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Nintendo sued over Wii wrist straps

[UPDATE] Publisher accused of selling a product that was "ineffective for its intended use"; Nintendo calls suit "completely without merit."

Last week Nintendo announced a voluntary replacement program for the Wii Remote's wrist strap, which had been breaking at inopportune times for some customers and resulting in collateral damage. Shortly after the system launched in North America on November 19, reports popped up of broken cords, followed quickly by flying controllers crashing into high-priced electronics, living room furniture, and the occasional innocent bystander. While Nintendo acknowledged the Wii strap's problem and apparently addressed it, the company might not have done so in time.

On December 6, a Wii purchaser in Austin, Texas filed a suit against Nintendo, alleging the publisher of violating the Washington Consumer Protection Act (Nintendo is based in the state of Washington, where the suit was filed) by engaging in "unfair or deceptive practices" by telling consumers that the wrist strap was to prevent the controller from flying out of a user's hand during use, and then providing a strap that was "ineffective for its intended use." The suit also claims that the Wii Remote strap's problems constitute a breach of warranty, and seeks to become a class-action suit in which anyone who has purchased a Wii would be able to join.

"As a result of the defective nature of the wrist strap on the Wii remote, plaintiff's wrist strap broke on his remote causing damage to the Wii product plaintiff purchased," the suit reads. "The controller is an essential component of any video game console, and so [the] plaintiff is unable to use the Nintendo Wii for its intended purposes as a result of the broken wrist band. Accordingly, it renders the Wii console, which retails in the United States for $250, useless."

The Wii only comes packed with a single controller, but additional Wii Remotes can be purchased for $40 each.

One of the plaintiff's lawyers told GameSpot that Nintendo's replacement program for the wrist straps will not cause them to drop the suit. As for whether purchasers of new Wii systems that come with thicker wrist straps for the Wii Remotes would be eligible to join the suit, he said it would depend in part on whether the new straps adequately address the problem.

In his original filing, the plaintiff demands Nintendo cease what he sees as its unfair and deceptive practices, to refund or replace the strap with one that works as intended, reimburse him for legal expenses, and "such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper."

[UPDATE] A Nintendo representative passed along the company's official position on the matter: "We believe the lawsuit to be completely without merit. Nintendo has a long tradition of delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service, and we take all reports from our customers seriously. At the time we became aware of the lawsuit, we had already taken appropriate steps to reinforce with consumers the proper use of the Wii Remote and had made stronger replacement wrist straps available. This suit has had no effect on those efforts."

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

1033 comments
chronobyte
chronobyte

This just goes to show that no amount of tech advancement can save people from their stupidity.

Myth999
Myth999

Guess people are THAT dumb to throw their remote at their tvs lol

atomicrooster1
atomicrooster1

I guess people will do anything for money these days. sad really.

Ra-Devil
Ra-Devil

okay people, just because YOU can comprehend not to throw the wiimote doesn't mean that 5 years old can... shame on this lawyer for assisting a 5 year old, I mean, I didn't even know he could do that. The throwing motion represented on the screen doesn't tell you to let go in the middle of the throwing motion. Oh, and just because you're having a temper tantrum and you threw the wiimote at the TV doesn't mean you're legible for a lawsuit either. Can anyone else hear echoes of that McDonnald's lawsuit?

pdog2319
pdog2319

im with mariokartguy, can these people really think that they are literally supposed to throw the Wii-mote....come on! i mean; i dont even use the strap.

mariokartguy
mariokartguy

I have a fun idea! HOLD ON to the controller! =D

mattjr05
mattjr05

man, people are so stupid! why would you sue nintendo over something so childish. dumb people just want money out of a great company.

hokies1313
hokies1313

Uh...I thought you were suppose to hold on to the controller....so uh.......how did it fly out of his hand if he was holding it? o_O If you're just strapping the remote to your wrist and not holding on to it then it's your own dang fault it flew out o_O

seth1689
seth1689

ppl r messed up the straps r fine its just they dont kno how to play right and go crazy and cant control themselves and ruin everything for ppl who can whoever is sueing them go f urself

strawberryheart
strawberryheart

I whert anyone who sues over this crap. I should sue Nintendo for making me addictied to all of there games and making my wrists hurt so bad I can`t move`em. "Stupid people do stupid things."

ninga59
ninga59

hey if you play to hard and you let go of your wii mote its your own fault...thats why there is a off buttion

Austin-Pray
Austin-Pray

i sued nintendo because i was playing zelda and i turned around and threw my wiimote at my brother and killed him. i thought he was an enemy and all. god rest his soul...my $16.52 is coming in the mail next tuesday.

