Lawsuit Filed Against Nintendo For Defective Wrist Straps

[malware]

Green Welling LLP filed a nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of the owners of the Nintendo Wii against Nintendo of America, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The class action lawsuit arose as result of the defective nature of the Nintendo Wii.


In particular, the Nintendo Wii game console includes a remote and a wrist strap for the remote. Owners of the Nintendo Wii reported that when they used the Nintendo remote and wrist strap, as instructed by the material that accompanied the Wii console, the wrist strap broke and caused the remote to leave the user's hand. Nintendo's failure to include a remote that is free from defects is in breach of Nintendo's own product warranty.

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 also seeks an injunction that requires Nintendo to correct the defect in the Wii remote and to provide a refund to the purchaser or to replace the defective Wii remote with a Wii remote that functions as it is warranted and intended. If you would like additional information regarding the Nintendo WII Replacement Strap click here.

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[WarEagleAU]

See, I'm on both sides of the fence as it were. First off, let me just say, I do not own a Wii, but if I did, I would use COMMON SENSE when using the unique controller. I mean, its not like you have to work out like a steroid freak to use the damn thing. Common sense and the manual, states that the sensor bar can detect nominal movements of the controller. I guess some just like to get into the games and there is nothing wrong with that.

On the other side, Nintendo should anticipate the fun nature of the console and how the gamer can get totally immersed in the Wii experience. They should have thought ahead about a more sturdy and rigid connection for the controller. I can see fault there but then again, they though most gamers had common sense. It's a two way street. This does kind of suck though.


-The Eagle

 

[L|NK|N]

I totally agree with you on the COMMON SENSE part. Then again I dont own a Wii, yet anyways. I still just view it as people being money mongers just because they can. I mean come on, thats like if back in the day, I could sue Nintendo & Capcom for bodily harm because of the blister inducing combinations of dragon punches and fireballs playing Street Fighter. I mean accidents happen, but if you wave the controller around like an actual Nunchucka, then youre operating the controller outside of the manufacturers recommended guidelines. And that makes you a noob.

 

[PyroInc]

lmao you notice how the Nintendo wii is released all over the world and it's only us Americans that sue lol. ahh man that's freakin awesome

 

[pead929]

I promise you that propelling your Wii-mote fast enough to lodge it in your TV is not in the directions of your Wii manual. I wish I had money to sue those people out of principal. And as for Americans doing the suing...Litigation is the American dream... I personally have been looking for a reason to sue someone for the last 3 years and I'm sure i'll find a reason soon enough.

 

[overcast]

Class action lawsuits are about as crooked as you can get. The only people that win in these types of suits are the law firms running them. With all the money Nintendo is making on the Wii they'll get an amazing lawyer team to bash this down in about 5 minutes. Whatever these people are doing is out of spec for how to use your wiimote and that'll be the end of it.

 

[newtekie1]

Well when Nintendo markets the controller as allowing you to be part of the game, and advertises it with people using huge motions to do things on the screeen, they can't then expect people to not do that. Especially when in one breath they say "Make sure there is at least 3 feet space around you when playing the Wii" then with the next breath say "Well you shouldn't be swinging it around like that, you should only be moving it a minimal amount". They obviously put a wrist strap on the controller for a reason, and it isn't because they expected people to not be forceful when using the controller.

The fact of the matter is that Nintendo was being cheap with the original wrist strap, they made it too cheap and it broke causing problems. Now they have to deal with the problem it has caused and move on. I mean really, a small redesign of the controller to include rubber grips so that people aren't just holding on to slippery plastic would have been a much better idea, but then again it probably would have cost way to much money for them.

 

[WarEagleAU]

I can see some of newtekies points. As in my original post, I was on both sides doing the arguing. Rubber grips would have been nice, comfortable and safe. But again, Im sure wide motions are not hard and fast motions either. The suit alleges, fixing or replacing the wii remote control and redesigning it with a sturdier strap. I havent seen where money comes into play. Also, I believe Nintendo is fixing the problem of those with TVS (plasma, LCD, DLP, etc) and replacing those tvs and such. Again, its a two sided issue, but I have to side with ::gulp:: Nintendo on this one. Only because folks should know better.


-The Eagle

 

[pead929]

People were making large movements in the commercials but they weren't fast enough to fling a controller across a room and cause severe damage to property.

 

[kakazza]

I mean really, a small redesign of the controller to include rubber grips so that people aren't just holding on to slippery plastic would have been a much better idea, but then again it probably would have cost way to much money for them.

