Last night, an Australian TV commercial for the Wii U came on. My wife looked at it, then at me, then back at it, then at our Wii, before finally asking âwait, donât we have a Wii? Whatâs this?â
While a single anecdote, it sums up my biggest concern for Nintendoâs new console, at least in its early months: its message. Its marketing. A consoleâs capabilities and even its software are irrelevant if itâs not sold properly, and where the Wii was clearly sold as a new, revolutionary device, Nintendoâs messaging for the Wii U has been a bit of a mess, one that starts from the very top. With its name.
By calling it the Wii U, and not the Wii 2 (or an entirely different thing), and by using old Wii Remotes in much of its advertising, Nintendo has failed to differentiate the product from its predecessor. At least at a glance. Now, my wife, she was quickly informed that, no, this is a new console, like how the PS3 followed the PS2. But not everyone is going to have someone âin the knowâ sitting next to them to explain the difference when they first come across the system.
Which is leading, as weâve found, to a lot of people having no idea what the hell a Wii U is. Like Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States
https://lastchance.cc/michelle-obama-had-no-idea-what-a-wii-u-was-but-its-ok-5964131%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
We had a bit of a chuckle about that yesterday, but even the most casual search on Twitter shows sheâs far from alone. While the word âWiiâ is almost universally recognised after a six-year run as one of the hottest consoles of all time, with near-unprecedented mainstream appeal, âWii Uâ seems to have some folks awfully confused.
What the heck is a wii u?? I'm so confused.
wtf is a wii u? what happened to just the wii??
â lissa ÊâĄÉ (@eeveeluution) November 22, 2012
https://twitter.com/embed/status/272820850040913923
Logan was talking about the new "Wii-U". Mom asked, "What is a "Wii-U"?". Dad replied, "It is like P-U, but we all do it together." #loveem
â Hannah Clark (@HannahClark0624) November 24, 2012
What the fuck is a Wii UÂ ?
â Ca$h (@FreshLoudOut) November 22, 2012
https://twitter.com/embed/status/272151765867188225
https://twitter.com/embed/status/273933579388583936
No matter how many of my Mentalist powers I use, I still can't figure out what a Wii U is supposed to be.
â Erik Dobell (@erikdobell) November 28, 2012
https://twitter.com/embed/status/273902999963844609
A Nintendo ad popped on an displayed, "What is Wii U?" Then 3 actors waggled Wii remotes and 1 had the controller. Didn't explain fuck all!
â Neil Nightingale (@LemonPeel88) November 28, 2012
Itâs easy to laugh, as readers of a video game news website, but put yourself in their shoes. Youâre up to your neck in news and information about video games, of course you know what a Wii U is. But if youâre just some regular user, a casual player, and you own a Wii then see a commercial where people are still using Wii Remotes but on a different box thatâs got kinda the same name, what are you going to think?
Well, youâre going to think a lot like these folks are thinking.
Now, this wonât be a long-term issue for Nintendo. In 12-24 months, after enough market penetration and advertising, Iâm sure most people will have an idea what the new console is all about. But boy, I bet that right now, someone at Nintendo is wishing theyâd gone with a different name.
