"Hello, boys and girls. God here. You know: the guy who lives on a cloud, and made everything. If it wasn't for Me you wouldn't have computer games, so... y'know... better give Me some respect, ya dirty shits. "Did you know that the computer game machines that you love so much were all once known by different names? That's right - they were, and I'm going to tell you all about those original names in the article below. "I also thought it might be fun along the way to tell you some of the in-development working names I gave to some of the fauna I created. That'll be fun won't it? Dirty shits." |
Interestingly, Hi-Toro was forced to change its name after it was discovered that a Japanese lawnmower company had already trademarked the Toro brand. Amiga - Spanish for 'female friend' - was chosen because it sounded friendly and approachable.
During the time Lorraine was attached to Atari, the company nicknamed the hardware Mickey - as Atari was working at the time with Disney.
The machine which went on to become the Atari ST went through various codenames, some more official than others, including Project Jason (named after the system's designer Jason Loveman), and the Jackintosh (a portmanteau of Atari boss Jack Tramiel, and Macintosh, which many pointing to how closely the operating system resembled that of the Apple Mac).
It was almost released as the Ultra Famicon, before that became the Ultra 64 (because it was a 64-bit system). Eventually, the company settled on Nintendo 64 - suggested by Shigesato Itoi, creator of the Earthbound/Mother RPG series.
He once stated: "A lot of people had Game Boys at the time and would just refer to the console as a Nintendo... (Nintendo 64 is) a name that sounds like it didn't take any thought to come up with, so it was tough getting paid for it!"
Nice work if you can get it.
The Dreamcast project actually began life under the codename Blackbelt, while the console's main board was dubbed Whitebelt. Running concurrently with the Blackbelt development was another project called Dural (after the fighter from Sega's Virtua Fighter series).
Ultimately, Sega folded Blackbelt into Dural, angering 3DFX - whose graphics chip would've been utilised for the proposed Blackbelt-based console. It proved to be a costly decision for Sega - just one in a long legacy of bad decisions - which was forced to pay $10.5 million in compensation.
Dreamcast - a blend of dream and broadcast - was chosen as the system's final branding, hiding the beleaguered Sega name as much as possible.
After talking to a disinterested Sega about a potential partnership, Sony was forced to go it alone, intending to release their standalone system under the PS-X branding. However, focus group testing reportedly responded negatively to the name, leading Sony to return to the original name.
Confusingly, Sony later released a digital video recorder, with a built-in PlayStation 2, called the PSX.
The codename was referenced in a number of Gamecube games - including Pikmin (the spaceship belonging to the big-nosed main character is called Dolphin) and Super Mario Sunshine's Isle Delfino. Nintendo's design brief for the Gamecube - the name inspired by that design - was to make something small, cute, and desirable.
The console was designed around Windows-based DirectX technology, but Microsoft's marketing team objected to it. Drawing up a list of alternative names for the purposes of gauging consumer interest, the marketing gurus left the name Xbox on the list to prove how unpopular it would be. However, during focus group-testing, it was by far the most popular name on the list. Marketing gurus are idiots.
When Nintendo revealed the official name as Wii, it generated a wave of puerile, urine-based, jokes. However, Nintendo stuck to its guns, pointing to how Wii suggested it would be a system "for everyone", and that the logo was designed to resemble both two people standing side-by-side and the Wiimote/nunchuck controllers. Ultimately, Nintendo had the last laugh.
The NX codename was dreamt up by late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. When asked about its meaning in 2015, following Iwata's death, his successor Tatsumi Kimishima stated: "I don't believe that there's any real meaning behind it, and to be perfectly honest, I don't know where it came from. Or perhaps [late Nintendo president] Mr. Iwata had meant to tell me and then never got the chance."
Good story.