Nintendo working on Wiimote strap problem

Wii News | Ninty to the rescue of endangered windows and televisions.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has assured gamers that Nintendo is considering new ways of cutting down the number of Wii-related accidents that have occurred since the machine launched. Since Nintendo's console first became available to the public in November, there's been story after story of people accidentally flinging their Wii remote controls into plasma TV screens, other people's faces and through windows.

A bit like that time I took Samba de Amigo around to a friend's house and smashed one of his parent's lampshades to smithereens with a flailing maraca (that light fixture was far too low).

Anyway, many of these incidents have been blamed on the relatively weak strap that comes with the Wii remote control. Which obviously won't do. But thankfully, help could be at hand, with Iwata telling the Foreign Correspondents Club this week, "Some people are getting a lot more excited than we'd expected. We need to better communicate to people how to deal with Wii as a new form of entertainment."

Sod communication. A stronger strap would do the trick, Satoru.

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27 Comments

Benno

5 years ago

or you could just not wave it around excessively.

Crestfallen

5 years ago

or they could not skimp on the strap

ObsoletE

5 years ago

reinforce your strap with Fishing Line, imo.

troublemaker

5 years ago

use super glue?

ugh the boot

5 years ago

nAh strap ain't the problem. Crack on the Ds-Lite hinge now THAT was a problem, but a strap is there to support you holding the damn thing not solely to rely on the thing staying in your hands! If you hold onto the remote....there should be no pressure on the strap at all....therefore there should be even less danger of said strap breaking.

Just idiots/cavemen who don't know how to use tech properly...that's all. I've seen the pics of people who have broken something with the wiimote....they all look stupid, thick, daft...etc etc.

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

but a strap is there to support you holding the damn thing not solely to rely on the thing staying in your hands!

Because the Wiimote is ridiculously heavy. Of course it's there to keep it in your hands!

LeonJ

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

LOL - I luv the way you are soooo jaded by that crack Ugh. It totally ruined your DS experinece didn't it

In any case, I can see how this sort of thing can happened. Played Wii Sports with some friends last night, and people tend to think they are playing a real sport and swing the controller around madly.

Karai Pantsu

5 years ago

Yeah but swinging madly while holding on, and swinginy maddly and letting go are two very different things.

If you haven't developed enough manual dexterity to keep a grip on your controler then you maybe shouldn't be gaming in the first place

Tristan

5 years ago

I don't actually use my strap. I'm so not sure about the kinetic intelligence, or the hand sweatiness, of the people who are having these issues. I haven't felt as if my Wii-remote is going to leap from my hands yet.

You have to hold onto the thing people, you're not throwing a real ball in Wii Sports baseball. Get a grip.

stevolution

5 years ago

This sort of thing is to be expected although I wonder why people aren't seem to be grasping their wiimotes so loosely? Obviously there's a level of excitement that isn't there when playing an 360 or a PS3.

Gutsman Heavy

5 years ago

I just like you know HOLD on to my Wii-mote. Are people taking the "nun-chuck" set up a little to literally?

ugh the boot

5 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

ugh the boot wrote

but a strap is there to support you holding the damn thing not solely to rely on the thing staying in your hands!

Because the Wiimote is ridiculously heavy. Of course it's there to keep it in your hands!

aww diddums, maybe mommy should help you lift it?! Gimme a break! How heavy is it exactly? And if it's too heavy to hold and needs a strap to keep in your hands....well that's not a strap fault, that's actually a wiimote fault that it weighs too much.

leonmc wrote

LOL - I luv the way you are soooo jaded by that crack Ugh. It totally ruined your DS experinece didn't it

Heh...yea that would almost be true if I wasn't actually enjoying Yoshi's Island DS.

