What the Wii?

Out of the blue, Nintendo announced today that it's new console, set for release this holiday season, will not be called the Revolution, but "Wii" (pronounced "we"). If the goal was to get a catchy shorthand term to compete with PS3 and 360, they may as well have gone with "WTF?"

That's certainly been the reaction of the gaming community in the hours since the announcement, but then, the Wii's remote-control style, motion sensor controller sparked similar debate. Nintendo, seemingly driven crazy by the defeat of the GameCube at the hands of Microsoft and Sony, is going way off on its own now. This can be a very good thing for gamers, and if the beloved DS is any indication of the company's direction, the Wii could open up new realms of innovation and immersion. On the other hand, it could also spell complete disaster. If the Wii's motion detection works as erratically as the "Donkey Konga" bongo drums or the screwy voice command software in "Odama," the system could be an outright failure. Of course, better to be an interesting failure than a lame, unexciting stillbirth, as the Xbox 360 has sadly proven to be in its first half year of existence.

I'm expecting exciting things out of the Wii, regardless of its weirdly new-agey spelling and unfortunate soundalike to a bodily function. The console is looking more promising by the day, especially after the announcement of strong third-party support that wholeheartedly embraces new playing styles, including "Red Steel" from Ubisoft and "Madden Revolution" from EA.

So what's in a name? Less than you'd think. What matters is that Nintendo delivers a superb system, there's no 360-like shortage throughout the holiday season and the price is under $200. Most importantly, there absolutely needs to be killer-ap games available out of the gate. Call it the Crapulator 1000 if they want, just give me a new Mario Kart... And wi-fi Super Tecmo Bowl wouldn't hurt either.