Here's an interesting one.
Siliconera has dug up what it claims to be a Japanese trademark for the term "
Zii," and contrary to what you may expect, the application wasn't filed by
Creative. We double checked the database, and sure enough, the paperwork went through on October 30th -- which almost certainly means that this was more than just some day-late attempt to fend off the next-generation of
KIRF Wii consoles. There's obviously no way to tell what the Big N has in mind here, nor if this will cause any kind of friction between it and Creative, but we'll certainly be keeping an ear to the ground for more. Who knows -- maybe the Zii is that
HD Wii we've all been clamoring for since November of 2006. Or maybe it's
nothing at all.
Update: We've done a bit more digging, and it looks as if this here filing may simply be a renewal of a 2006 trademark request. Moreover, we've found Nintendo trademarks in Japan for Cii, Bii, Oii and Yii, so it seems the company may just be on some sort of rampage in order to cover its tracks in one form or another.
posted December 15th 2009 8:25AM
NINTENDO! Stick with Wii in the name! Wii 2 or WiiHD seriously!
@Pookiewood
Super Wii?
or the SWiiET, Super Wii Entertainment System
@JXCGunrunna Yes! ANYTHING!!! Hell give me the WiiWiiRemix and I'll be happy!
Hasten slowly and Yii shall soon arrive
@Pookiewood
Wikka-Wikka-Wii, yo?
@Pookiewood
Eh, I hate the Playstation tradition of tacking a number to a name. I'd like the next Nintendo to, I dunno, actually take a second or two to think of a name before they charge me two-and-a-half Benjie's. Just sayin.
Creative has a habit of forgetting to trade mark their product names. Either that or they just don't feel like it's worth their effort. Once upon a time, they released a tiny mp3 player named the Nano.
Imagine the money that could have been earned via that law suit.
Nintendo is such a sad babyish company..
@MoonWalkerCTE Well at least they didn't use a Muppet Nose on their Motion Controller like another Company.
@MoonWalkerCTE
Too funny that your comment was made while you've got the worlds most famous child molester as your avatar pic.
Zii already is a trademark
Standard corporate shotgun brand copyright protecting. Keeps the interns in the Legal Dept busy. They do the same with URLs.
Nothing to see here... move along.
I hope the next Nintendo console will not only be in HD, but also have an HDD (or other form or large storage - SSD anyone?), better friend system and an "Achievements" equivalent. Having said all that, we like ours quite a bit and play it often, even as-is.
They should call the next version the Wii Wii.
@tlmck fun fun
@tlmck YES !!! You can buy the Wii Wii exclusively from Huggies !
They should go for "Xii" if they really want to confuse the issue.
I bet you didn't Zii that coming.
wasnt there some wii ripoff called zii or vii or something?
Hey Creative, ya hear that sound? Ya, you're right - it kinda sounds like a bitch slap doesn't it? But hey, don't fret, I did some proactive thinking...the name ZiiNano is still still for sale. Call me and "I give good deal"! We'll work something out.
Uh, mii mii gots to go pii pii cause mii mii forgots to trademark the zii zii...
i guess the nintendo's zii is only valid in japan...
Zii would like to play
It's clearly for the Lil Wayne branded Wii Zii.
@decypherSMC Nice! LOL!
My favorite one of these trademarks was !!M. I would provide a link but that's not very Google-friendly.
Check out http://www.zii.com - looks like the new iPhone killer :)
@(Unverified)
Why do we want to kill the iPhone? It is something that people want to beat, and that pushes better products out there. If it actually gets killed, then we'll have a new phone that people like mainly because it's the new "thing."
I await the release of my new Nintendo Yii!
@(Unverified)
Yii will have to wait and Zii.
HDii?
To me, it seems like they had to trademark the name "Wii", but they didn't want to out the name. So, they file trademarks for a few similar names to mask it. Now, the name "Zii" is somewhat valuable, they decided to renew it.
I think that Nintendo should call the next Wii... DRUM ROLL PLEASE...
THE WINTENDO NII! (Just kidding about the NII)