Flying Wiimote busts 60" TV

by Blake Snow { Nov 20th 2006 at 12:55PM }

Tuxedo Jack from the Something Awful Forums lost his 60" projection TV this weekend to a flying Wiimote. Here's his story:

"We brought the Wii home and played it pretty much nonstop for the past 24 hours. At 12:10am, during a slower couch-sitting game of Wii Sports: Bowling, my Nintendo Wii got angry with me. My buddy Troy reels back to roll his ball as he's done about 300 times tonight and suddenly feels the controller slip from his hand. (THANK GOD for the wrist strap right?) Nope. Wrist strap snaps. The Wiimote flies across the room impaling my 60" rear projection TV square in the upper left corner. Be warned: Sweaty hands + faulty Wiimote wrist strap = broken ass TV."

He believes the incident may have only busted the outer glass, but it appears the man is TV-less at the moment. Any other reports of flying Wiimotes out there, either by faulty wrist straps or over-excited movements?

[Thanks, hohoho]

Related From Joystiq

Hands-on: Wii Sports Resort's archery and canoeing
156 days ago
Joystiq hands-on: Tiger Woods 10 (Wii)
239 days ago
NYCC 09: MadWorld hands-on (Wii)
273 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Mullinator @ Nov 20th 2006 1:01PM

I'm sorry, but there is no way you could "accidentally" throw a Wiimote hard enough to break a CRT screen. Have you ever tried doing it? You have to really throw a rock pretty hard to do that kind of damage.

I call bullshit.

EihBeir @ Nov 20th 2006 1:01PM

Don't bowl angry.

Flit @ Nov 20th 2006 1:02PM

The strap looks cut. Hey stiq, why not post a picture of the busted strap and tv, rather than this random picture? And sorry, but you have to be throwing that remote pretty dang hard to crack that glass. I don't know how much a wiimote weighs, but my Statistics and Strength of materials class tells me that these guys weren't just bowling, unless bowling involves throwing your wiimote full force at your tele.

Brody Brooks @ Nov 20th 2006 1:03PM

He should have picked up a glove cover for the remote. It's rubbery, so it enforces your grip on the controller. If you can afford a 60" screen, you should be able to afford an extra $10 for safety measures.

DG @ Nov 20th 2006 1:03PM

I've broken many things by angrily throwing controllers -- mostly controllers. This guy probably feels pretty stupid.

But yeah, that must have been some force!

JohnQAnonymous @ Nov 20th 2006 1:03PM

Decent story. I laughed a little bit, but it's really not a 10.

I give it an 8.8. :)

Poor dude. It's always tough to maintain the kung-fu grip on a slick Wii.

Disco D @ Nov 20th 2006 1:04PM

I call crap on this one. How freaken hard are you bowling?! It takes like a simple flick of the wrist, not some chucking of a 50lbs ball!
You'd have to pry the wiimote from my hands.

Matt @ Nov 20th 2006 1:09PM

My guess is he's a complete fucking idiot. Here's an idea: don't swing so hard? There's no way a person needs to be using such force for something that clearly does not require let. He deserves what he got.

Also, projection TVs are shit, even new DLP or LCD variants. That alone makes him deserving in my book.

That'll teach him to buy a 60" projection because he couldn't settle for a much higher quality 50" LCD or Plasma of the same price. :)

nodnarb1014 @ Nov 20th 2006 2:08PM

Of the 12 hours or so that I played my Wii yesterday, not once did the Wiimote fly out of my hand so forcefully that it could break the strap let alone break the glass on my TV. I second Mullinators call of bullshit.

Matt @ Nov 20th 2006 1:09PM

Also, as others have pointed out: the Wiimote is not terribly heavy or dense. How would such a small, light device do such damage? Even if it was intentional, I am going to place money on "no chance in hell" for the Wiimote being able to, by it's lonesome, do such a thing.

Tom @ Nov 20th 2006 1:09PM

Its from the somethingawful forums, that alone tells you its fake lol. Also think about the motion used for bowling. You would have to be doing it insanely fast and following through with your hand way to far. Especially to hit the top left of a 60'' screen.

AmericanNinja @ Nov 20th 2006 2:32PM

Here is another Wiimote broken TV story for you.