chrisgopher
chrisgopher

There are just alot of stupid people in this world who will sue someone for any reason.

greystone227
greystone227

First of all, if you swing the controller so hard that you lose control of it and you break your wrist strap, it's your freaking fault for swinging it so hard. I've achieved pro level in just about all of the Wii Sports games (but only 700 in boxing), and have played 25 hours of Zelda. Never once have I lost the grip on my controller, and never once have I ever saw the need to swing it extremely hard. And Nintendo, knowing that it was probably the people's faults anyway that they broke their wrist strap, still was kind enough to offer stronger replacement straps to anyone that asks. This lawsuit is freaking rediculous.

umbracascade
umbracascade

i blame lawyers. Stupid people are a given, einstein knew that only two things were forever, the universe and human stupidity and he wasn't even sure about the universe! But it's the lawyer's fault for taking the case. Stupid people are stupid, lawyers (those that are greedy enough to take these cases)are worse because they're evil.

SpareJesus
SpareJesus

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

runejedi
runejedi

it has plaenty of merit , merit 2 show that losers will do anything 4 a quick buck! ps if if it wins it will only get a new tv anyways (what a loser). pps i bought a wiimote im gonna go join the loser parade (not) ((NOT)) ha ha that would be so fun ta loser parade outside a nintendo office with there little sings and banners and crap lol ahahahahahahahahah! ya would just walk and hey losers whats going on planning to sue colt tommorow cause ya shot ya self in ta foot? (losers)

GANGSTA287
GANGSTA287

I apologize to the Japanese for the loopholes democrats have created in the American Law System...

jimboboklashaur
jimboboklashaur

what's the number one reason i hate living in america, you ask? people like mr. "hey, i'm a moron, and i messed up some stuff and now my mom is gonna be really pissed, i had better sue nintendo right away and blame them for me being a moron!"

Hellraiser3899
Hellraiser3899

You can't sue a company over people's stupidity...

Wolverine77
Wolverine77

this is like spilling your coffee and blaming mc donalds for making the coffee hot. quit trying to cash in on being clumsy people!

Kfoss
Kfoss

why do you need a wrist strap in the first place? i mean its a controller in your hand...you not suppose to whip it around like a SPAZ...WOOOOOOOOOO HA! (controller flys off) (WHAM) OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD AHHAHAH OHHH ESHHHHHHAAA i got Wii-Ced in my eye!!! DUUUDDE YOU TOTALY SUCK! SUUUUUUUUHHA AHHH! MANNN!

sieg6529
sieg6529

What a litigious society we live in. Seriously, to what the hell kind of abuse were the subjecting the Wiimote?

cwgr8621
cwgr8621

I've tripped up the stairs many times before. I hit myself in the face with my own knee once. I'm all around clumsy in real life. if you put a controller in my hands, it won't slip, drop, or go flying into the wall. i barely use or need my wrist strap and I think a real gamer would be able to hold a controller in their hands even in the middle of a hurricane. they just decided to copy off of interlink and waste a whole lot of time

nappan
nappan

Get over yourselves fanboys. The way 90% of the posters here talk, you'd think they owned majority stock in Nintendo. Who. Cares.

bamf03
bamf03

I'm with the rest of ya about the lawsuit being wrong but if this was a lawsuit against a Sony product with the same reasons, you lot would be trashing Sony right now and saying they deserve it for making dodgy products.

greg_g33
greg_g33

i acidentally knocked over a glass of milk while swinging in Wii Tennis, i'm not gonna lie, i felt pretty stupid. but i'm not gonna cry over spilled milk. (literally) americans ftl.

blades144
blades144

Missing links, every one of these Geico Cave Men! These idiots are distracted by shiny objects. I hope their lawsuit gets them banned from online play! Heaven knows we don't want to hurt their feelings online and have them sue us when you totally SPANK the retards!!!

nhlkoho
nhlkoho

"Dr_Feelgood When you go jogging with your MP3 player, do you let it swing by the strap or do you hold on to it??? When you use a hammer, do you hold on to it or swing it from your wrist??? Do drum sticks have wrist straps???" unfortunately by saying this, i think you gave another idiot some ideas to sue for. next you'll hear of a drummer suing drum makers because the sticks flew out of their hand and broke something. I live in America and I have to agree with the person below who said that 90% of Americans are just plain stupid.

henry_the_horse
henry_the_horse

people that swing the wii mote that hard are morons. you can simply shake the controller only inches back and forth to make it do what you want... which then makes you think why the wii's motion controls are so important... wait they aren't, they're just a gimmick. how many times can you swing a controller the same way before it gets old?

blueflamedino
blueflamedino

wait, we are not suppose to swing the wii mote around like a nunchuku with the nunhuck attackment? that statement probably can be the next lawsuit, I mean i didn't read the manual and i swung my remotes like nunchuckus for no reason

JediJon04
JediJon04

It seems to me all these people are just going out of their way to try and get some free money. Any normal person playing it like it's supposed to be played (not throwing your arms and letting go of the Wiimote) will find the strap that was shipped is fine. I've played just about all the Wii games so far and never even came close to letting the controller fly out of my hand. This whole suit is bogus. Go Nintendo.

