Wii Thought Wii Sounded ‘Gimmicky’ and ‘Cutesy’

Meet the man called “Wii”. Wii Yatani is a graphic designer and the son of Japanese parents. Did his mother and father name him after the Nintendo Wii? No way! He’s 26-year-old. The name “Wii” certainly isn’t common in Japan, and the kanji characters used in his name mean “universe” and “will power”. And picking the “Wii” English spelling, however, was just “creativity” on his mother’s part, says Yatani. What did Wii Yatani think when Nintendo dubbed its new console the Wii instead of the Revolution?

I thought it was weird Nintendo would go with that. I thought it sounded really gimmicky and too cutesy.

Now when he meets people, Wii says, “My name is Wii. I’m the original”. And while he got pee-pee jokes as a kid, friends now ask him: “Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?” Oh, the hilarity.

A Man Named Wii Describes How Nintendo’s Game Console Changed His Life [MTV News]