Hidden away in the Japanese version ofWario Ware Gold’s museum section, a slide displaying the originalNintendo Entertainment Systemquietly settled a decades-long debate. Believe it or not, the topic of how to pronounce “NES” has been hotly debated for a generation, and Nintendo just put the whole thing to bed rather casually.
As originally reported by Twitter user Kyle McLain, it seems Nintendo has formally decided on “ness,” with respect to pronouncingNES. Since the relevant caption on the picture is written in Japanese, those unfamiliar with the language may be skeptical that the display is indeed confirmation of Nintendo’s opinion on the matter. In response, Eurogamer dug into the weeds to get a definitive answer.
Calling on the Japanese-fluent John Linneman, from Digital Foundry, Eurogamer was able to confirm that the text as written in the slide would be pronounced “nesu,” which would directly translate to “ness” in English.
“If it had a dakuten - the little dots that change the sound of Japanese characters - it could be “ne zu” instead. But it doesn’t. So it’s an S sound, not a Z,” the article reads.
That settles it then, right? Not so fast. As it goes with most arbitrary debates, both sides of the argument have merit. Proving that eitherNintendochanged their mind at some point or more likely, that they just don’t really care, Twitter user LeoTheCollector replied to McLain’s tweet with an 80s-era Nintendo commercial where it’s pronounced “en-nee-ess.”
The 30-plus year commercial forKirby’s Dream Landon NES ends with a voice clearly pronouncing each individual letter in the acronym for Nintendo Entertainment System, specifically “Kirby’s Dream Land, only on N.E.S.”
Whether it’s “en-nee-ess” or “ness” doesn’t seem to affect the iconic console’s persistent popularity, as seen in theNES Classic’s dominating sales figures. In fact, now that everyone’s thoroughly confused, now might be a good time to pick up the old rectangular controller and unwind with some good olden-nee-ess.
