Nintendo Admits Wii-Strap Problem...is You

Nintendo Admits Wii-Strap Problem…is You

Submitted by James Munn on December 7, 2006 – 1:42 pm8 Comments

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated that they’ve launched an investigation into flaws in the Nintendo Wii’s strap-snappin’ issue. If you’re not aware of the problem, some Wii owners have complained that in isolated cases, their wrist strap has broken during use. There have also been pictures in forums and blogs everywhere of broken television screens, implying that the Wii’s remote came into contact with it after the strap breaks.

So as Iwata admits there’s an issue, he says,

“the problem is in the way the strap is being used, rather than in the strap itself….consumers need to be educated in its use.”

While I think everyone should definitely hold onto their controllers when attemping to play a video game, the strap is there for a reason. It’s there because if you happen to let the controller slip, you don’t drop it. The strap is tiny and weak, it’s not strong enough to handle people swinging the Wii remote around.

Aside of that, the Wii is aimed towards young kids as well as adults. They have to understand that when kids play games, they jump around like little monkeys. Especially when that’s what the game is telling them to do.

What do you think? Is Iwata out of line here? He sounds a little arrogant to me.

Tags: wii remote, wrist strap

http://acidforblood.net/ Brinstar

I don’t think he’s out of line. If you’re waving your arms around and accidentally lose your grip on the Wiimote, it’s your fault, not Nintendo’s.

If you’re behaving like an irresponsible tool playing DDR at the arcade, it’s your fault if you smash your face on the bar, not Konami’s fault. They issue warnings to be careful during play.

Nintendo issued warnings on the proper use of the Wiimote. If players can’t be bothered to take care of their precious game hardware, Nintendo can’t do a thing about it. Players need to be more careful.
James

Brinstar: Okay, let’s work with your idea about DDR;

If DDR came with a waist strap to keep you from falling off and that strap broke, causing someone to fall off the machine. Let’s assume that the person wasn’t hurt and isn’t suing at all, he just stumbled off.

Now, is that the users fault that the waist strap broke or is the strap faulty?
Mac

If they believe that “wiiwounds” are bad now, wait till they actually come out with games that require more than just a flick of the wrist. wii sports can all be done sitting down( not as much fun though) but when they come out with a realistic tennis( or other game in which the controller is thrown all about) game, controllers will really be flying. This is kinda scary, people who own the wii will soon realize that they need to keep a tight grip on the controller, but this system is all about introducing new people to games who will not realize how possible it is to throw the tiny remote all the way across the room.
both of these sides are arguable, but i believe the best option for everyone is for the wii owners to teach people how to use the wiimote safely and explain the risk of “wiiwounds” before people start using them. my 2 cents…
Subnet6

@James,

First, a broken strap couldn’t “cause” you to fall off the machine.

Lets use your DDR analogy though, it’s not completely useless.

Lets pretend DDR comes with a wastestrap to catch you in case you accidentally stumbled off the dancepad. When people stumble off the dancepad it works just fine, in fact just as it’s intended.

However, some kids gets on the pad and instead of dancing like all the other kids, he decides to leap around like an idiot hurling himself off the pad with all his strength and the strap breaks. Is the strap faulty or is the kid an idiot?
Big.Daddy

Thank you Subnet6 for poking the obvious hole in James’ theory.

I don’t think he’s out of line, and I think users should be more responsible w/ their ‘toys’.

With that said, I do think the strap can use a little beefing up.
Subnet6

@Big.Daddy

In the end, you are correct.

In this world of idiots wanting to blame corporations for the actions of individuals, it never hurts to take misuse into consideration when designing a product.

On a related note, If you are a gun owner, make sure you don’t accidentally shoot yourself.
http://www.infendo.com Jack

I posted about this over at Infendo, but I’m not about link whoring and I like Aeropause, so here’s my point.

There’s a simple formula in all of this. Nintendo play tested the Wii, and I bet a few straps broke, but no more than was deemed acceptable. Same thing is happening in the customer’s hands: You have a few kids getting really into the Wii experience. They really are “having too much fun” as is stated in the official Wii safety and precautions booklet. When these few, the very vocal minority (thanks to the instant info gratification of the Net) get their YouTube vids and Flikr photos on Aeropause or Kotaku or whatever, everyone starts to say “hey, my Wiimote strap DOES kind of look like dental floss.” All of this conveniently ignores the fact that an overwhelming majority of people don’t go overboard with Wii Sports, and an even fewer number of people have their straps actually break legitimately. Unfortunately, as I’ve learned in my life as a journalist, if it bleeds, it leads.

Of course, Nintendo will begin replace the straps on future Wiimote builds with beefier ones (they already have, actually), but it’s not because of a defective product. It’s because of those few intense individuals out there who can’t wipe their hands off once in a while. Better to nip the vocal minority in the bud and stop the negative press (regardless if it is fair or not).

All in all, this entire story means Nintendo’s new console is doing exactly as advertised. People are having a blast, and are totally, completely losing themselves in the game.
Subnet6

I agree completely jack.

I would like to add that the naysayers and attention whores will latch on to whatever perceived defect is getting the most attention and I say if this is it, then the Wii should kick some ass. I mean if the biggest gripe on the intertubes is the damn strap? Yeah, things are lookin fine for the Wii.

I would much rather have the negative press on the Wii be attributed to a 2 cent strap failure than overheating issues are having your console chew up discs a la the 360.