CNN gets Joystiq'd, reports on Wii strap failures

by Blake Snow { Dec 8th 2006 at 5:45PM }

CNN's Miles O'brien reports on Wii strap failures before new, thicker straps slowly made their way into the hands of gamers. The investigatory journalist sat down with Joystiq's own Chris Grant and James Ransom-Wiley to discuss the issue after the two won a tag-team wrestling match at a recent off-site event. By winning, the bloggers secured the interview rights and were confined to wear Joystiq t-shirts for life. Their brutal finesse in the ring wouldn't last long, however, as O'brien took out Ransom-Wiley in a Wii Sports boxing bout. Said James after the loss, "I threw the fight."

[Thanks, Supa! via VGB]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike Berglund @ Dec 8th 2006 6:04PM

did he just say "the hard pipe"?

Shogan @ Dec 8th 2006 5:59PM

LOL I heard that too!

Shawn @ Dec 8th 2006 6:07PM

If people are dumb enough to let go of the wiimote then they deserve to break their TV's, AV equip, etc. It's not rocket science on how to use these things.

Kye @ Dec 8th 2006 6:30PM

Am I the only one to notice James' WII(mote) sticking out from between his legs? (25 - 29 seconds)

Oh the irony.

WiiFTW!

Tucker @ Dec 8th 2006 6:16PM

Haha, way to go guys, we have CNN running constantly at work. It's a shame I missed it when it ran live. The newscasters do sound incredibly dorky talking about it, though (and, yeah, I'm sure she plays wii tennis ALL the time) - but you've got to give O'brien credit for letting himself get filmed looking like a complete tool. I mean, he does it every day anyway, but naturally this is worse.

samfish @ Dec 8th 2006 6:28PM

I noticed that, too.

heh- "your Wii is sticking out, dude..."

cronotrigger913 @ Dec 8th 2006 6:32PM

That was pretty cool to see, guys, good job. Watching people get so into playing the Wii is infectious. Makes me want to race how and jump into some Tennis right now.

Psykechan @ Dec 8th 2006 7:07PM

Maybe baseball bat manufacturers should invest in a strap so that users don't throw them after hitting the ball and injure someone. Not like that happens on a regular basis by careless players.

Seriously people, hold on to the remotes. If you throw them and the strap breaks, it's still your fault. If you throw the remote and the strap doesn't break, then count yourself lucky.

Broken straps on Wii remotes don't kill TVs, people throwing Wii remotes kill TVs.

Blue Fluffy Bunny @ Dec 9th 2006 1:10AM

Hahahaha good report... i dont know why ppl just let go or it just accidently slips out of the hand.. Well i know that the Wii is fun to get carried away.. but come on guys... control your fun! hahahaha But yeah WWW.Wiihaveaproblem.com is fun to look at!

Splat @ Dec 8th 2006 7:32PM

yes, I'm sure Nintendo found that no one in testing had trouble holding on to the wiimotes, so they decided to not put a strap on. Wait a minute...

Mr. Khan @ Dec 8th 2006 7:38PM

I find it weird that a Class-Action is not already brewing

Microsoft has done something equally inconsequential (i mean a busted TV is equal in value to a bricked 360)and people threaten to sue

Perhaps it has something to do with Nintendo's friendlier Image? the fact that it is viewed as a friend while MS is viewed as the EVIL AMERICAN SUPERCORPORATION

odd double standard huh?

Dave Navarro @ Dec 8th 2006 7:42PM

What silly-ass motherfuckers can't hold a fuckin remote in their fuckin hand. If TV's had civil rights there would be a lawsuit against these peaces of I-wanna-post-my-dumbass-on-the-net shits.

MJ @ Dec 8th 2006 7:51PM

I find the funniest part towards the end:

talking about the thin thread:
girl: "well you could snap that right off"
guy: "well, well that's what's been happening"
god, he just made that women stupid, by the sounds of it she already is anyway. Wii owns

GeeT @ Dec 8th 2006 8:52PM

Small, oddly-shaped (square, no contours), slippery controller + arm swinging = recipe for potential damage.

Frankly, I can think up plenty of reasons I wouldn't let a lot of my friends or other people near my entertainment center while playing with my Wii (I soooo wish I could stop saying the name, it still sounds terrible). The thought still makes me nervous, but fortunately most are non-gamers or have been too busy to come over and check it out.

I'm an on-the-couch "wrist player" whenever possible, but I can see friends trying to do the full motion activities and getting a little too excited or being a little clumsy on occasion. Even just watch the simple backhand that O'Brien does near the beginning of the segment. If the remote slipped, I'd wager that it would have a decent amount of force at the peak of his arm movement. That's a reasonable amount of force/movement I could expect from a normal adult person, nevermind someone younger. Not to mention the "subtle" method can often be a real pain in the wrists.

sploy @ Dec 8th 2006 8:19PM

It's a win-win-win situation: retarded people break their wrists straps by using the wii-remote incorrectly, rendering themselves deservedly unable to play (win#1), then they have to go buy new ones from nintendo = more money for nintendo (win#2), and this means that nintendo is financially better equipped to continue producing great consoles and games. (win#3)

I fail to see a problem.

edmund @ Dec 9th 2006 1:17AM

Come on, is this a serious issue? Are people really having a problem with this? I bet that CNN journalist just wanted to play more video games at work. :P I would have loved it if they used it as an argument to buy a PS3 instead.

ViperVisor @ Dec 9th 2006 2:02AM

I wanna play with Betty Nguyen.

Gill @ Dec 9th 2006 3:00AM

@10

Are you that dense? You can easily control if you let go of the Wiimote or not. Can you easily control the circumstances if you all of a sudden your 360 gets bricked just because you installed a new update or just flashed the dreaded 3 red lights on you after playing a game with no problem beforehand???

I'm starting to think you're one of these guys with a busted TV because you're too dumb to hold on to a remote.

"Common sense" ain't so common in these parts I guess.

mordecai @ Dec 9th 2006 6:02AM

video game controllers get thrown at things all the time. for me, it started back in 1994 with NBA jam. you know how the computer always tries to catch up in the game if you're doing too well. when you're playing a game by yourself and you get frustrated, what better way to releive stress but to throw your controller across the room? obviously the wiimote situation is slightly different, but only slightly. only slightly. am i gonna sue sega for the damages i incurred to the lamps in my basement because earthworm jim got killed by some cocksucking bird? no! it was entirely my fault. if you feel the need to throw your arm out every time you play wii sports bowling but not hold onto your controller, that's pretty much the same thing

Eaode @ Dec 9th 2006 7:43AM

I really don't see how you'd let go of the controller. When you hold it, the Contour on the bottom and the B-Button keep your index finger as a good anchor to the wii remote. Even if you get sweaty, the Concave B trigger should keep the remote in your hand.

Unless it's just retards that don't know how to hold it.

Mark Nico @ Dec 9th 2006 11:21AM

Does any one else notice that these guys were securing the wii strap the wrong way. your wrist should be fastened to the tail end of the strap, not towards the front where it causes tension on the controllers thin strap. this style is properly illustrated every time you turn on and play a wii game.