I was absolutely convinced that the Wii switch was a publicity stunt, and that at E3, Nintendo was going to tell us we got punk'd. How could they possibly think this was anything but ridiculous, nonsensical, offputting? I was genuinely surprised when there was no such announcement at E3.

Regardless, I doubt highly that they would dare change it yet again, but the rumors are flowing like wine:

We have received over 200,000 e-mails with complaints about the Wii, and the console name has been commonly associated with urine. We have been the target of many jokes, and we strongly believe that it's a bad thing for the company's reputation.

This from a mysterious "Mike" at the Nintendo marketing department. Nintendo vehemently denies the mere suggestion that they are considering other names, and dares you to say that to their face.

I could not reach Nintendo for comment on this particular post, but as soon as I got tired of their hold music (a Limp Bizkit cover of the Yoshi's Island theme) and hung up, I got a text message from Joel that just said: "get laptop & leve hous now dnt look outsde gt out now!!1"

I started to hear scrabblings at my door, and recognized the potent aroma of Nintendo fanboy wafting up from the street. Thank god for my innate ability to scale vertical surface using an exuded sort of bio-glue on my fingertips, or I never would have escaped.

Thanks Joel for the warning, and for reminding me to bring my laptop so that even in terrified exile, I can update your goddamned site.

More here [GamesforWii, via NintendoGossip]

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