U.S. Safety Commision 'Keeping an Eye' on the Wii

In the wake of this past week's offer from Nintendo to replace our Wiimote straps, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says they'll be keeping an eye on the situation in the future. For the time being they are satisfied with Nintendo's handling of the problem. Just the same, Kotaku reports that the organization wants to make sure there aren't a lot of subsequent 'flying Wiimote' incidents. From the article: "Because Nintendo self-reported the issue, the commission will not do its own investigation unless new issues crop up with the new strap. 'If the problem continues with the new strap that's where we might step in," she said. "We also would have to decide if it's a safety issue.' Vallese added that that means that if remotes were, for instance, smashing into a television hard enough to cause the tube to explode or somehow stop working in a dangerous way, it could also be deemed a safety issue."

Overboard

I think people are _really_ going overboard with this entire things now. It's not as if the controllers are launching themselves. As nice/good as it is of Nintendo to replace the straps. This is just settings the bar lower for common sense. If your hand is sweaty, please dry it off for the sake of people around you. I'm curious as to how much tension the straps takes before breaking myself, and also how the replacement straps fair in that metric. But really, the controllers aren't supposed to be flying (or are games somehow requiring this?). Has anyone been able to actually damage the remote itself? It seems as if it is near indistructable.

Re:Overboard

Nintendo should never have put straps on in the first place. They should have just told people to not let go.

On another note, Gizmodo [gizmodo.com] has a bit on how strong the strap is...pretty strong if you ask me.

Not only overboard, but great press!

This is awsome press coverage for Nintendo that they don't even have to pay for. "Oooh look, Nintendo is dangerous! The Governement is keeping their eye on them." It's almost always good to play the bad-boy card in the U.S. market. Consumers eat it up. :) Anyone who wasn't thinking about buying a Wii might think that they should check to see what all the fuss is about... and if it makes another sale, cha-ching!

They should buy a Wii

and conduct extensive tests. Its the only way to be sure.

Uh... what?

People get whacked in the head with golf clubs, tennis clubs, all sorts of stuff all the time. Safety Commision pays no heed.

People have thrown cellphones and remotes across the room in frusturation before. Safety Commision pays no heed.

Nintendo implements tool to keep device from being thrown across room. Nintendo then upgrades tool and offers replacement of 'inferior' version to try and keep accidents down. And now the Safety Commision is a bit concerned? For. Fucks. Sake.

Re:Uh... what?

From TFA:

"She said that there are two ways in which the commission can get involved in a product safety issue. One is by discovering the problem on their own, either through consumer complaints or their own research, the other is by the company notifying them of an issue.

In this case Nintendo contacted the commission and asked to fast track the solution, which involved offering to replace about 2 million Wii remote safety straps.

Because Nintendo self-reported the issue, the commission will not do its own investigation unless new issues crop up with the new strap."

So the Commision is only getting involved because Nintendo asked them to.

Re:Uh... what?

Good point. The synopsis makes it sound like the Safety Council will be following the Wiimote strap very closely, as if it's some big concern. This quote, though, still make me wonder:

Vallese added that that means that if remotes were, for instance, smashing into a television hard enough to cause the tube to explode or somehow stop working in a dangerous way, it could also be deemed a safety issue.

Going back to my OP, how is that any different than someone throwing a TV remote at the screen in frusturation? That's probably not any more uncommon than these incidents with the Wiimote. The tube explosion is unintended in either case, though the reasons for throwing the device are quite different. I don't see the Safety Council leaning on remote manufacturers about this.

I haven't gotten my Wii yet...

... But when I finally get mine, I think I might do a little home modding on my Wii-Motes. I've got standard-issue sweaty geek palms, so a little Grip Tape [wikipedia.org] might be a good idea. Considering the fact that my elderly parents are also interested in playing (not to mention my goofy nieces), the TV will probably appreciate it.

Here's a tip to Nintendo

Drop the American market. It's just a matter of time before some idiot uses a real bat on a controller, spreading plastic splinters all over his mates. "How would I supposed to know that a real bat would destroy the wiimote? Nintendo should make it impossible to throw the wiimote. They should pay me a gadzjillion dollars!" If Nintendo drops the american market, we here in Europe could get some ;)

My experience.

I've had a Wii since launch. I've dropped the remote once or twice while playing (I think both times were while boxing. I'm terrible at the game, so I pretty much do the equivalent of button mashing, which is waving it around wildly). The strap held up just fine.

A more serious incident was when I was playing Baseball with my girlfriend's 5 year old daughter. She was pitching, and I was batting. She was standing almost directly in front of the TV as usual, and I was standing further back, near the wall so that I was out of reach of her. What happened was she pitched the ball, and then stepped back for some reason. I was taking a swing at the ball, and I was fairly focused on the TV. I heard a very satisfying CRACK! as the remote hit her head, and the bat hit the ball. I got a home run. She got a hurt head. And learned an important lesson about Wii safety. She hasn't done that again. ;-)

(Yeah, I know that I'm a bastard. But surprisingly, she wasn't that hurt, despite me whacking her in the back of the head nearly as hard as I could. (The battery cover flew off of the remote, but it was otherwise undamaged, and the battery cover didn't break))

Re:My experience.

What lesson did she learn? Stay away from Mom's boyfriend or get beaten? Good god, you dumb fuck, if you're playing with 5-year-olds, you're the one to be careful.

Well

It seems as if the talk about the Wiimote straps breaking is becoming almost as big news as the console itself, if you speak to anyone on internet gaming forums or offline who enjoys console gaming and you bring up the Wii, you will last about 5 minutes before someone tells you a story of how they know somebody who killed their TV/Cat/Sister with the Wiimote flying out of their hands. The BBC [bbc.co.uk] reported some advice from Nintendo and it seems like the last point adresses reason why most people are having this problem - "Do not use excessively rapid, violent or wide swinging motions during game play."

