The importance of naming (and why Nintendo can't afford to get it wrong again)

Names, eh? They can be pretty polarising.

Having settled on Beth for our impending child's name, upon sight of our first born something just didn't seem right? That short, soft word and this new human's physical form simply didn't fit. So after some much needed sleep, the next day she became an Evie. Still four letters. Still a girls name from the past. Yet somehow infinitely more apt.

Subjective opinion is expected with any name. Sometimes, you get used to them and a moniker you thought to be ridiculous at first can seem perfectly sane within 10 minutes: Super Furry Animals. Joy Orbison. Cillit bang. Deliveroo.

And occasionally you strike gold with it: Marilyn Manson as a couplet does a superb job of communicating the beauty and the beast contradiction in that artist's theatrical music. The Kraken perfectly symbolises the brand aim to 'sink the Captain [Morgan]'. We struck gold at Jkr by advising the client to call Stella's offering Cidre, not cider, giving a brand known for its lager permissibility to make something entirely different. And The Dark Knight was risky for not using the word Batman in the title, but was judged by critics more credibly for it.

The bigger issue is when a name is confusing.

In my spare time, I like to play videogames (Yeah yeah, I know... I can hear the audible groans... but chances are if you're under 40, you do too). I sometimes even write about them for Vice. I personally find the interactive aspect of the genres I play far often more engaging than watching TV: Tomb Raider, the Zelda series, Ico, Mario Maker, Portal, 80 Days, Monument Valley, Captain Toad, Hitman Go... all titles that involve solving a conundrum in some form.

The connection between the importance of a good name and gaming is down to Nintendo imminently announcing their new platform, currently code named NX. Rumours suggest it'll be a portable device you can play on the go, but which will connect to the TV when you get home for large screen experiences.

(Mock up visual of concept via NeoGAF user Pittree)

I find this event fascinating for two reasons. Firstly, I haven't jumped into this latest console generation yet, so I want to purchase one of these systems early 2017. Moreover, I own a Wii U, the current Nintendo home console, and I want to see how they handle this launch given how they killed the Wii U at birth.

Some context. The Wii U is largely regarded as Nintendo's biggest failure. It has some of the finest games I've ever experienced on it, but the Japanese giant did a truly woeful job of launching it. Everyone left their E3 unveiling of it confused by what it was.

(Nintendo's Wii U console as shown at launch - now usually seen in black to differentiate from Nintendo Wii)

The confusion came from its connection to its predecessor, the Wii. You can see how they got to the name Wii U, and I suspect it involved research and lots of opinions. The Wii had been a global phenomenon, selling more than anyone foresaw, so to drop it entirely arguably didn't make sense. But their failure to do so meant no one really knew what this new device was.

Even as a gamer and follower of the industry, I was baffled. Given previous peripherals on the Wii were called the Wii mote, the Wii Zapper, the Wii Balance Board, etc this latest one merely felt like another. And that's a shame, as playing games on the controller's screen whilst your family watch TV in the same room was insanely forward thinking back in 2011 and a behaviour that's becoming the norm; it's just that they failed to ever communicate that.

So if I'm a casual gamer, which Nintendo believe the majority of Wii gamers were, then I'm seemingly being asked to go out and spend ￡300 on an add on for a machine I have barely touched in years.

The U part didn't help either. I applaud Nintendo for not merely resorting to a 2, 3 or 4 like Sony but using that U cemented a mistaken opinion about the brand: it's only for kids. Some of the launch games were pretty great. Wii U Party was a fun party game but the box looked identical to the Wii offering. New Super Mario Bros U hardly rolled off the tongue. Whereas Ubisoft's ZombiU was a taut, terrifying experience that showed exactly what could be done with the technology. But in placing that uppercase U on the end, it cheapened the quality of the game and made it appear childish.

With the casual audience unaware of what it was and the gaming community put off by the poor sales and childish image, the Wii U bombed. So much so that Nintendo essentially cut off developing for it after 2 and a half years and diverted most of the efforts towards the new machine - NX.

So there's a lot of pressure on Nintendo to get this right. Gamers often talk about the machine needing to be super powerful like the recently announced PlayStation Pro, but I doubt it will be. Nintendo won't make a loss on their consoles like Sony do to shift them, so it's going to be older and cheaper tech. Where the brand has historically done best is in giving families and gamers colourful, inventive experiences by thinking outside the box and creating a phenomenon.

NX needs to communicate what that experience is and why you should care from the outset. And as with any new brand, the name is going to play a huge role in making that possible.

#nintendo #nintendonx #naming #gaming #videogames #branding