We all had a good laugh when Nintendo revealed it was making a console called the Wii, then we got over it and awful people kept the joke going for the next few years. But before anyone's had a chance to come up with a compelling “Wii U” pun, the developer may be changing the system's name – if a listing on Nintendo of Japan's website, spotted over on NeoGAF, is anything to go by.
My Nintendo speculates that the rebrand, if it's genuine, may be an effort on Nintendo's part to reduce consumer confusion – which is a sensible enough idea, because “Wii” and “Wii U” are literally one letter apart and the last thing anyone wants to do is alienate the “moneyed and easily-confused” demographic. And after the 3DS' rocky launch, more console launch panic from Nintendo had speculations of a rebrand running wild (or at least, wild enough for us to mention it in passing).
But then, “Wii Entertainment System” is hardly a quantum leap away from “Wii U” in terms of cohesive nomenclature – you could argue it's less obvious, what with the Wii is already a system that people get entertainment from – and this listing is hardly concrete confirmation of a brand-reboot for the company's next. Good news for awful people, then, who for the time being can get back to brainstorming those “Wii U” jokes they were so close to nailing.
