Kaplan said the criticism was not unexpected, given Wii's uniqueness.
"I think people have to look back and let it settle in," she said. "I'm sure people felt the same way when Google was named – or the iPod. Napster. Yahoo. There's a whole host of unusual names that have become a part of everyday conversation and I think they're viewed now as unique."
The Wii will make its public debut a little less than two weeks from now at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo), the annual trade show of the video game industry. At that same show, Sony (Research) will unveil more details about the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (Research) will talk about its future plans for the Xbox 360.
So why announce the name now and not at the show?
By letting the gaming community vent now about the name, they will be less distracted as launch titles for the system are announced and initial reports about what it's like to play the games begin to come in.
Also, said Kaplan, "We want people to understand our approach before we get to E3. [Also], it's really noisy at E3 and I don't think we would have had the chance to explain how we came to the name."