Gaming Wii Strap Recalled, Replaced for Free

[[M]artin]

Nintendo recalls more than three million straps for the Wii console:

Nintendo recalls 3.2m Wii straps

Nintendo is offering to replace the original version of the wrist straps for the Wii Remote with a newer version. Fill out their online form to receive up to 4 replacment wrist straps for your remotes:

Official Nintendo Wii Replacement Wrist Strap Program

 

[HugeCock]

Does that mean they will replace TVs, windows, ect that were damaged due to their faulty product =0

 

[Sc4rFac3d]

I knew it was just a matter of time before they got replaced, the strap in that video of the guy smashing it against the wall looked like cheap stuff.

I really want a Wii now.

 

[OrR]

Does that mean they will replace TVs, windows, ect that were damaged due to their faulty product =0

Probably not because their product was not faulty. It just wasn't perfect.

 

[legendofphil]

They aren't issuing a recall, you just have the option to swap it for a better version.
But they are recalling 200,000 AC adapters for its DS and DS Lite consoles in Japan.

 

[sketch143]

“As of Monday, anyone who has any problems or concerns about the integrity of their Wii Remote wrist straps can call Nintendo Customer Services for a replacement strap. This is not a product recall. The current wrist strap is fine - it has passed all safely standards and does the job. This is simply a precaution because we are aware of the concerns over their safety. All new Wii Remotes and Wii consoles will ship with the new, thicker wrist strap. Even though the original straps are perfectly adequate for normal play, we can’t control the exuberance of players.” - Nintendo representative

 

[dice]

Eurogamer
15 Dec '06
Weekly newsletter

www.eurogamer.net

Nintendo's decision to offer free replacements for anybody hacked off with the Wiimote strap is bound to generate some negative press. The Associated Press has already called it a "recall".

But it isn't that really. After all, for every Wiihaveaproblem.com there are dozens of Wii owners scratching their heads and wondering out loud what's so difficult about not lobbing the remote across the room.

The truth is that the strap is largely sufficient, but that it does fail in extreme cases. I've just done some extremely scientific tests, where I tried to break my own strap by flapping my hands girlishly at a mountain of pillows. I couldn't manage it - although that may just be because I'm a limp-wristed weakling.

So I probably won't be bothering, even though it's free. But I am quite impressed that the option's there. It's easy to knock it, but here's a games company that's going beyond owning up to a problem - something that Microsoft took a year to do about its early batch of crash-happy Xbox 360 consoles - and is simply unhappy that its consumers have any problems at all, and wants to solve them.

It's admirable, is what it is. And it's things like this that contribute to that view of a mythical "Nintendo difference", and engender a different sort of compassion among fans to that seen amongst Xbox and PlayStation proponents.

The Kyoto company may have some bizarrely quirky execs (including one who, from my recent TV habits, seems to be moonlighting as the deck chief on Battlestar Galactica), and it may still give us the thin end of the love-stick here in Europe sometimes, but it's still looking out for us and being as friendly as possible.

And that's probably the reason, as much as any other, that the Internet generally has no problem with people getting all soppy about Nintendo, whereas anybody who doesn't walk around holding Xbox and PlayStation at equal heights in their brain is beaten to death by a horde of rampaging lunatics before they've had a chance to point out it's all just plastic toys that make computer games appear on the screen get off get off NOT THE FACE.

Have a nice weekend. Try not to break things.

 

[science]

I don't need them, but hey, they're free.

 

[MMMMMike]

I don't need them, but hey, they're free.

Yepper... I hear yah!

Miike

 

[Verocity]

Yeah I seen this on the local news about the wii. A woman slung one into her tv, a TV and broke the tube...haha, they said she was bowling.

 

[martin88]

That demonstrates good corporate social responsibility.

 

[Bladedaos]

i didnt need them, but since there free i got 4 of em.

 

[cruddybuddy]

Does that mean they will replace TVs, windows, ect that were damaged due to their faulty product =0

Sure! And Ford is going to replace the 07 Mustang I crashed into the garage because they made a faulty car that can crash into things.

 

[jumpman17]

This wouldn't happen to be the new wrist strap would it?

http://www.infinitpower.com/phpbb/album_sh...d=196&mode=next
http://www.infinitpower.com/phpbb/album_sh...3b82c46a5dea5a7
http://www.infinitpower.com/phpbb/album_sh...d=198&mode=next

 

[GeneralLeoFF]

Now fix #2 is a rubberized grip on the battery cover. This is more a fix some after market company should do then a recall though. It's not a flaw in Nintendo's design but just a good idea.

 

[Elrinth]

^ word

btw from which countries are they recalling? maybe I should hit my local store and see what they say.

 

[ugly_rose]

Does that mean they will replace TVs, windows, ect that were damaged due to their faulty product =0


Sure! And Ford is going to replace the 07 Mustang I crashed into the garage because they made a faulty car that can crash into things.

And of course they will replace the garage as well!

I like this initiative from Nintendo, and that's all I have to say.

 

[sketch143]

They're not recalling it. They've stated that the old straps have passed safety tests already. But if needed, you can order the new, stronger straps if you wanna feel more secure. You need not send back your old strap.

 

[Bizmat]

seeing they're free, ill take 4 please

 

[Scorpei]

Any word on a Europe action? I've sent an E-mail but probably won't hear anything until monday

.