Nintendo Offers Coats for Wiimotes
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.
