Ever since the name ‘Wii’ hit your ears you may have always wondered ‘what does Nintendo Wii stand for?’ and it’s a very valid question actually because, ‘Wii’ is not an acronym like some other popular brands of today. So then what is it really?
Well, for a person who is looking at the word for the first time it is difficult to be certain how to pronounce it. But that part is simple because you can pronounce it as ‘we’. Now before you start imagining possibilities of the presence of hidden meanings in the pronunciation you may want to know more about the history of this amazing nomenclature.
There was no such word in English before late 2007 when Nintendo decided to change the name of it’s seventh generation console to ‘Wii’ from the project name ‘Revolution’. And more importantly Nintendo promoted the product as ‘Wii’ and not ‘Nintendo Wii’. It was a bold move on their part to drop the powerful Nintendo brand-name for the first time, for a product that would be sold globally.
What they also made very clear was that, while a single system would be referred to as Wii, two or more systems would be referred to as Wii Systems/Consoles/Games.
Coming back to the burning question of what does Nintendo Wii stand for, the answer lies in the next sentence. The way that Wii is spelt with two ‘I’s’ side by side in the lower case, is representative of two people standing together. This is actually indicative of the gathering of two game-lovers and also represents the Wii Nunchuck and Wii remote. The company has made several public statements about the meaning and significance of the name, up until this time. But perhaps the universally accepted one has been about ‘Wii’ sounding like ‘WE’ and thereby indicating that it’s a game console for everyone who wants a good time.
Nintendo has also said, in reply to questions about what does Nintendo Wii stand for, that ‘Wii’ was chosen because of it is easily remembered and also pronounced by anyone, no matter what their language is. So there is no need to abbreviate or translate. There is just the short and sweet ‘Wii’.
And finally when you think of the revolution that the Wii has brought about in its wake, you do wonder whether ‘Wii’ has a much larger meaning. That meaning may be interpreted as a new age of wireless technology or perhaps more importantly transforming the way we play games. It is indeed true because Wii games are not for ‘couch potatoes’. You need to get up and get moving if you want to enjoy.
Hopefully now you know what does Nintendo Wii stand for and can get back to enjoying games on your Wii!