Wii impressions topic: http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=41364

Broken TV Post: http://www.ps3forums.com/showpost.php?p=807106&postcount=11

Brian @ Nov 20th 2006 1:35PM

He must have been trying to look like a toolbox playing his Wii.

birdguy @ Nov 20th 2006 1:11PM

no way! years ago when my little sister beat one of my friends at Street Fighter 2, he got so mad, he threw the SNES controller HARD at my TV and no damage.

but then, the Wii remote has sharp corners where as the SNES controller was round, so if i learned anything in physics, wii remote should be more dangerous than the SNES controller

sounds like a suggestion for the Mythbusters!

Chris @ Nov 20th 2006 1:11PM

Mullinator: Did you even read this?? Specifically, the TWO times it mentions it being a 60" rear projection television?

birdguy @ Nov 20th 2006 1:12PM

in my previous post, i didn't realize the TV in question is a projection TV, in this case, definintely possible.

JohnQAnonymous @ Nov 20th 2006 1:13PM

You know what is dense, everyone who refuses to believe that Nintendo could never, ever, ever, ever times infinity do something like that?

2 AA Batteries are pretty effing dense.

And for everyone saying "He should know not to swing so hard!"

Yeah, he does...NOW. It's not like it's the type of thing you expect to have happen.

Camp @ Nov 20th 2006 1:15PM

I have to call B.S. on this story. No way the wrist strap just snaps on its own. Even a "defective" wrist strap would need a tremendous amount of force to break. Much more force than is necessary to play Wii Sports bowling -that's for sure.

peter7898m @ Nov 20th 2006 1:16PM

Call in the Mythbusters!!

I'd say busted.

Marco @ Nov 20th 2006 1:18PM

I call Shinanegans

Aden Nak @ Nov 20th 2006 3:55PM

Wow. And yikes. I don't disbelieve that the Wiimote could break a TV. It's a respectable weight with the AA batteries in there. I just wonder how hard someone WOULD have to whip that son'm'bitch forward to both break the wrist-strap and smash the television. Sucks to be him. Invest in a nice cloth towel for anti-sweat protection. I mean, he was playing WiiBowling. Maybe he needs one of those air-blowers like they have at the real lanes.

ahhhyeaa @ Nov 20th 2006 1:19PM

god all the nintendo fanboys are coming out of the woodwork for this one.

I'm saying the idiot swung pretty hard, the wrist strap snaps, and he cracked the screen of a rear-projection television. that f*ing thing is delicate as hell anyway.

so instead of calling bullshit and fake learn something here kids!

that instead of swinging wildly just relax and chill with the wiimote. even if it does make you look like a fucking toolbox.

Graft @ Nov 20th 2006 1:20PM

Did you guys see the pictures of the wiimote and it's strap? It's painfully obvious that he doctored the evidence after the fact. There is a cut through the strap in a completely illogical place, and the fraying is incongruous with what would have happened were it to snap. If the kid wre smart, he would have pulled the strap out of the base that holds it together. On top of that, he also went out of his way to break the loop on the wiimote, which is impossible. There is no way that both of them would have broke at once.

This kid is just trying to get nintendo to buy him a new tv.

Erec @ Nov 20th 2006 1:20PM

I could imagine that happening to a projo. My buddy was really getting into it trying to send the ball flying with a lot of spin.

Sure, you could just flick your wrist, but doesn't that pretty much defeat the whole purpose of the controls?

Gilbert @ Nov 20th 2006 1:22PM

This is total bull. Total, utter bull.

First, unless his friend winds up for wii sports bowling like one one of those softball girls, which I'm sure he didn't, I'd be hard pressed to believe he could generate enough underhand force to crack a CRT, which I've done myself...with a hammer...when I was 10.

Second, let's say I do concede that this man, this apparently sweaty from a bowling game man, did underhand the hell out of his remote (from what is no doubt at least 8 feet away), there is NO way the plastic of the wii remote could sustain itself during such an impact such that it would chatter a CRT. Nintendo's build quality is good but not that good.

Third, let's think of the direction of the energy being applied to this apparently extremely violent bowling motion. If done properly, the motion on the arm is circular. In order to snap that lanyard, or even the little clip holding it in place, which is MUCH weaker than the lanyard (which I could probably use to climb down from my ex's window when her boyfriend comes home if I needed to), you'd have to snap your hand, letting inertia do the trick. Is that how you bowl?

Oh wait, I just hit the jump and realized it's not a CRT, it's rear projection. And, um, the crack isn't nearly as bad as the generic photo on the post. Wow, I've been mislead by Joystiq. Somehow this is more believable now.

