Popping up in the news again today, Nintendo president Saturo Iwata has spoken out concerning the wealth of criticism and contentious opinion levelled at the renaming of the Codename: Revolution to Nintendo Wii. Speaking at a Tokyo press conference, Iwata stated, "I have never thought the name [Wii] was a mistake. Some people seem to have a problem with it now, but I think they’ll grow to like it." Iwata also went on to compare the current Wii furore with that experienced when Nintendo first revealed the Game Boy, which was equally criticised through suggestions that its brand name excluded girl gamers—a notion that certainly didn’t prevent the Game Boy from becoming a truly massive global success.

Iwata’s defence of ‘Wii’ comes after similar defensive comments made by Nintendo’s UK boss, David Yarnton, who recently spoke to Eurogamer TV and said, "[Wii is] a very simple word that we’ve created to come across with that message to everyone."

Regardless of its name (Wii, Poo, Kaka, Boobies—whatever), Nintendo’s new console promises so much more than merely a contentious brand name. If it delivers on those promises then the pinch of embarrassment felt by (English speaking) consumers when buying one will certainly be well worth the trade off.