|
Post by Da Robot on Nov 29, 2012 4:15:18 GMT -5
Okay the Wii U has been out for more than a week in the US, and out tommorow for PAL regions . . . We had Nintendo say they would learn their lesson about name confusion from the DS-3DS issue . . . But the thing is, it doesn't look like Nintendo's marketing (at least in the US) is working if this massive twitter reaction image shows www.notenoughshaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/wiiu-marketing-is-working.jpgThe question is . . . how many people have you encounted that are confused about what the Wii U is? * (like people thinking it's a touch screen controller/add on for the Wii instead of a new console with new controller) (The Canada exclusive Wii Mini probably won't help either) Even compare the Wii U NA tv ad to the UK tv ad which actually states that it's a brand new console. Even a Japanese Wii U ad called it a "Super Wii."
|
|
|
Post by Dances in Undergarments on Nov 29, 2012 6:47:10 GMT -5
I've mentioned this before, but the name is fucking awful. Nintendo spent ages teaching us that DS + a random letter = not a new console, but then DS + a number before it = a new console, and now, Wii + a random letter = a new console. Absolutely fucking stupid.
A mate of mine thought it was a Wii add-on. He is obviously far from alone.
|
|
|
Post by nocturnal YL on Nov 29, 2012 14:01:21 GMT -5
The UK ad is very clear, no problem. Japan calls it a super-ified Wii, and unless you actually believe the Wii console can transform, there should be no misunderstanding that it's a new system. The US ad, on the other hand, puts too much attention to the controller.
And yeah, it's an awful name. Either give it a new name, or call it something like Wii 2. As if DSi and 3DS aren't confusing enough. Nintendo kept switching between calling 3DS part of and not part of the DS series too, so it's not just the name itself that's confusing.
Wii U sounds really silly too, but that has nothing to do with confusion.
|
|
|
Post by Shrikeswind on Nov 30, 2012 14:01:24 GMT -5
Especially jarring: The Wii U Transfer Tool explicitly tells you what's going on if you just read its description in the Wii Shop Channel. Problem is, you'll probably be downloading for an entirely different reason and COMPLETELY miss the Wii U Transfer Tool because they don't advertise it and it's effectively buried in other channels like Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube.
|
|
|
Post by Da Robot on Dec 12, 2012 6:17:24 GMT -5
Might want to just rename this thread "Nintendo name product confusion thread" after reading this . . . On the Amazon.UK page for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (for the 3DS) , there happens to be a whole bunch of 1 star reviews (17 of them!) for the game. Why? Because they were disappointed that the game does not work on the their "regular" NDS system. (There's also 1 star reviews on the Amazon.US page for the same reason) Even more annoyingly enough some believe . . . - It's a marketing ploy to get people to buy the 3DS. - The message on the game's cover "playable in 2D and 3D" means to them "it must work on the regular DS because it plays in 2D!" - Some seem to be confusing "3D graphics" and "3D stereoscopic" of the 3DS. - Some believe they can't turn off the 3D on a 3DS. - The 3DS is not backwards compatible with DS games (causing them to believe they can't sell/trade in their NDS for money to buy a 3DS) - That the DS has not been out that long, or even understand the progress of Nintendo's handheld technology. (eg progress from Game Boy to now). - And the funniest comment of them all, the US owner who sawed off the little plastic protrusion of the 3DS game card to get it to fit into the original DS. It did not work.(Info comes from the forums on each page ( UK, US). The worst part about it, most of these reviews are from past month, consumers still don't get the message about what's different between a DS and 3DS even more than a 1.5 years after it's release. I wonder what the "consumer mis/understanding" of the Wii U will be like in that time . . .
|
|
|
Post by Shrikeswind on Dec 14, 2012 23:53:37 GMT -5
It's difficult to say, but I think Nintendo needs to change how they name consoles in general. It worked back when Nintendo didn't release fifty different versions of the same console, they could get away with tacking "Super" to the front because it was an entirely different console. But after they started suffixing consoles (Gameboy Advance SP, DS Lite, DSi,) it's like, "Okay, so this isn't a new console" and so when you see "Wii U" or "3DS," which basically do the same thing, you come to the same conclusion. "This isn't a new console," even though it is.
And it's as much the marketing style they've been using this generation (at least) as it is the suffixing. The ads aren't really that great at indicating that the new version of the console is just that, a version of the console, so it seems like the new version of the console is a new console. And now it's coming back to bite them in the ass: They're using a VERY similar marketing style, and the consoles are similar, and there's no indication that the console is a new one, and the casual gamers, the ones who don't keep up with this, don't get that, and...well, this is what happens.
Basically, it boils down to this: The Wii/DS marketing style worked...for the Wii and the DS. But it does not work for the Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo needs to make it clear: The Wii U and 3DS are distinct hardware from the Wii and DS. They aren't makeovers. I think Nintendo needs to change how they market these consoles, since it's too late to rename them, and in the future, change their naming methods.
|
|
|
Post by Da Robot on Dec 19, 2012 1:47:10 GMT -5
ABC News has reported on a large shipment of "Wii Consoles" (7000 of them worth $2 million). abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/12/thieves-steal-2m-worth-of-wii-consoles/The reason why I'm saying "Wii Consoles" is because ABC can't seem to understand the difference between a Wii and Wii U and keeps using them two names interchangably and even at one point says "portable Wii consoles", than links to a Wii U review and than mentions "Wii reatails for $300" Come on, even a mainstream media outlet can't even get the name right.
|
|
|
Post by Dances in Undergarments on Dec 19, 2012 7:36:36 GMT -5
Just to play devil's advocate, Wii U consoles would be a subset of "Wii consoles" though, would they not? Just as Playstation 3 consoles are "Playstation Consoles", Xbox 360s are "Xbox Consoles", etc.
|
|