"Wii Have A Problem," an accident archive

A class action only requires two things:

A class in this case, Wii owners, and a similar experience that they all share which they choose to take action on, in this case, safety straps breaking and causing unexpected damage to property/people.

You can sue Pepsi in a class action for making people's throats burn slightly, you just wouldn't win anything because it doesn't cause any actual damage.

Also a class action is really the only way anyone can expect to win a lawsuit against Nintendo, no single consumer will have the funding needed to fight a corporate lawyers.

A) Unless you're holding the controller way at the back, you can get a REALLY good grip on it because of the groove by the B button.

B) If you sweat like an ox, go buy those wiimote sleeves.

C) You've already demonstrated your stupidity by throwing the wiimote and breaking your TV. The court has already made its decision. The fact that you want to call attention to yourself for it, well, that's just extra evidence. Welcome to Stupidtown. You're the mayor.

I find fault with both the user and the manfuacturer. There's no fault in assuming that the strap should be reasonably strong enough to withstand a certain amount of weight and stress. As such Nintendo should provide a stronger substitute in the future. People do tend to get really invovled in such games like Wii Sports. They, however, should exercise more care. Buy one of those rubber "glove" for the controller so it won't fly off sweaty palms. Fortunately, so far, very few games require such physical involvement from gamers like Wii Sports. Not sure if Rayman or Wario Ware will require the same effort but it is unlikely since you don't constantly repeat the same strong force in movement like you do in Wii Sports. Then again, you wouldn't think Wii Bowling would get the same flying Wiimote problems...

Has no one stated the obvious yet? If no one else will stand up for Nintendo, I'm pretty sure their lawyers will.

I'm always telling people to be careful and last night during an intense bowling match, I did a strong back swing over (and around) my laptop on my girlfriend's lap and when I came forward I smashed the laptop screen (didn't break), but I bent the screen beyond it's threshold and snapped the screen from the hinges on the one side.

Casualty, 1 PowerBook.

I don't have a problem following the directions but the problem is when you have people over. My brother knocked my lamp of an endtable swinging the wimote like Andre friggin' Agasy. Also, My apartment is small & when my tall friend (6' 6") does the motion for bowling his hand ends up about 1 foot away from my 46" Bravia Xbr3. It's kind of nerve racking!

I don't have a problem with the lanyard itself, I feel that the little white string that attaches the wimote to the lanyard is too thin though.

I'd like to just testify that I

a) flail my arms like an idiot on occasion while playing Wii games.

b) sweat profusely on occasion while playing Wii games.

c)swing the wiimote around my wrist like Rick James did with microphones on occasion while playing Wii games.

And even play while drinking heavily on occasion.

And my strap has yet to break or show signs of breaking.

Although I do not slide the strap thru the clear plastic part becuz it seems like it could fray the strap which would lead to the strap tearing or breaking.

My brother has a Wii and I play it daily. Yes I use the wrist strap, but would I trust a strap in any situation to hold a delicate piece of electronics? No. I play bowling just like I would bowl, aggressively and fast but I have had, nor seen anyone else, have a problem holding on to the remote.

It is sad that people have resorted to suing people to get rich. Get a job and go work for your money, don't rely on some lawyer to get you money for damage that you caused, be it accidentaly or intentionally.

What people are over looking is one of the long standing tenants of US court procedures. When ever a civil case is brought before a judge, the goal of the person or group that is bringing the suit is to convince that judge that the other party has been negligent in providing a safe device (or the information on operating said device safely) that a REASONABLE PERSON can operate. So, when a class action starts in this kind of case, basically it's up to the judge (or jury, if it gets that far) to determine if Nintendo has met the test of providing enough information for a reasonable person to operate the Wii safely. What the class is saying boils down to "We are fracking idiots, and we believe most other people are also idiots, and can't comprehend warning labels."

In Wii defense rather defense of the commonly sued manufacturer who provides complete instructions for product use where common sense should come into play regardless:
For the people who are losing their controllers and did not have the strap attached, your actions are just as not wearing seatbelts to drivers who get injured as a result of not wearing them. .
.
From the wii instructions, I quoted something below. Note the *** where it says that the strap may break if used with too much force, they even go as far as to say it can damage things/people in your house..how blatant can instructions be?

"Hold the Wii Remote firmly and do not let go. Even while wearing the wrist strap, make sure you don't let go of the Wii Remote during game play and **do not use excessive motion**. For example, in Wii Sports bowling, the proper way to let go of the ball while bowling is to release the "B" button on the Wii Remote—**DO NOT LET GO OF THE Wii REMOTE ITSELF.** If you are having so much fun that you start perspiring, take a moment to dry your hands. ****If you use excessive motion and let go of the Wii Remote, the wrist strap may break and you could lose control of the Wii Remote. This could injure people nearby or cause damage to other objects.****"

i cant possibly imagine anyone being able to toss the controller and break whatever. ive played long long hours of wii sports, with friends, without straps before. that means ive obviously had sweaty hands... and ive never dropped it, nor have my friends. the wiimote is sorta like the xbox360 controller, how it is shaped perfectly to fit your hand.

a short experiment. just grab any normal TV remote and swing at nothing for about an hour. try it! then tell me about it.

