Nintendo to Offer Sturdier Straps for Wii

[Dashken]

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15 — Nintendo said Friday that it was taking steps to keep energetic users of its new Wii video game console from breaking their televisions and ceiling fans.

The Wii, which Nintendo began selling in November, has generated considerable enthusiasm, in part because it has a novel game controller that players can wave to manipulate action on the screen. The trouble is that some players have grown so enthusiastic that the controller has slipped from their hands and taken brief flight. Players are supposed to use wrist straps attached to the controllers, but in some cases these have snapped.

Nintendo said it had begun a voluntary replacement program for the wrist straps. Thicker straps should mean fewer flying controllers, said Beth Llewelyn, a spokeswoman for Nintendo of America.

The new straps are free, Ms. Llewelyn said, but the company is not committing to replacing other household items — like the handful of televisions that have reportedly been smashed by unleashed controllers.

“We’re handling those on a case-by-case basis,” Ms. Llewelyn said. She said that reports of broken straps had been relatively rare; they have broken in fewer than a hundredth of 1 percent of cases, she said. “There’s no problem if you just hold onto the controller,” she noted.

The strap issue appears to be a rare early glitch for the Wii — a console that video game industry analysts say is having considerable success in the marketplace.

While the battle for the hearts and wallets of consumers is in its early days, industry analysts said the Wii had most forcefully captured consumer interest. Unlike the super-powerful, graphics-intensive Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, the Wii is targeted at a more mainstream audience. And the price of the Wii is $249; the PlayStation 3 costs $499 or $599, depending on the version; and the Xbox 360 is $299 or $399.

In November, Americans bought 476,000 Wiis, according to Evan Wilson, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, citing figures from NPD Group. That compared with sales of 197,000 PlayStation 3’s, which, like the Wii, went on sale in the second half of that month.

Microsoft’s November sales of the Xbox 360 totaled 511,000. But the 360 has been available to consumers for a full year, making direct comparisons with the Wii and the PlayStation 3 difficult.

Like the Wii, the PS3 has been selling out of stores, but because of production issues supplies have been more limited. Sony says it may ship at best one million consoles to the United States by the end of the year, about half of Nintendo’s shipments.

The Wii “appears to be the hit gaming product,” Mr. Wilson said.

He said, however, that it would take some time before the latest generation of consoles takes over the market for game software. Games for the Wii will represent only 3 percent of video games sold during 2006, he estimates, and software for the PS3 will make up 1.5 percent of the market. Xbox 360 games will have a 16.5 percent share, Mr. Wilson said.

The Wii continues to have people lining up in stores, but once they get home, it sometimes has them falling over. John Davison, editorial director of the 1UP Network, a group of video game-centric Web sites and magazines, said the Wii controller was generating some comedy. Some users, gesticulating wildly as they bowl or play tennis, have been known to take a tumble, he said, while others have broken televisions and household objects.

Mr. Davison said UP1 was e-mailed a photo of “someone who was playing the tennis game, let go of the controller, hit the ceiling fan and broke the light on it.”

At least, he said, the strap is the only part of the Wii that appears to be breaking.

“The controller itself actually stands up to the abuse pretty well,” he said.

Wii owners can request new straps at support.nintendo.com.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/te...6nintendo.html

[ZhengHe]

It's amazing that nintendo would even entertain the idea of replacing all those straps since there must be 10+ warnings against using the controllers too agressively both in guides, on the console, and elsewhere. Still, it's a nice thought and probably doesn't cost them too much even though it looks like a recall. Probably won't hurt them too much as far as sales, which is fortunate and puts them in a good light as far as accountability.

[Iria]

Good light for accountability, but they've since been sued

[werty316]

I bet a few people will give this so called sturdier strap a test run for sure.

If reports get out that this sturdier strap still causes broken TVs Nintindo is sunk.