The name sounds _exactly_ like 'little kid's toy' in French, so, indeed, it follows that it will carry those connotations to French speaking people (you're not one, I'm guessing). Shakespeare may have found a rose by another name smelling just as sweet, but in the centuries since his time we've learned that varieties called 'poo-poo' just don't sell at the garden center.

The 'Wii' sold OK in English speaking markets so I don't see what the problem is.

Ha - I'd thought this was smart. We expect Japanese things to be a bit oddball by our standard, and this delivered.

Nintendo also has a lot more marketing to back up their choice of name.

Not exactly the same. An English speaker would pronounce d-sounds before the js in "JooJoo" that wouldn't be there in the French "joujou".

The Chevy Nova completely flopped in Spanish speaking countries, primarily because in Spanish, "Nova" means "no go".

No, it didn't: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Whoops! Thanks for the re-education.

But there were some other cars that had their names changed, like the "Pagero", that sounds like someone that frequently masturbates :-)

That's an urban legend, kind of like saying a dinette set called "Notable" would flop in English speaking countries because we would assume it has "no table".

Here's the snopes: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp