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I like the Xbox Series X name, but I feel like this is another Wii U branding disaster in the making

Is the branding for the console going to be confusing?

  • Yes

    Votes: 1,896 63.5%

  • No

    Votes: 1,088 36.5%
  • Total voters
    2,984

Deleted member 58846

User requested account closure
Banned
Jul 28, 2019
5,086
I'm actually personally a fan of "Series X" as a name for multiple reasons:
  • It works in a post-iPhone world
  • It conveys a family of devices better than past console names have
  • It sounds marketable because it's "cool"
But one very fair point I have seen raised is the utter brand confusion it could cause, vis-a-vis Wii and Wii U, and that... is a good point, I think.

One of the most catastrophic mistakes in branding the Wii U that Nintendo made was going with a console name that wasn't obviously denoting a new, improved console. "Wii U" could mean anything; in fact, given that we had received a tablet peripheral for the Wii called "uTab", and that the Wii U's central push was on the tablet controller, the confusion surrounding the status of the Wii U - with many, if not most, confusing it as a new peripheral for the existing Wii console - was almost inevitable in hindsight.

But it's been pointed out to me that the exact same could apply to the Xbox Series X as well. Because here we are with a name that's a non-obvious name as far as denoting a new improvement goes (it could just as well reference a line of special edition consoles, lol), a name for a console that is being explicitly pushed on the back of its power that is remarkably similar to the name of Microsoft's previous console, which was pushed on the back of power... and you can see branding confusion inevitably arising. The average parent or grandparent who go to GameStop or Best Buy, asking for "the Xbox X", and then getting flummoxed when it turns out there are two of them, and it's not actually immediately obvious which one their child or grandchild may have asked for ("it plays the new Halo game." "Well, both of them play the new Halo game.")

I think as cool as the name is, and as much as I like it, it may be a branding misstep... which says more about the intelligence of the average consumer than anything else, to be clear, but here we are.

What do you think?
 
bluexy

bluexy

Comics Enabler & Freelance Games Journalist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
14,520
I agree that's it's going to be a fiasco, especially if they name Lockhart the Xbox Series S like would make sense.
 
The Unsent

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,438
I did think it was another XBOX Elite or Xbox X, whatever it's called, when I saw the thread, maybe I'm too casual for this forum lol.
 
digitalrelic

digitalrelic

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Biggest Change
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,124
It's not going to be confusing at all because the console is clearly next-gen. The issue with the Wii U goes far beyond it's actual name. It was the marketing around it, the similar looks, etc..

This "confusion" here is no different than when they named it Xbox One and everyone at the old forum went "omg now everyone's going to think it's the OG Xbox and it's going to be so confusing!!"
 
Caiusto

Caiusto

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,747
The name Xbox One X is strong enough to differentiate it from the One S that I think it's hard to confuse it with the Series X.


Edit: clarify
 

Deleted member 15428

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,464
The One Who Knocks said:
I'm actually personally a fan of "Series X" as a name for multiple reasons:
  • It works in a post-iPhone world
  • It conveys a family of devices better than past console names have
  • It sounds marketable because it's "cool"
But one very fair point I have seen raised is the utter brand confusion it could cause, vis-a-vis Wii and Wii U, and that... is a good point, I think.

One of the most catastrophic mistakes in branding the Wii U that Nintendo made was going with a console name that wasn't obviously denoting a new, improved console. "Wii U" could mean anything; in fact, given that we had received a tablet peripheral for the Wii called "uTab", and that the Wii U's central push was on the tablet controller, the confusion surrounding the status of the Wii U - with many, if not most, confusing it as a new peripheral for the existing Wii console - was almost inevitable in hindsight.

But it's been pointed out to me that the exact same could apply to the Xbox Series X as well. Because here we are with a name that's a non-obvious name as far as denoting a new improvement goes (it could just as well reference a line of special edition consoles, lol), a name for a console that is being explicitly pushed on the back of its power that is remarkably similar to the name of Microsoft's previous console, which was pushed on the back of power... and you can see branding confusion inevitably arising. The average parent or grandparent who go to GameStop or Best Buy, asking for "the Xbox X", and then getting flummoxed when it turns out there are two of them, and it's not actually immediately obvious which one their child or grandchild may have asked for ("it plays the new Halo game." "Well, both of them play the new Halo game.")

