted to access it.
That doesn\'t seem to be a problem any longer, and the headline on the front page of Nintendo.com proudly announces the demise of the Nintendo Revolution, and the rise of the Nintendo Wii.
It also marks the change of Nintendo\'s Revolution site. Before, clicking on the Revolution tab on Nintendo\'s website took you to Nintendo.com/revolution, a naming structure that matched their GBA, GCN, and DS sections. Now, off to Revoultion.nintendo.com you go.
Which makes you wonder: If you\'re instigating a new website for your console\'s name change, why not name the site after the console? Wii.nintendo.com makes far more sense than Revolution.nintendo.com, now.
For better or worse, the Revolution is no more.
Say hello to the Nintendo Wii.