The Japanese gaming giant has trademarked lots of words that sound like 'Wii'

Do the words Zii, Bii, Cii, Oii, or Yii mean anything to you? No? Well they do to Nintendo, who have trademarked all the words, the first as far back as the end of October.

While the internet gets itself in a twist trying to figure out what the words relate to, we'll assume for now that the big N is just covering it's tracks as far as dodgy knock-off sound-a-like consoles are concerned - a much bigger problem in Asia than over here.

Engadget is reporting that they could be trademark renewals from 2006, so the names have probably been knocking around (at least in a document) for a few years. Or they could all be new consoles.

[via Siliconera and Engadget]