Nintendo’s warming up for E3 2006 and has the following to say:

Introducing… Wii.

As in “we.”

While the code-name Revolution expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that seperates videogame players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games… and each other. But you’re probably asking: What does the name mean?

Wii sounds like “we,” which emphasizes the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.

Wii has a distinctive “ii” spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people playing it. And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of videogames that sets it apart from the crowd.

So that’s Wii. But now Nintendo needs you. Because it’s really not about you or me. It’s about Wii. And together, Wii will change everything.

Now, before you jump on the bandwagon and say it’s a stupid, silly name, allow me to provide a counterargument, because it’s really not as bad as wii might think.

By deciding to name the Revolution the Wii, Nintendo declared that it doesn’t care about creating a name that would be really pompously “cool.” And that’s good. If Nintendo had tried to come up with a “cool” name, it probably would’ve failed miserably. Take, for example, Microsoft’s Xbox 360. It’s supposed to sound cool and distinguished, but really, adding “360″ to a previous name is in no way novel. Names that were supposed to sound cool often end up sounding completely cheesy.

Furthermore, although the name may sound ridiculous (and there will be an abundance of puns derived from it), if you step back and actually take a look, good, clean and simple brand names often look silly. Google and Yahoo! are both pretty silly names. Even the iPod’s name sounds a bit unappealing at first glance. Regardless if Nintendo had named the Revolution anything else, I’m sure everyone would still be up in arms about it– not because they don’t have anything “better” to name it, but because any highly anticipated new name (the Playstation 3 doesn’t qualify as a new name) is going to get some bad rap somewhere, and making it easily “punnable” doesn’t help the situation much.

And why not keep the name “Revolution”? Well, that was never the name to begin with. Revolution had always been given the status of a code name, just like Dolphin was the Gamecube’s code name. There’s no doubt that many, including me, think Revolution would be a good name, but Nintendo’s staying in the right direction by choosing something that’s simple, clean, and generally more universal than most other brand names.

Compared to some other new names recently (cough MacBook), Wii isn’t so bad at all. MacBook is okay, actually, but it’s just that pronouncing it (and reading it) is extremely jarring. It’s those k’s. Makubuku. Four syllables. Wii. One syllable. Much easier. Simpler. Nicer.

Everyone should get over it. It’s not such a bad name at all. It’s going to be the target of many jokes, but who cares? It’s simple, and Nintendo gets its message across easily with it.