Also it's not the actual crack...it's the principal of it! All my stuff is in perfect condition...and I bet my Ds-Lite is probably in better condition than most of the people's on this board....I look after all my stuff compulsively and it develops a crack after 2 weeks that actually goes down so far you can see a metal hinge? Wtf?! That's a fault...I don't care how you wanna look at it. If I bought a new car or new washing machine and it developed a crack (a substantial size in proportion to the unit) then I would be allowed a refund or exchange. Not the case says Nintendo Australia! So instead of having a nice polised Ds-Lite...I have a ipod wannabe with hardly the same care and quality used in manufacturing. No wonder Nintendo are making a killing from it....probably only costs them like 4c for cheap ass plastic!

stevolution wrote

Obviously there's a level of excitement that isn't there when playing an 360 or a PS3.

Umm how about certain people with Wii's are thick and don't know how to use controllers properly as opposed to people with 360's and Ps3's? Or too many young fools bought wii's. Or too many newbs bought wii's? What about the fact that the Wiimote actually requires you to jump around/swing your arms like a moron? I guess none of those things factor in.....Wii must just be more FUN!!! YAyyyY!Y1y1y!

thebigm

5 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

reinforce your strap with Fishing Line, imo.

Sounds good

Can't wait for the, Nintendo made me emo, /wrists posts...

Seriously though, even with sweaty hands, people are going overboard by not holding their controllers properly and it's their own fault if they can't not use it as a projectile.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

Dohhh! How?

cycosippius

5 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

reinforce your strap with Fishing Line, imo.

I think I might do something like this,,,

I am in fear of the LCD smashing with a drunken mate over excited

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

I was being sarcastic.

My point was: you argued that the strap wasn't just there to stop the thing flying out of hands. Whereas I can't see any other point to it.

But eh, it's a trivial debate, I guess.

wobbler

5 years ago

^ It was quite obviously a sarcastic remark but I think Ugh just needs to go and have a quick spliff (Just because your paranoid, it doesn't mean that there not out to get you)

Maybe people are just trying to make the game more realistic by doing a McEnroe.

realitybites

5 years ago

Oh well the world is always going to toss an unco or two who cannot do anything right.

Surprisingly though no class actions from the good ol US of A yet.

Crestfallen

5 years ago

stevolution wrote

speak for yourself.
actually, try not speaking at all.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

Yea I wasn't sure if you were being sarcastic or not....sorry mate....but I did cover that aspect of the argument just incase (this wasn't very clear though), if you go back and look at the post and see where I quoted you quoting me....i've bolded the words 'support' and 'rely'....and that's basically my point. It's one thing to be using it as a precaution but it's another thing to rely on it.

Honestly though the problem is more the fact that these people are swinging so hard! Like wow! People actually trying to do real serves like in tennis....it's amazing how think these people must be.

But yea i do believe that if the problem occurs a little too much then Nintendo needs to address the problem. I mean that's why we have any safety procedure really....it's for the select stupid few.

Qbert

5 years ago

Actually, if it wasn't for the strap my Wiimote would probably be broken by now. I was sitting on my bed fishing in Zelda and had (un-awarely) placed my leg over the cable between the nunchuck and wiimote. I ripped the Wiimote up and it flung out of my hand as I was sitting on the cord. Luckly the strap held the wiimote dangling from my wrist to save the day.

Samboy

5 years ago

Karai Pantsu wrote

If you haven't developed enough manual dexterity to keep a grip on your controller...

Benno

5 years ago

Well i keep putting the wiimote/nunchuck down and going to get up and the wiimote flies of still atached to my wrist while i'm worrying that its gonna hit something! i'm sick of it, i'm not flailing about on my wrist so i took the strap off.
Much better!

The Plague

5 years ago

The strap that was attached to my Wiimote that came with Wii Play is noticably thicker than the one that came with my console. Surely Nintendo can just sell replacement straps for $5 so people who have a flimsy/broken strap can replace it.

I'd buy one for my weaker controller because I have a lot of people who are playing my Wii who might let go of it due to inexperience. Like my mother, who came home at 11 last night and asked if she could have another shot at bowling. This from a woman who has only ever played Solitaire and Wacky Racers (anybody else remember that) in her life.

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