Sony, Nintendo Announce 'Fixes' For Their Consoles

Gamasutra reports that both Nintendo and Sony still have a few kinks to work out from their newly launched systems. It may seem funny to an onlooker, but the spectacular Wii strap blowouts are being taken very seriously by Nintendo. People are evidently 'even more excited' by playing the little white console than the company anticipated, and they're investigating the possibility that the straps aren't strong enough. Meanwhile, Sony has updated the PS3's firmware to 1.30 in an effort to take care of the much-complained-about resolution scaling issues. Ars Technica (and several other sites) are saying that the fix doesn't really do anything, despite Sony's reassurances. From that article: "The priority of resolutions has been changed, putting 1080i over 720p. So if you prefer 720p as a resolution, be sure to uncheck 1080i as a possible resolution on your television, or else games that support both resolutions will automatically display at 1080i. Of course, if you uncheck 1080i as a resolution, your Blu-ray movies will display at 480p. So you'll have to just manually switch the resolution yourself depending on what you're doing ... If you have a 720p set, not only has Sony not fixed the scaling issues, they've made the process of playing games and watching movies less user friendly. Sony really wants you to upgrade into a 1080p set, and they seem to want to punish you if you don't have one."

You know...

[Kirin Fenrir]

Sony actually has good hardware with the PS3, despite all the FUD. But if they don't pull their heads out of the sand and overhaul the software, they're going to lose a lot of customers.

I am a PS3 owner. Wake up, Sony.

Re:Heh...

[Bastian]

I'm not going to straight up say RTFA, but that sentence was just a paraphrase of Nintendo's spin-laden comments, not Zonk's own spinning. Give credit where credit is due.

Re:foobar

[dj961]

Welcome to the world of console gaming, now with patches.

MOD PARENT UP

[Anonymous Coward]

Suggesting that Nintendo needs to be sued because people misuse the product, to a degree far enough beyond sensibility that it is almost laughable, makes me want to suggest suing microwave manufacturers because microwaving a baby makes a real mess.

Re:Heh...

[Babbster]

Or you are a little kid, or you have some carpal tunnel, or you have some arthritis, or you just generally have some trouble with gripping/coordination and haven't gotten used yet to moving your hand/arm around in the fashion encouraged by the Wiimote.

Why is that just because one person doesn't have a particular issue, that means that anyone who does have the issue is either dumb or "doing something pretty stupid?" I mean, clearly Nintendo saw losing the Wiimote during play as a possibility or there wouldn't be a wrist strap in the first place.

Re:foobar

[payndz]

This is something I seriously don't get about the latest generation of consoles. Every previous generation, one of the plus points was that once you buy the console, that's it - everything Just Works (tm Apple). Now the first thing you have to do when you switch on is download patches? WTF?

How long before the first console game that requires patches just to get rid of all the v1.0 gameplay bugs?

What spin?!

[WidescreenFreak]

No, I'm sorry, but I don't agree at all that this is some type of spin. Nintendo designed the Wiimote to what they felt would be appropriate safety standards when used responsibly and with a modicum of common sense. How exactly it is their fault that a bunch of people are far too overzealous for their own good? The strap is there for backup. The Wiimote should never have left the people's hands in the first place.

This whole thing might convince me to put some adhesive rubber strips on the Wiimote for a better grip, (get your minds out of the gutter, guys...) but it's not Nintendo's fault if I act like a freaking maniac and the Wiimote flies out of my hand because I'm swinging it faster than I should or need to.

As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo is taking the high road by saying that they're going to look at making the wrist straps more secure whereas they could just as easily say, "The Wiimote wrist strap was not designed for people who don't know how to control themselves properly" and leave it at that.

And, no, that's not a troll or a flame. I'm just so tired of people pushing things beyond their limit of tolerance due to their own lack of self-control and common sense then blaming the manufacturer for it. If you buy a car, never take it out of first gear, red-line the engine by going 50 MPH, and end up in the hospital when the engine explodes, that's not the car manuacturer's fault for not making the engine more tolerant of your bad actions.

Nintendo just gained some credibility in my book.

As for Microsoft, I'm not as willing to let them off the hook. People have been putting consoles on the floor since the days of the Atari 2600, so that is not an unrealistic expectation. Yet Microsoft designed the 360 and its power supply to be a small toaster oven. They could have put a bit more planning into the heating/cooling system of the 360.

Re:You know...