I think as cool as the name is, and as much as I like it, it may be a branding misstep... which says more about the intelligence of the average consumer than anything else, to be clear, but here we are.

What do you think?
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Click to shrink...
The iPhone was good when it was just iPhone. There was one best phone in the world and it was the iPhone, no confusion. Now there's a ton of different models, which one is even the best?
 
RoKKeR

RoKKeR

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,390
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, because I couldn't disagree more.

The new Xbox is called "Xbox". The powerful version is Series X and the cheap version is (likely) Series S. Why is this a disaster again?Look at how confusing Apple names are. This doesn't have "One" anywhere in it.
 
MrPink

MrPink

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,300
I don't think it's gonna be a big deal in the end. Probably more confusion than is necessary though
 
Kyoufu

Kyoufu

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,582
I think it's a pretty terrible name tbh, but not quite the Wii U situation. Wii U followed a 100 million selling beast that everyone had heard and known of, whilst there aren't really that many XB1X owners in comparison.
 
Kamaros

Kamaros

Member
Aug 29, 2018
2,315
it's just odd and consoles are not cellphones.

the console itself is gonna be great but there's gonna be a clear confusion with the rumoured 3 "series/models".
 
LewieP

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,099
I think it's a pretty bad name, but it's not gonna be a disaster like the Wii U at all. Dropping "One" makes it mostly clear that it's a generational leap. It looks totally different, too. Completely different shape.
 
The Last One

The Last One

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,585
If only WiiU's only problem was the name... I think MS will market the X-SeX way better than Nintendo did with the WiiU.
 
Kolx

Kolx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,505
People love to exaggerate the effect of the WiiU name in its failure. Series X will be fine. One X will be dead in 2-3 years max anyway.
 
Squirrel09

Squirrel09

Member
Nov 4, 2017
1,569
A major portion of the marketing snafu with the WiiU wasn't just the naming, but also the explanation of what it was. They focused on the tablet controller, so the average consumer thought it was an add-on for the wii. It wasn't just the name that confused people, it was the entire marketing campaign.
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,713
United States
Tech branding has been extremely confusing and bizarre the last few years. I have no idea what the thought process is behind these naming conventions. :\
 
Orioto

Orioto

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,716
Paris
I'll say it again, i may be stupid but let's say i represent the average consumer! When i saw the reveal i saw the footage but seeing the console look and the name i thought "wait, so what am i looking at there.. is this a new cloud thing ?"
 
Gotdatmoney

Gotdatmoney

Member
Oct 28, 2017
14,500
It's a dumb name. But there is nothing confusing about the fact its the next generation Xbox. Unlike WiiU it doesn't look like an Xbox One and there is no tablet non sense

I dunno why they dont adopt the Sony style naming convention. Just make it easy.
 
Dphex

Dphex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,811
Cologne, Germany
RoKKeR said:
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, because I couldn't disagree more.

The new Xbox is called "Xbox". The powerful version is Series X and the cheap version is (likely) Series S. Why is this a disaster again?Look at how confusing Apple names are. This doesn't have "One" anywhere in it.
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because there is a Xbox One X and a Xbox One S, they basically just have a new word instead of "one" it is "series". The Wii U was also just a Wii with a U attached...many casual consumers will be like " what is this new thing called, was it the One X or the Series X? i don´t know"
 
Bgamer90

Bgamer90

Member
Oct 27, 2017
750
I definitely agree that it's a bit confusing, but the Wii U confusion was more than just the name—it was 30% name, 30% the long streak of original Wii accessories, and 40% Nintendo focusing on the gamepad and rarely showing the system itself in my opinion.

I'm wondering if Lockhart will be called Xbox Series E. Xbox used the letter E late during the 360's life with the last model of the Xbox 360. I can't see MS getting rid of Xbox One S All Digital Edition anytime soon since it's cheap, and I would be surprised if there will be new Xbox One X SKUs in 2020 with fall 2020 games bundled.

I could see...

Xbox One S All Digital Edition (maybe rebranded to just "Xbox S"?): $99

Xbox Series E (Lockhart): $349

Xbox Series X: $499

I think the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will eventually turn into an xCloud streaming hub for future Xbox Series X games. Developers could focus on the Xbox Series X while MS scales all games to be streamable (in a lower resolution).
 
