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Nintendo said yesterday that the next-generation game console it has been developing under the code name Revolution would be given what the company believes is a revolutionary name: Wii.

Pronounced "we" — or in the French market, "oui" — Wii replaces what had always been a working title for Nintendo’s new system, which will go head-to-head with Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 console and Sony’s coming PlayStation 3.

Sony announced last month that it was delaying the release of its new machine until November. Wii is expected to go on sale about the same time.

The name was developed over six months in Japan.

A Nintendo spokeswoman said it was meant to indicate that "Wii is a platform for everyone — not just the gamer or the nongamer."

The dual "i" is intended to suggest Wii’s game controller, a tall, thin white unit reminiscent of a television remote control. Used with one hand, the controller is motion-sensitive: players will swing the remote to simulate play in a golf or tennis game, for example.

"NGage and Gizmondo are cool names," said Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, referring to previous products aimed at gamers. "But consumers relate to the coolness of the product, not the name."

Games for the new console are expected to be previewed next month at the Electronic Entertaiment Expo, the annual video-game trade show in Los Angeles.

via nyt.