RSSNintendo Offers Coats for Wiimotes
By Tim Conneally | Published October 3, 2007, 3:41 PM
Wii owners may have noticed their consoles glowing blue yesterday, which typically indicates firmware updates and important messages from Nintendo HQ. The message yesterday said that the Wiimote controllers will receive an additional safety upgrade: a silicone covering. This is part of what has become an ongoing process to minimize potential injury related to the controllers which, in the hands of overzealous gamers, could become quite a safety hazard.
There have been no reports of bodily injuries resulting from swung or flung controllers, and Nintendo is taking strides to keep it that way.
The silicone jackets are free for current Wii owners. In fact, users can request as many as four with a single valid Wii serial number. The request form is located on Nintendo's support site.
Orders for the Wiimote coats will begin shipping on October 15, and all subsequently released controllers are said to come standard with the new enhancement.
With 9.3 million Wiis already in homes worldwide, production and shipment of potentially 37.2 million of these jackets will be quite costly. It could be an assurance that Nintendo is doing everything possible to foolproof its system, or it could also mean that Nintendo will be releasing a game or two this Christmas that gets users' arms flailing.
I too commend Nintendo for taking an active approach. Besides, is it their fault if you fling your controller through a wall because you don't use the strap? Is it their fault if a friend, child, pet, walks up behind you and gets whacked in the head? In my opinion, it's no different that swinging a baseball bat. It's not the manufacturer's fault if you're not aware of your surroundings.
A friend of mine launched one of my wii-motes across my living room. Do I blame Nintendo? No... he was the dumb*** that didn't want to mess with putting the lanyard on. Nintendo shouldn't be held responsible for irresponsible people... though I'm sure eventually someone will attempt to hold them so.
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|Teeny Wii jackets? Be certain to get one and always practice "Safe Wii."
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|All this legal stuff is bull, if you do something stupid - bad luck - your fault. Common sense.
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|Legal stuff? Dunno what you're talking about.
Also I'd like to commend Nintendo for not only producing a revolutionary product that is outselling the consoles with dozens of times the processing power, but for taking a very aggressive and proactive approach to the safety concerns, instead the average corporations course of action that entails waiting for a class action law suit before expending any effort to fix things.
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|"There have been no reports of bodily injuries resulting from swung or flung controllers"
i'll have to disagree with that statement my 3 yr old got her nose broke when she walked up behind my wife playing bowling on wii sports
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|That's one of those "It shouldn't be funny, but it is" moments.
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|English class much?
It doesn't say it hasn't happened, but no REPORTS have been filled against Nintendo. Only the joke web sites, of Wii controllers stuck in the wall, tv's baby's with black eyes. Nintendo understands it can happen, and making it less likely for it to happen.
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|Well get busy already! We want lawsuits for your families silly antics!
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|Where does it say that there have been no reports to Nintendo? It just says no reports... doesn't say to whom. As such, if anyone has reported this to anyone in the past, that would make the 'no reports' statement untrue... Unless some additional verbage is added about how it's no reports to Nintendo or legal suits filed or otherwise limited.
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|the only thing i don't like about america is how many silly a** lawsuits people get away with.
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|Yes, its because we want money. Come on, lets make some quick millions off of Nintendo! :P
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|"There have been no reports of bodily injuries resulting from swung or flung controllers"
OoooOOoOOOOooo. I'll have to do something about that.
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|Actually, this is wrong... The 'Wii have a problem' site has had several photos of people with Wii injuries, including black eyes from colisions and the like...
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|I thought I remembered something along those lines.
I'll just be the first to commit a murder with one instead.
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|Well, Explosm has had a comic about that already, but I suppose you can be the first to do it IRL... The comic's on the front page of www.wiihaveaproblem.com right now. Heh.
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|You know that site os a hoax site don't you?
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|Any verification of this, besides that it best fits your view to disbelieve it?
And what exactly is an "os a hoax"? Is this a new alternative to MS, the Mac OS blends, and the *nix-es? Would seem mostly like an early pre-release version of Mac OS X, but then again... I wouldn't ask, but you oh-so-politely commented on the language quality of a prior poster, so...
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|Yah, I have no idea what he's talking about. Im wondering...
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|Hahaha Quote of the day folks. Kudos to you Mr.Skinner :)
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