Mugman

Mugman

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Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,369
Much like the Wii U, upon first reveal I wasn't even sure it was their next generation console for a good 20 seconds. That could partially be attributed to the fact that it was a reveal I wasn't expecting at The Game Awards, but the message was already kind of muddled.

That said I think they'll be fine. The console itself at least looks very visually distinct. You'll obviously get some confused parents and grandparents Christmas shopping next year, but I don't expect it to be an existential handicap for the console's lifecycle like the Wii U's branding was.
 
banter

banter

Member
Jan 12, 2018
4,127
Is it going to be confusing? Yes. Will it be like Wii U? No, because people don't have the same impression of xbox one the way they were with wii at the end of its cycle. They're not going to think this is a just a tablet controller for the xbox one.
 
CelestialAtom

CelestialAtom

Mambo Number PS5
Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,050
The naming is weird, but I do think the usage of "X" for the premium consoles and "S" for the base line consoles isn't that bad. I just think using "Series" is strange, when instead they could have chosen something better like "Xbox (Unique Name) X or S".
 
Sydle

Sydle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,280
Somehow people manage to keep up with naming conventions for phones and watches. This shouldn't be too hard.

I wonder is they'll go with something like Xbox XE for the Elite version, Xbox XS for the slim, Xbox XD for a digital only version. Or maybe X will denote the most powerful line, with a Series S coming later.

In any case, I can't imagine people getting all that confused over it.
 
Last edited:
DoradoWinston

DoradoWinston

Member
Apr 9, 2019
6,135
seeing how there is history of an X and S console being on the shelf at the same time and how Xbox One as a whole is gonna be dropped off a cliff once the new consoles release and that "series" names are not new in tech
Id say

XBOX Series X (and the eventual XBOX Series S) being another "wiiu like fiasco" is quite the hyperbole


oh and the new xbox looks completely different than literally any xbox that has come before while the WiiU looked like a Wii with rounded edges.
 
Dabanton

Dabanton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,914
I said this in another thread

Dabanton said:
I know some posters on here are usually out of step of how most people shop nowadays but I think the general consumer is not as stupid as many in here are hoping they are.

If people can happily handle multiple naming conventions for phones, laptops and iPads I'm sure a games console is not going to trip them up.
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Banamy

Banamy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,402
Series X is the subtitle.

You don't call the apple watch, the apple watch series 5.

People will call it the "new xbox".
 

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
49,774
it'll be fine. for the longest time some people thought wii u is a tablet accessory for wii. this won't have that problem.
 
Windu

Windu

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Oct 25, 2017
13,630
Eh maybe a tad confusing but Microsoft will market the hell out of this thing and announcing it a year out is smart.
 
RF Switch

RF Switch

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Oct 31, 2017
4,118
I don't believe in the Wii U comparisons because the difference in everything will actually be noticeable

edit: this new naming scheme willhelp them in the future since it's now just an "Xbox"

Xbox Series X2 and X3 and so on for high end models of the future

Xbox Series S2 and so on
 
gofreak

gofreak

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Oct 26, 2017
7,736
I think it could be confusing, but I'm not sure Microsoft minds. They seem OK if you pick up a One X instead of a Series X, or even an original XB1. They're somewhat blurring the lines between generations in their approach overall, so maybe it's not altogether inappropriate if the branding blurs things a bit too.
 
Iwao

Iwao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,800
An enthusiast board will argue that the name will not be confusing.

For the wider market, I can't say that's going to be the case and there will be some degree of confusion. I've already seen examples (such as on HUKD) of people confused about it. Microsoft marketing has its chance to make the name less confusing, and they probably will.
 
Mr_DyZ

Mr_DyZ

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Jun 12, 2019
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digitalrelic said:
It's not going to be confusing at all because the console is clearly next-gen. The issue with the Wii U goes far beyond it's actual name. It was the marketing around it, the similar looks, etc..

This "confusion" here is no different than when they named it Xbox One and everyone at the old forum went "omg now everyone's going to think it's the OG Xbox and it's going to be so confusing!!"
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The amount of people lumping this in with the WiiU is actually laughable. That system had so many issues.
 
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