You can take a look at the announcement page on Nintendo's Revolution Website. What you'll find there is about all anyone knows at the moment for sure.
Nintendo's website suggests that they're all into the symbolism of their new name. The two i's represent connection. They represent a new way of playing games.
Which made me start to wonder, what's with the "W"?
In the flash animation Nintendo currently has on their Revolution website, the two i's can do everything from dodge bullets to play ping-pong four at a time. They can tackle each other and morph into each other almost like a virus agent in The Matrix.
All of it suggests that you better like the Wii name, because those ii's might just be able to beat the crap out of you.
But it begs the question: What's with the W?
The W's Secret Move:
Watching the Wii introduction animation got me thinking: the ii's seem to have all the fun, while the W just sort of shuffles off at the start of the show. Is he just uninteresting? Has he no special powers?Then something occurred to me; the W isn't the uninteresting one. Of course not. He's the big bad capital end guy. The one that you have to knock down three times in order to kill, but who has all the really big guns. He's like The Joker at the end of a Batman movie, or Lex Luther, or Princess Toadstool at the end of a Mario title. Mean and scary and always causing trouble.
He's the guy you face at the end of the level, after you defeat his horde of minion ii's. And all main bad guys have super secret moves. Everyone knows that.
After that occurred to me, the video made sense, but seemed incomplete. Throughout the entire animation, the W is just standing off screen, his arms crossed over his chest while the ii's dance around. He's the ring leader. We're all just waiting around to see what his cool new move is.
You better like the new name, because while the ii's might come out of the screen and pester your feet with ping-pong balls, the W probably has some sort of death ray. So be afraid. And don't criticize.
The Wii of the Future:
Joking aside, it looks like Nintendo has decided that the Revolution had to go away, and the Wii had to take its place. Pronounced "We", the new name is already drawing mixed reactions from the online community. People, it seems, were well attached to their Revolutions.Nintendo states on their website that Wii was chosen not only because it is distinct from any other console coming down the road, but also because it's equally recognizable across language barriers.
That's all fine and dandy, of course... until it turns out that Wii is one of the ancient Words of Curse, just like Mecrab. Every South Park fan knows what will happen then, and it's not pretty.
Wii has the distinctive ability to be easily recognizable in every language, and easily pronounced for the first time in almost none. If you know how to say Wii in advance, that works fine, but someone reading it on the page for the first time will produce all sorts of ill-conceived sounds.
Regardless, the Wii is here to stay. Maybe it will grow on us. Hello W. Hello ii's.
So long Revolution.