jonLawsuit filed against Nintendo
December 20th 2006 23:49
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Only in America - law firm Green Welling LLP has filed a class suit against Nintendo of America, on the premise that Wiimote wrist straps - and hence the Wiimotes themselves - are defective. The lawsuit represents all American Wii owners, and demands that in every case of a defective wrist strap, that Nintendo of America refund the purchase and replace the Wiimote.
“Nintendo’s failure to include a remote that is free from defects is in breach of Nintendo’s own product warranty,” reads the statement. “The class action lawsuit seeks to enjoin Nintendo from continuing its unfair or deceptive business practices as it relates to the Nintendo Wii.” The lawsuit is yet to get clearance from a judge in order to proceed to court, however the list of evidence supporting the lawsuit is long, and mounting daily.
Of course, if you haven't heard of the problem associated with these "faulty" wrist straps, then you have been living under the rock. The problem is not with the Wiimote itself, but a small string that connects the Wiimote to a lanyard that wraps around the wrist. Due to the Wii's unique gaming style, in which the player must actively wave the Wiimote to gain movement, this wrist strap has become prone to breaking, leading to excessive damage to anything within reaching of a flying Wiimote.
Nintendo have attributed the damage to people playing with a little too much excitement, stating only a minimal amount of movement is required to coerce the desired action. However, particularly with games like WiiSports, players often become so enamoured with the game that they begin to play with excessive movement, allowing the controller to slip from their hands and the wrist strap to subsequently break. The website Wiihaveaproblem has a toll for the mounting damage caused by the breaking of the wrist straps, based on user feedback. The toll shows at least thirty-two broken straps since its release on November 19 in America. It also shows sixteen broken tvs, four broken wiis, and several miscellaneous household items. So far, only seven of the thirty-two incidents have resulted in broken controllers, a testament to the durability of the Wiimote itself.
Nintendo announced a plan to upgrade all wii straps last week, prior to the announcement of the lawsuit. The company's plans are to recall 3.2 million wrist straps for the Wii, to be done through a replacement order form which can be found here. Shipments for the new straps will occur on December 21 with an expected shipment time of 5 to 9 days. Nevertheless, despite Nintendo's contingency plan, it seems that Green Welling is planning to continue the lawsuit.
UPDATE: Nintendo has responded to the lawsuit, less than a day after it was announced. The company has released a statement stating their current efforts to replace defective wrist straps, and their attitude towards the lawsuit.
“We believe the lawsuit to be completely without merit,” read Nintendo’s statement. “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."
Comparison of the new and old wrist straps
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