GTgamer @ Nov 20th 2006 1:25PM

I have to say this is pretty funny for me...when I first saw footage of Wii Sports, I wondered how long it might be before something like this happened. A lot of motions have you flicking the controller towards the screen. Reminded me of the old infamous clip of the little boy plus wiffle bat and glass door.

BTW, using a "natural" bowling motion without completely compensating for how you could use the controller more subtley (isn't that the point...a person could pick up the controller and mimic the normal action) could potentially have enough force to lend some damage if let got right at/after the bottom of the swing motion if going for that strike. I wouldn't say it's impossible.

...picking up my Wii today...not letting my friends use it near my plasma without intense instructions and a sobriety test.

Erec @ Nov 20th 2006 1:25PM

Um, Gilbert, the TV shown in the Joystiq article isn't the TV that broke. The guy cracked a 60" projo, not shattered a small CRT.

Erec @ Nov 20th 2006 1:26PM

Sorry Gilbert, didn't read that last paragraph. My mistake.

Lobster @ Nov 20th 2006 1:52PM

I have nothing but schaden freude for the misfortunes of people with 60" TVs. Did you buy your Wii with a whole week's allowance, or did Mommy and Daddy just give it to you because they thought it was pretty?

Only way someone can abuse a piece of technology this badly is if he or she didn't earn it.

Dick @ Nov 20th 2006 1:30PM

I was waiting 4 the first post about something broken or someone hurt by a wiimote, but i dont believe this one. I've thrown a "duke" controller at a 32" tube as hard as i could and no damage to the tv, just a broken duke. Now that controllers are $40 and up, (and I have grown up) Im very carefull with the controllers.

gLitterbug @ Nov 20th 2006 1:31PM

Yeah right, it's of course just fanboys who can't believe this happened, because it would put Nintendo aut fault, who probably don't even produce and test those themselves. Fanboy has to be the new "Nazi" by now, whoever calls it first automatically wins the discussion.

Since I don't have a Wii myself, do you mount those wriststraps on the remotes yourself(via the usual mounting technique which would make this story even more unbelievable) or are they pre-mounted and can't be taken off without cutting them?

> @ Nov 20th 2006 1:31PM

Oh, man, you KNOW there is going to be a lawsuit happening.. doesnt matter how bogus it is.. there will be one coming; most likely from the US of A.

Mullinator @ Nov 20th 2006 1:32PM

@Chris, ya I read it AFTER seeing that stupid unrelated picture posted with this article. At least post a picture from the actual source Joystiq.

broseph @ Nov 20th 2006 1:44PM

YAY for reading comprehension. They obviously put the random picture to see which Nintendo fans would just fly off the handle and craft responses without actually reading the article. Congrats to Gilbert for going the extra mile and actually typing out a three paragraph response. Excellent work. At least you caught yourself at the end.

Brian @ Nov 20th 2006 1:36PM

Here's the thing...

How on earth can you 1) break the strap and 2) STILL have enough velocity to break the TV?

You'd think that after exerting enough force to break the strap, the controller would have slowed down enough so it wouldn't damage the TV.

If this happened, I'm guessing they weren't using the straps at all... CUT the strap, attached it to the controller, and are planning on suing... somebody.

JohnQAnonymous @ Nov 20th 2006 1:36PM

Glitter:

You attach it yourself.

It's actually really easy to see how some dumbass could have run it through incorrectly and busted the retaining piece of plastic, then during the course of an entire afternoon of playing, the cord got sawed through (simply cutting it wouldn't result in the ends of the cord being splayed out like that, for all you bush league "Mythbusters", it'd be sliced clean.) then, at the wrong moment the exact wrong thring happens, and pow. Busted outer glass pane.

Mobat @ Nov 20th 2006 1:37PM

While bowling yesterday (and not using a wrist strap) I launched my wii mote into the ceiling with enough force to make the dog jump.

Now I have the controller rubber glove and the wrist strap to prevent in the future.

Steve @ Nov 20th 2006 9:19PM

I don't believe that the strap accidently broke. What I believe happened was a person accidently threw the remote and said "SH!T, you broke my $3000 TV set! Go dig the remote straps out of the trash and I'll make it look like it snapped and we'll get Nintendo to pay for the TV repair!"