It is not NINTENDO's fault for flying remotes, but it is definitely NINTENDO's fault for manufacturing a faulty safety strap when used properly. It has not even been 24 hours since my 12 yr old son and 2 of his friends were "bowling" when the strap broke off the remote and flew out of his hand and cracked our 52" Plasma. The strap was made for a purpose, not to give a "false" sense of security. NINTENDO should have manufactured a DURABLE strap or used the same wrist strap material to connect the controller, instead of the light string. If this would have been an automobile, with the Seat Belt properly fastened, NINTENDO would sure have many lawsuits. Remember the Goodyear Tires? Creating accidents and not properly manufactured. Yes, they were released to the public, but were ultimately responsible for paying lawsuits for driver accidents & fatalities.

Why is someone an 'idiot' or a 'tard' if they swing their Wiimote to the point there it slips out of their hand or breaks the strap?

For some of these games, like Wii Sports Bowling, a standing, sweeping motion is indicated to make the experience more lifelike or 'immersive' -- which is the entire point of these controllers.

Nintendo didn't make the Remote and Nunchuk so that people would sit idly while gently flicking their wrists, and insofar as that goes, the strap should be made to withstand fairly rigorous use. If it doesn't, that's the fault of Nintendo.

I have really enjoyed my Wii thus far and have been overall pretty impressed with the game experience, but I'm nervous playing it with my expensive plasma TV and I don't think I should be.

Anyone who sues Nintendo over this, should be sterilized, if not euthenized. I don't need them mucking up my gene pool, or sucking up my oxygen.

WELL, as much as I love Wii, my friend brian had an unfortunate accident.

I will back up Wii 110%, but well. The strap broke.

We have been playing Wii until 4am the day it came out. Everyday, ever waking chance we get, when all of a sudden, the Wii strape BROKE. I'm serious.

I didn't even want to believe it.

I told him it was all his fault, but, in reality.


The strap broke, and the remote went flying into the wall.


There is a dent, i mean we can fix it with some plaster and paint, but still.


It happens.


It's ok, we went a bought a new "skin" for it, which comes with another strap.



JUST BE CAREFUL.


I love Wii.


Nicole

I find it ironic, and actually quite hilarious that at the top of this webpage there are three links to injury attorneys.

By the way... #44... "well said" and anyone with functioning grey matter should agree with you. The issue is not whether a person has the ability to "overuse", or for that matter "over-react" when using the product. The issue is that if something is faulty (or has the potential to be faulty) the manufacturer should observe and adjust their product accordingly or risk having the public eye intensely scrutinize. Or worse yet, settle out of court in a lawsuit. The string really is tiny and again... well said - it's only as strong as it's weakest link. Speaking of eyes by the way... Nintendo's burned the retinas of quite a few users with it's blood red Virtual boy. Ultimately, if a car manufacturer produced a car whose wheels came off with too wide of a yank on the sterring wheel is it not their responsibilty? Or are race driver's exempt? Especially when the manufacturer has every opportunity to fix the axels. Theoretically, if the Wii's games caused epileptic seizures in ANYONE who watched them for more than twenty minutes, would it be the "stupid" gamer's fault for playing it as some here would suggest? Do they have to put a warning label saying "ONLY BLIND PEOPLE SHOULD PLAY THIS GAME"? The point is... Nintendo's R&D has no reason not to build a better mouse trap... it's too easy. Either that or wait for the day when someone kills their three year old with a direct shot to the "temple" from a flying Wii controller. Stupid as it sounds (and as an AVID gamer I temper this) but we all know that game company's whether software or hardware don't always make good on their promises. Software and hardware issues abound, heck even level design or save points are poorly planned in an otherwise STELLAR accomplishment. Why then can a company like Nintendo not make an ill conceived (atleast partially) controller? I ask you.

Correction - #46... #46 I thought YOUR comments were "well said". Previously I said #44 - but ahh not so much ( a little too RANTY for my taste ) Anyway... sorry - but you DO deserve the credit. I thought you (#46) really conveyed the point and it comes down to a simple point. People will always do stupid things as it is inherent in our species. Because of this simple undeniable fact, we should not be given any more help in indulging our fetish for stupidity. Any product that wittingly or unwittingly hurls itself into the category of "you can use me stupidly" should protect itself at all costs. Some would even argue that the mere fact that I would trust a drunken "carnie" and the mechanics he "drinks with" enough to get on their carnival ride sheer stupidity. That does not mean I deserve to be hurled to my death because the safety harness broke from excessive use or wear. Case in point: IT IS A DEVICE MEANT TO BE FUN. Last I checked bleeding and broken items or people is not FUN (atleast it's not to those items or people). It's a "SAFETY STRAP" - it's not a "SORTA - KINDA TEMPORARY SAFE IF USED UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS STRAP". Good grief people - excusing poor equipment with stupid people only testifies that you yourself have not been affected.