RSS Feeds
wii
Wii Thought Wii Sounded 'Gimmicky' and 'Cutesy'
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 3:00 PM on August 14, 2008
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]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Bitten_Dead
Posted 3:22 PM 14/8/08
"Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?" Oh, the hilarity.
I don't get it...
Bitten_Dead
Fadakar
Posted 3:16 PM 14/8/08
@Scottendo: ZEY DO NAWTING.
Fadakar
Scottendo
Posted 3:15 PM 14/8/08
I really miss the Revolution speculation back in the day.
Oh, nostalgia goggles..
Scottendo
PhantomBlack
Posted 3:12 PM 14/8/08
That is pretty awesome.
PhantomBlack
karasu is my homeboy
Posted 3:09 PM 14/8/08
@LittleBigPlaneteer: Oh man. Why must you bring up the effing amazing past. :(
It would be awesome if his middle name was Revolution. Sure, that's not a common name but neither is Wii. So let me dream.
karasu is my homeboy
Chanthas
Posted 3:07 PM 14/8/08
He should claim that Nintendo named the console after him.
Chanthas
superfrogsavestokyo
Posted 3:06 PM 14/8/08
I actually like Wii as a name because of what his parents intended it to mean. Maybe that's the real reason why the Wii is so popular...
Nintendo doesn't need high end gpu's to push the console, they have the universe's will on its side. :o
superfrogsavestokyo
LittleBigPlaneteer
Posted 3:03 PM 14/8/08
He should change his name to Revolution to complete the circle of irony
LittleBigPlaneteer
scotty
Posted 3:03 PM 14/8/08
So they didn't name the Wii after 'we' after all!
It was just a hint that it'll sell across the universe!
So brilliant.
scotty
Wahrheit
Posted 3:50 PM 14/8/08
My name is Universe Willpower and I'm not a Sailor scout attack, an energy drink, or waggle-friendly.
Wahrheit
denki
Posted 3:42 PM 14/8/08
"Wii" taken as the romanticized spelling is a little wierd, considering that it doesn't use the archaic Japanese ゐ, "wi." But then again, "Ui" would also be wierd - I think that Wii was not born in Japan, as the Japanese gov't has some pretty crazy strict rules about romantization of Japanese names- why people with names of "Ootaka" are seen with it spelled just "Otaka" - America will let you do near anything, so that is why his name is "Wii." For anyone wondering, this is Wii's kanji, 宇意
denki
NeVeRMoRe666
Posted 3:41 PM 14/8/08
@Canuckssleepinthenude: I wonder if he thinks he's "gimmicky and too cutesy".
What an EGOMANIAC!
NeVeRMoRe666
KaliKOtt
Posted 3:39 PM 14/8/08
Wii would be a good marketing guy for Nintendo Wii
KaliKOtt
Canuckssleepinthenude
Posted 3:36 PM 14/8/08
"I thought it sounded really gimmicky and too cutesy. "
An odd statement of someone that shares the name. I guess I need more insight into what he thinks of his own name though. I do wonder...
Canuckssleepinthenude
akumaserge
Posted 3:35 PM 14/8/08
@LittleBigPlaneteer:
I nominate this for the comment of the week. ...Now how exactly do you do it? Just like that?
akumaserge
dady5000
Posted 3:33 PM 14/8/08
@Bitten_Dead:
Your too young son... you'll get it eventually.
dady5000
Simple_Man
Posted 3:30 PM 14/8/08
@Bitten_Dead: It means he has no friends. Yeah.
Simple_Man
AcidCrownie
Posted 3:29 PM 14/8/08
And here I was thinking that Wii was just a name derived from the misspelling of an English word.
So, was Wii (the console) just a random name, or did the Nintendudes do the whole Kanji thing with it, too. Cause that Kanji meaning is...prophetic...to say the least.
AcidCrownie
carsonpwns
Posted 3:29 PM 14/8/08
When they announced the "Revolution", I was actually hyped up about it.... until Nintendo renamed it the Wii =\
Still, I feel sorry for this guy =P
carsonpwns
urutapu
Posted 4:14 PM 14/8/08
So is his name actually "Ui" or "Ii"?
urutapu
cokpendejo
Posted 3:56 PM 14/8/08
It's like my uncle sunny, who used to be big in the mob until these Yakuza guys moved in with all their SONY stuff and his name lost all its street cred.
cokpendejo
Mr.Bates
Posted 4:30 PM 14/8/08
Well, it took him forever to come out of the woodwork. He must've been busy.
Mr.Bates
urutapu
Posted 4:17 PM 14/8/08
@urutapu: Okay, actually reading tells me it's "Ui". Haha I'm stupid.
urutapu
shrek187
Posted 5:10 PM 14/8/08
@LittleBigPlaneteer: It would be more ironic if his last name is waggle.
shrek187
electricsashimi
Posted 6:29 PM 14/8/08
Now his gf can say
Wii, can we go home and play with ur WII.
Wii as in PENIS!
HA!
electricsashimi
GodKiller1
Posted 7:05 PM 14/8/08
They should give him deals and such
GodKiller1
shrek187
Posted 6:55 PM 14/8/08
@electricsashimi: PINGASH
shrek187
thewisestfool
Posted 8:23 PM 14/8/08
So, um, he's called "Wii". And that's it? Well, uh, congratulations!
thewisestfool
teh_joe
Posted 10:59 PM 14/8/08
@: "...a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
a little bill shakespeare for ya'll.
teh_joe
Posted 11:24 PM 14/8/08
I'm getting tired of my wii. It seems more like a novelity now that I'm older.
Posted 11:23 PM 14/8/08
so how is it written in japanese for us who are japanese literate?
宇意 ?
i dont know if japanese will post on here so lets find out!
L_K_M
Posted 12:09 AM 15/8/08
"Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?"
Achievement: First time a Wii pun was actually vaguely clever.
@ Momentarylogic: Can't tell if that's supposed to be a pun or if you're serious.
L_K_M
Awoken
Posted 12:15 AM 15/8/08
that was a great line a the end there Brian.
Awoken
.em.
Posted 4:41 AM 15/8/08
"Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?"
LOL.
I like how his mom came up with the name.
.em.
Posted 6:39 AM 15/8/08
Hey! I've been to that park in NY:
[img231.imageshack.us]
EnigmaNemesis
Posted 6:29 AM 15/8/08
Wii sounded straight Apple marketing to me.
EnigmaNemesis
NeoStarr
Posted 12:57 AM 16/8/08
I know a kid named X-Box. He's much better looking but not as approachable.
NeoStarr