The Wii U is a home video game console released by Nintendo in 2012 as the successor to the Wii. Its logo, unveiled alongside the console at E3 2011, pairs the familiar “Wii” wordmark with a blue square containing a negative-space “U,” a design that visually ties the new system to its predecessor while introducing a distinct identity.
Design and History
Nintendo first revealed the Wii U logo during its E3 2011 keynote, where company president Satoru Iwata introduced the console and its tablet-style controller. The logo appeared on screen as a “bright and simple Wii with an inverted U in a blue/green square.”[1]
The mark consists of the word “Wii” in gray stylized lettering followed by a blue rectangle with rounded corners, displaying a carved-out portion in the shape of the letter “U,” with the upper ends of the “U” shape flush with the upper edge of the rectangle. This description comes from Nintendo’s trademark filing for the logo.[2]
According to Spanish gaming publication Hobby Consolas, the logo was inspired by the original Wii console, with the designers adding a blue “U” in negative space, a square missing the letter, to signal that all Wii peripherals and games would be compatible with the new system.[3]
In May 2012, ahead of that year’s E3, Nintendo of America briefly posted a high-quality version of the logo on its press service. After removing it, the company re-uploaded the logo with a very slight modification to the blue color surrounding the letter “U,” according to Nintendo-Master.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The “U” in the Wii U name carries multiple documented meanings. At the E3 2011 unveiling, Reggie Fils-Aime, then president of Nintendo of America, explained that the name is a play on the word “you,” teasing that it could also stand for “unique, unifying, maybe even Utopian.”[5]
In a subsequent interview, Iwata elaborated on the name’s meanings: “You are supposed to have your own screen, so ‘Wii for you’ is one of the meanings. And of course, it’s ‘U’ as in ‘unique.’ We always try to be a unique company. Another meaning is ‘U’ as in ‘unifying.'”[6]
The Guardian also reported that the “U” represents “you,” highlighting that players could run games either on a television or on the controller’s own personal screen, with Iwata claiming it could also stand for “unique, unifying or utopian.”[7]
Typography and Design
The logo’s “Wii” portion uses the same stylized lettering as the original Wii console’s wordmark, maintaining brand continuity. The distinguishing element is the blue rounded rectangle with the negative-space “U” carved out of it, a construction that echoes the shape of the Wii U GamePad controller.[2]
The blue color of the “U” element has been cited as approximately #0097c9 in the SimpleIcons open-source icon project, which states that the icon color must strictly match the official logo’s “U” letter standard color value.[8] The trademark filing describes the “Wii” lettering as gray and the rectangle as blue.[2]
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