Is Nintendo Wii-ing on us?

Why do I feel like the Nintendo Wii could just be a big scam which Nintendo did to hype up the Nintendo Revolution AS MUCH AS IT IS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE? And it seems that I'm not the only one… Kotaku did a little feature suggesting this fact…

"Crazy? Here is the first clue, “By letting the gaming community vent now about the name, they will be less distracted as launch titles for the system are announced and initial reports about what it’s like to play the games begin to come in.” Allowing your audience time to vent is not SOP in a name announcement, and also telegraphs that Nintendo knows what a stinker this name would be.

Second, it’s not possible to engineer a worse name for this product.

Third, and this is a big one, there are no trademarks registered by Nintendo nor by any dummy corp in the U.S or over there for Wii. This is unprecedented for Nintendo and it is not possible that his is an oversight. If Wii were the name, they would have registered it. In fact, no new trademarks have been registered by Nintendo at all. This leads us to conclude that Nintendo has in fact registered the real name under a dummy corp, which is SOP when trying to keep a name a secret prior to launch." – Kotaku

Update: This just in from Nintendo on the subject of the missing Wii trademark: “Nintendo has filed many trademark applications for Wii. Trademark Web sites often take time to update, and you can expect the Wii trademarks to appear shortly.”

Update: Seems like Wii was genuine after all. Hey, I only posted his to see what the reaction would be.
Kotaku: Did Nintendo Punk Us with Wii? 

Wii’re joking…

Well, they do say the Wii is good at streaming…

See more (and some even in support of the Wii!) at Sideath's Flickr.

Wii Explained

Methinks Nintendo Has some explaining to do. And as we still scratched our head, so Game Informer spoke with Nintendo of America's Public Relations Manager Matt Atwood to get Nintendo's explanation of what the name was really about. If it was about anything.

Nintendo Wii Q & A With PR Manager Matt Atwood

Source: Game Informer

Nintendo Wii?

Revolution has a new name!

As in “we.”

While the code-name “Revolution” expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer.

Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else.

Wii will put people more in touch with their games … and each other. But you’re probably asking: What does the name mean?

Wii sounds like “we,” which emphasizes this console is for everyone.

Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.

Wii has a distinctive “ii” spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play.

And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of video games that sets it apart from the crowd.

So that’s Wii. But now Nintendo needs you.

Because, it’s really not about you or me.

It’s about Wii.

And together, Wii will change everything.

O-K…

Hmm… Interesting…

*EDIT* Apologizes to everyone for the huge Wii beforehand. It's now been fixed.

Nintendo of Europe
revolution.nintendo.com

Wikipedia Article

Threads: 4cr – Weebles Stuff 

You really can buy anything…

Thanks to the magic of eBay, that's become a real possibility. A user "pricklymustard" has listed an auction to purchase your very own videogame development team.

The setup? For a starting bid of $150k (£83,800) or a BuyItNow price of $200k (£111,700), the winner will receive a dedicated staff of 7-15 from a un-named Portland based development studio to work exclusively on whatever the bidder desires for a full 90 days. While the auction doesn't promise a full retail product, it does mention that the staff will work within the confines of your design to complete "playable demo, proof of concept, or machinima trailer."

Through some clever snooping, Modern Savant convincingly deduces that the studio behind the stunt is Tesseraction Games, home to former Dynamix staff and developers of naval sim Enigma.

As yet there of course hasn't been anything more than curious sniffing, and while the studio likely reckons that will continue, it is perhaps the most creative sidestep of the publisher funding model we've yet seen.

Source: Edge Online

Enigma Machine on eBay

Looks like you really can buy anything.

Genuine World War 2 Enigma 3 Walzen Chiffriermaschine Chiper Weltkrieg machine on eBay

<UPDATE>

Just sold for 55,500 Euros… although the buyer doesn't look very genuine… I mean… 0 feedback? 

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Nintendo has announced the development of a new Zelda adventure hitting Nintendo DS. The game has visuals mixing the 3D cel shading beauty of the Wind Waker and the crisp sprite work of the Minish Cap to create the “Phantom Hourglass”.
The title will have touch screen interaction as well as traditional Zelda gameplay elements.

Joystiq Video Footage

Phantom Hourglass Slideshow