Poodishplayer
Poodishplayer

lol, i think i might need a wrist band for my mouse. Then i can purposely break it and sue someone for damage, and endangering others from a flying mouse. lame. The wiimote is just like other controllers, except it has motion sensing. If Nintendo is sued for their controllers flying, why arent t.v. companies sued for not having straps on t.v. remotes? After all, the stuff on the t.v. seems alot more real to me than a video game, and i am likely to go crazy watching terminator than playing a game with a bunch of bunnies or men in red hats!

frogiggy323
frogiggy323

I say it's time for the Wii to introduce the signature helmate. Works for the people that want to be safe and also for the retards who can't hold a freking controller to begin with.

drew38930
drew38930

wow. I swear people go around looking for things to sue people for. and, seriously, if you are playing sanely then the strap shouldn't break in the first place

vernon01256
vernon01256

i got an idea for nintendo to replace the wii remotes and change the strap instead of making it stronger by putting a elastic band on for the wrist i mean thats smarter. p,s how can i tell nintendo

WingHo
WingHo

Wow...what kind of retard would throw their Wii remote? You only have to swing it around and move it, not fricking throw it at your widescreen/window/loved ones. It's your own problem if you break something of yours due to your own stupidity, so don't go around bothering other people about it.

t-roland
t-roland

What's with all the lawsuits?

Bathyj
Bathyj

I took my straps off anyway. My hand comes with 4 fingers and an opposible thumb which seems to be serving me quite well in the task of gripping things. Anything else. Do I need to teach anyone how to tie their shoes so they dont trip on the laces and have to sue Nike?

Kuzukaze
Kuzukaze

"only in America could this happen" yes, I sadly agree with this. I'm American and all, but is it me, or do 90% (at least) of Americans seem ...oh what's the word...the opposite of smart?

MACMALLEON
MACMALLEON

Wow! I like how everyone is blaming Nintendo for these problems. I have had no problem, and no intentions for replacing my strap. Every time I play with someone I have to remind them that there is no need to play like a CRAZY MONKEY! Just a simple flick of the wrist will do!

sonicare
sonicare ranger

Well, the wrist strap was ineffective for its intended use. However, they should simply have to pay the guy for a new wii remote and replace whatever was damaged. That's it. None of this millions of dollars in punitive or emotional damages crap.

Bathyj
Bathyj

I'm sueing Nintendo. Wii-sports has made my bicepts really big and now my shirts wont fit me.

HyperMetaDragon
HyperMetaDragon

There's nothing wrong with small wrist straps. He just wants money.

tdf64
tdf64

i just got my wii and my wrist strap works just fine ... because i dont use it as much but when i do i dont do exeggerated movement. 4 the dumbo sueing nintendo, i would give u an award 4 world's dumb and dumber of the year

redrabbit
redrabbit

This is just rediculous. The wrist strap only breaks when the player is doing 'Over Exagurated' movements with the Wii-Remote. To sue Nintendo for this is just a cry for attention (and cash). And for the lawer to come out with the fact that now, the Wii Console is now unusable is also unbeleivable. Do you swing the Wii remote when playing NFS: Carbon or Excite Truck? No you don't. All I can say to the plaintiff is, "Get a grip and grow up". As previously mentioned by Dr_Feelgood. Wrist straps are designed to protect the device from falling if accidently let go, not as primary support for the product.

Dr_Feelgood
Dr_Feelgood

When you go jogging with your MP3 player, do you let it swing by the strap or do you hold on to it??? When you use a hammer, do you hold on to it or swing it from your wrist??? Do drum sticks have wrist straps??? Wrist straps are designed to insure that if you lose your grip, the object in question does not go flying. They are not designed to be used as primary means of support and Nintendo was not required to even produce them. Now, considering the nature of the use of the product, Nintendo went out of their way to remind gamers that the wrist strap was not to be used to support the controller, and even offered a much more durable one just to ensure maximum product safety. This inbred moron is going to go home peniless.

aeternitas88
aeternitas88

This guy is just greedy, and what business do these people have swinging the controller hard enough to break a TV. Sounds like poor judgement on their part. Nintendo has done all that fit should to address this problem, anything else they do is above and beyond.

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