Player1 @ Nov 20th 2006 1:44PM

Considering how much damage adults are already doing with this thing, can you imagine how many kids are going to be injured after the holiday season?

kiwi @ Nov 20th 2006 1:51PM

"You attach it yourself."

Both the controller that came with my system, as well as the extra controller I bought, had the wrist strap already connected to the controller.

Now, it's via the simple "push the loop through the hole then put the other end through the loop" method you'd do yourself, but it was already done for me.

Justin @ Nov 20th 2006 10:08PM

Buuuuuuuuuuulllllllshit.

You'd have to absolutely whip the Wiimote to do that kind of damage to a TV like that. Assuming the wrist strap did indeed break (which does not seem the case from the pictures, it seems like it was cut and the edges fluffed a little), the Wiimote would probably have hit the ceiling or much much higher on the TV. Think about it, if you're underhanding something with that much force, what are the odds of it snapping while your hand is facing the ground (less force) than when its horizontal (and you're probably not gripping it)?

Even with sweaty hands its highly unlikely that you're going to throw the Wiimote. I've had no trouble gripping an Xbox360 controller or even a PS2 controller with sweaty hands after a long day or night of games.

I call it a lie.

Mullinator @ Nov 20th 2006 1:54PM

@34, I have had reasons to not read the article first broseph, I have seen a few other people on other forums post EXTREMELLY similar stories that I know were fake, and one of them did use a CRT TV so I assumed Joystiq was linking to the same one.

Stop thinking to yourself "OMG HES TEH THINKING TEH ARTICLE IS TEH WRONG!!1!!! TEH WII FANBOY!!!!" All the time.

Vader582 @ Nov 21st 2006 10:16AM

"9. My guess is he's a complete fucking idiot. Here's an idea: don't swing so hard? There's no way a person needs to be using such force for something that clearly does not require let. He deserves what he got.

Also, projection TVs are shit, even new DLP or LCD variants. That alone makes him deserving in my book.

That'll teach him to buy a 60" projection because he couldn't settle for a much higher quality 50" LCD or Plasma of the same price. :)"

Can I call you Ass? I'm sure that's what everyone calls you. What a frickin' prick you are...I'm hoping karma catches up to you. My 60" Bravia will kick your 50" Westinghouse any day. Seriously though what's with the hostility towards someone who owns a different type of display? Personally, I don't like plasmas...you show me a reasonably priced plasma that can do 10k:1 contrast well...then you can say something...until then...I hope you're wrist-strap doesn't break anytime soon fanboi...hehe...

Rhetorical: I would how long it will take before a lawsuit crops up against Nintendo over these broken TV sets?

Art Guy @ Nov 20th 2006 2:00PM

Mullinator- IGN claimed they had a Wiimote fly across a room as well. I'm sure they are making it up to get more press. ;) It happens.

The _Boo @ Nov 20th 2006 2:01PM

Cut, frayed, sawed or whatever there is no way that strap broke like that by itself. You could however easily crack the screen on a 60" projection TV with a wiimote, or anything weighing more than a an ounce flung with sufficient force.

I could see the strap breaking loose at the base, but unless the kid was wearing a chainsaw blade as a bracelet there's no way that thing would break like that.

Sean @ Nov 20th 2006 2:02PM

Total bullshit. If you look at the crack, it's got the tell-tale curve of a growing crack (anyone who's gotten a rock in their windshield knows that the initial crack is straight.. but it grows in a curve after a few days). That crack has got to be at least a week old.

Mullinator @ Nov 20th 2006 2:04PM

What are you talking about Art Guy? I'm not saying it can't happen, I was saying I assumed Joystiq was linking to something I have seen in another forum that I know was fake.

I see they weren't and I admit that was a mistake. So why are you trying to bait me now?

iceatcs @ Nov 20th 2006 2:10PM

Wow Ign, then Now this one.

I bet we will see anymore news. Can't wait the news if anyone might lose the eye sight because of flying wiimote.

Richard @ Nov 22nd 2006 4:05PM

I can confirm that this story has truth to it. I almost lost my 55" plasma this weekend due to a faulty Wii lanyard. My friend was playing Tennis rather excitedly and sweaty hands caused him to lose the Wiimote. The lanyard snapped near the controller and sent the Wiimote flying across the room hitting the wall very hard only half a foot above my TV. If necessary I can post pictures on Flickr that show the lanyard.