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?cookie_test=1&product_id=802507


But as mentioned before, only in America...

 

[pead929]

I'm sure someones gonna make a wii controller with rubber side grips, air flow to keep hands dry and a tough strap and nintendo will lose lots of money to better made third party remotes. Logitech makes an xbox 360 style gamepad for PC that has those features.

 

[bornfree]

Maybe we should put the Wii owners and paid liars, aka lawyers, in a locked room and let the Wii owners beat up the paid liars with their broken wrist straps? Probably the best way to resolve two problems: eliminate paid liars and broken wrist strap frustration.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

I personally feel that it is your own fault if you injure yourself when doing an activity like this. Ok, if the machine had sparks flying out of it and caught fire, I'd understand it. But tbh, if you were playing tennis for real and the racket slipped out your hand and you injured a friend, are you going to sue the tennis racket maker? At the end of the day, there is nothing directly wrong with the Wii remote and they do warn you to be careful I believe. The rest is up to you - use it wrong (in this case with too much enthusiasm) and the blame can only rest on you, you're the one in control of the remote.

As for the attitude of suing over anything you can find (Americans in particular), I think it's ridiculous, some of the stories you hear are insane. But some people are just selfish b*stards. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel when you blame your own actions on something which is not at fault just for money. If someone intentionally does something then it's a different case.

 

[jocksteeluk]

if nintendo didnt put a wrist strap on them at all they would have nothing to sue for, prahapps they should just remove them altogether.

 

[newtekie1]

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?cookie_test=1&product_id=802507


But as mentioned before, only in America...

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=204442

I knew I had seen that link somewhere before.

But tbh, if you were playing tennis for real and the racket slipped out your hand and you injured a friend, are you going to sue the tennis racket maker?

Well the difference is that every tennis racket manufacturer puts grips on the tennis racket to prevent exactly that problem, and most even have a wrist strap, a strong wrist strap capable of doing the job it is intended to do.

Nintendo put the wrist strap on the wiimote because they ::gasp:: want people to play their games and use the wiimote with a lot of enthusiasm. If they just wanted everyone to sit on the couch and make tiny movements with no force, they wouldn't have put a wrist strap on the damn thing at all.

The fact is that if Nintendo had put a little bit more thought into their gimmicky controller and spent the few extra cents per controller to make a stronger wrist strap in the first place, they wouldn't be in this situation.

The people that swing the controller and break something or injure themselves, they don't deserve anything. The people that had the wrist strap fail at doing what it is supposed to do, preventing the controller for flying out of their hand, deserve something from Nintendo if things were broken because of it. The wrist strap has one purpose and one purpose only, to prevent the controller from slipping out of your hand in use, it failed at doing that, and hence Nintendo needs to pay because of it.

 

[Thermopylae_480]

I think some of these people are just coming to the conclusion that when you actually engage in physical activity. Injury may result.

 

[magibeg]

Well my friend has a nintendo wii and i have to say the strap feels plenty strong, not incredibly strong but certainly strong enough. And i've seen pictures on the internet showing the wii controllers wedged into tv screens and such.... just for the sake of the experiment i suggest getting an old tv and an old controller to a game system and start throwing it at the tv. It would take a damn lot of force to do any damage to the TV

 

[newtekie1]

To a tube TV, yes. However, all the pictures I have seen are LCD or Projection TVs, which are very easy to damage by throwing something at.

 

[DIBL]

It's easy to predict who will win this one ..... the LAWYERS!

They always win.

 

[newtekie1]

I can't argue with that. Chances are the lawyers will get a good $200,000 a piece <i>at least</i> and the people in the lawsuit will get $5 a piece in the end, if they even win.

 

[Sasqui]

It's easy to predict who will win this one ..... the LAWYERS! They always win.

True, usually even if they lose. The reason that it's only in the US, is most other countries don't allow contingency based settlements. In other words, lawyers in the US get a commission for winning a settlement - it aint about justice, it's about money.

Should I sue logitech for dropping a cordless mouse on my foot? Spilling piping hot coffee in my lap? Being generally stupid?

 

[DIBL]

I believe America would be far better off with a "Loser Pays All Costs" rule for lawsuits. I think that would get folks thinking through things before they start launching suits.

 

[InfDamarvel]

I believe American would be better off if we had intelligent people.

 

[Protius]

I believe American would be better off if we had intelligent people.

amen, people are frickin stupid

 

[POGE]

I believe American would be better off if we had intelligent people.

The irony. :'(