I'd dare say that over 80% of the reason for the breakages right now is because people have been booting up Wii Sports and taking on, say, the Golf game thinking they have a real seven iron in their hands. Of course people are going to pretend it's the real game while playing Baseball or Boxing and with these kind of multiplayer games, when your with a friend you will both pretty easily start going at it with more violent movements. Games such as red steel in the shooting part are unlikely to have that many breakages happen, but as soon as you get into the sword fighting parts people will start thinking they are one of the fourty-seven samurai and start throwing the controller around. It's good to see Nintendo are beefing up the wrist strap with the recall but I still think it's less about product failure and more about people not using common sense while playing - on the flipside of that it is a game console (with a target market of young people), so surely Nintendo should have expected people to get a bit over excited and be at least slightly prepared for this.

Explode?

"We also would have to decide if it's a safety issue.' Vallese added that that means that if remotes were, for instance, smashing into a television hard enough to cause the tube to explode or somehow stop working in a dangerous way, it could also be deemed a safety issue."

Sheesh, have CRT's been "off the market" so long that people have forgotten how they work? CRT's are big vacuum tubes. Due to the near-vacuum inside them, they will *implode* when broken, not explode. Worst case scenario the cathode guns (at the back of the tube) will try to come out through the front of the tube but will be restrained by the pins attached to the neck board and associated cables. The glass on the front of a tube is so thick (so it doesn't self implode) that you'd virtually have to hit one with a hammer to break it, usually with only the shadow mask getting dislodged and a whole bunch of phosphor with it.

Suspect someone else is pushing here...

perhaps Microsoft or Sony? Who gains by all this news of Wii remotes smashing televisions then? perhaps some of these breakages are not true accidents? tin foil hat time

What about people getting hurt?

Vallese added that that means that if remotes were, for instance, smashing into a television hard enough to cause the tube to explode or somehow stop working in a dangerous way, it could also be deemed a safety issue.

The tube to explode? First of all, since a cathodic tube is filled with vaccum, it might not create such a considerable deflagration, and then, what about people who'd catch Wiimotes in the head/face/eyes?

Excessive Force

I've seen video of one guy breaking the straps on a Wiimote.
Be was pitching in baseball and threw the fucking controller.
You do not throw the fucking controller.

Aparrantly people seem to thing you have to put the same force behind your movements as if you were actually pitching or hitting or bowling or swinging a golf club. I'm starting to thing WiiSports was a really bad title to include with the console, maybe they should have gone with WiiPlay, I'm sure far fewer dickweeds would fling thier controller with enough force to break thier TV then.

It's not the strap that's broken, the strap is only meant to stop you from accidentally dropping it, it's the retards putting way too much force behind thier movements. Maybe if they used it without the strap they'd be more careful.

Make GLOV ES and Ankle straps

Nintendo needs to rethink the Wiimote. While I think that it's just stupid for people to not use the straps (you wouldn't be able to throw the wiimote if you strapped it down), it seems that people are truly becoming immersed in the games, even the ones with inferior graphics, so much so that they start treating their moves like the real thing.

I see a solution is to create Wiimote gloves to keep the controller on the body. And another idea is to create Wiimote ankle controllers. This way games can be created that monitor feet movement (dance, dance revolution kinda thing). Then a new genre can start using game consoles...exercise videos! Imagine it...Jane Fonda's workout video game that could monitor your movements, tell you what you're doing right and wrong, monitor your heart rate (sensor in the glove), estimate calorie burning, save the game and keep a history, and draw charts of the history.

There are issues with the glove (how to remap all the buttons and the trigger), and it may take away from the tactile feel of holding something in your hand, but the safety issue would be solved. Well, except for people smashing into furniture.

Best advertising money can buy!!

This Wii issue is the best advertising money can buy. What's wrong with the product... it's so fun people of all ages (particularly adults, one of their target demographics) are actually breaking the strapp while playing. This doesn't affect the actual functionality of product... you have to be careful... but the games still play and the Wii itself doesn't break. So they'll send out some replacement straps, while the news media covers this story for days demonstrating how to use the Wii, how young and old are using it and having a great time. How you should excercise some restraint while you have all of that fun.

Lawn Darts

We sure have come a long way since lawn darts!

the dangerous wii

So far I've had one close friend have a wrist strap "break" with the Wiimote subsequently flying across the room, leaving me to ask WHY the controller left his hand in the first place? The controller leaving his hand enabled the strap to break, not the other way around.

Seriously, the only dangers involved in playing Wii games are the ones imposed by playing with people who seem to lack some motor skills or self-control. My wife hit me with a controller because she flails her arms wildly when boxing. My friend did the same to her. My wife ripped his Nunchuck from his Wiimote because her finger hooked onto it. Now, I have a lot of grace for my wife and friends, but not so much that I'll say it's the Wii/Wiimotes fault that these things happen.

I, of course, am perfect and have never done anything like this. I'm sure I'll eventually "hit" my wife in Wiitaliation, though.

Much to Nintendo's credit, when my friend broke the strap they sent the newer replacement strap very quickly. The part that connects to the Wiimote is thicker - hopefully thick enough that this kind of player-caused breakage won't happen any more.

Now you know...

why hand guns do not have straps.

Oh, that makes sense.

If someone did the same with their fist because they were stupid, would they sue god?

New wrist straps will not help, and here's why:

Let me refer you all to a quote from the Darwin Awards:

"If you make something idiotproof, they will make a better idiot."