The Name of Nintendo: A Double-edged Sword

Nintendo has its name on and uses its name to market its devices all the time. Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Nintendo. Nintendo 64. Nintendo Gamecube. At least in North America, they really made it a point of sticking that "Nintendo" in front of Gamecube, because they knew that "Gamecube" was not a marketable name. Nintendo DS and 3DS were known more without "Nintendo," as well as the Wii and Wii U, but they have brought it back with Nintendo Switch. Just calling it the Switch would be very ambiguous.

Is it a good idea, though? As much as the word "Nintendo" garners respect and nostalgia, it garners shame and ridicule as well. Nintendo is known as the kiddy company, like Disney, or McDonald's. It is a double-edged sword, but sometimes the edge that faces them is more powerful, or cuts deeper.

If you try to sell a mature-rated game like Doom on Nintendo Switch, it is not going to sell as well because the console is not associated with such games. The masses love to compartmentalize, stereotype, and simplify everything. You even see it amongst Nintendo-fans. If you ask a random Nintendo-fan what his or her favorite games are on NS, they will list off Nintendo-games like Zelda and Mario, or Nintendo-like games that are family-friendly and colorful like Stardew Valley. Rarely do I ever see people list games like Fast RMX or Doom.

If you look at the competition, they don't stick their company's name on the beginning of their consoles. Xbox One is never called Microsoft Xbox One. PlayStation 4 is never called Sony PlayStation 4. The iPhone is not called the Apple iPhone. Nintendo missed a big opportunity to create a new IP that they could iterate on for decades to come without sticking their name in front of. The situation is salvageable, however. If they were smart, they will call their next system Nintendo Switch 2, or NS2 for short.

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