[KDR_11k]

Sony has ALWAYS has great hardware.

You don't have anything from the Playstation product line I take it?

Re:Sony...

[SatanicPuppy]

If they sold out on the first day, then the price wasn't too high...They probably could have sold them at cost on day 1, and still sold out at the same speed.

I think they're gambling that the hardcore, early adoption crowd will keep buying until they've sold enough to be able to lower the price, and there is no guarantee that they're wrong.

Re:You know...

[0x15e]

I am a PS3 owner. Wake up, Sony.

They have your money already and, hence, little incentive to listen to you anymore. Sony only needs to care about this if it prevents the sale of their system and they don't seem to be having any problems moving units.

Re:Sony...

[SatanicPuppy]

Just because Supply and Demand don't always make sense, doesn't make the relationship any less real. The eBay sales are proof that, based on demand, the price wasn't near high enough, and there is nothing immoral about Sony charging what the market will bear...Not like there isn't cheaper competition.

Now, you may say that people who pay thousands of dollars for a game console are ridiculous, but people have been paying a hell of a lot more than that for gaming computers for years, and if you view the PS3 as a midrange gaming computer, it's dirt cheap.

Heh. I sound like a Sony fanboi...I have zero plans to buy a PS3/360/Wii any time soon, I just think they're taking way the hell too much flak for a price point that is selling out. That should be the goal for any company.

Re:Heh...

[Kris_J]

No, the spin is that the Wii's minor physical issue with a very small number of people losing grip of the controller is somehow comparable to the several patches Sony have had to release for the PS3.

Re:MOD PARENT UP

[poot_rootbeer]

Nintendo has been very adament about using the seatbelts provided with the controller, but the seatbelts break anyways and take out thousand dollar TVs with them. I'm not sure why you're laughing.

I don't know why the other guy is laughing, but I'M laughing at the dopes with broken thousand-dollar TV's because they somehow thought that the motor skills they developed as toddlers were no longer applicable.

If you do not maintain a grip on an object in your hand, it will not stay in your hand. The wrist lanyard was never intended to be a primary restraint.

Re:"even more excited"

[darthservo]

IMO, people don't need to be getting "even more excited." I have four Wiimotes myself, used fairly equally, and not one of them shows sign of wear. All the people I've played with use them balanced - not swinging too hard, but enough to register movement and feel like part of the game.

I received the email that Nintendo sent out yesterday regarding safety information. The points that were made were:

• Always use the wrist strap, even when sharing a controller
• Don't ever let go of the Wiimote, purosefully (yes, purposefully) or accidentally (dry your hands if necessary
• Allow plenty of room to motion in

What got me was the fact that people are apparently purposefully letting go of the Wiimotes. Nintendo cited the example of WiiSports bowling stating that only the B button, not the entire remote needs to be released.

Also, none of the games that I know of require a player to use their full arm strength to play a game. Again, using bowling as an example - it's not a matter of how fast you swing your arm, it's more dependant on timing. In other words, you don't need to be able to tear a phone book in half to chuck the ball any faster.

If people don't take these fairly simple principals into consideration, they really don't have anyone but themselves to blame, I think. Nintendo has taken every means necessary by publishing numerous pages of safety info in manuals and their website [nintendo.com], and even displaying reminders before starting games.

But, props to them for taking the initiative. At least they seem to be easing these people by looking into the issue. Good customer service reputation.

no lawsuit but a fix is needed.

[Darthmalt]

It's not Nintendo's fault people are getting overzealous however based on these reports they should make a stronger strap available for people who already have a Wii to purchase at a reasonable price the current strap costs what maybe a dollar to manufacture? And start making the new and improved strap stock on all new consoles manufactured. They could even pull off a great cheap PR stunt and send free replacement straps to current Wii owners.

If Nintendo is smart they will milk this for all that it is worth. "Oh no people are soooooo excited and having soooo much fun playing our new revolutionary console that they can't hold on to our controller. So because we are worried about our consumer here's a free super duper deluxe strap so you and your stuff will be safe."

However I don't think people should really be able to sue Nintendo because they are a butterfingers.

Re:come on

[Sparr0]

I disagree about the sole use of the lanyard. I think it is specifically for keeping the wiimote handy while you grab your soda, or pick your nose, or whatever. It is NOT a restraint device. It is the *EXACT SAME THING* that has been on every digital camera ever. It is meant to save the camera when you drop it, NOT save the guy you try to throw the camera AT.