GameHoof.com

Source: Chicago Tribune
By Eric Benderoff and Alex L. Goldfayn

Carroll McMahon didn’t think she was buying her son a dangerous toy when she paid twice the list price on eBay for a Nintendo Wii so it would be under the tree on Christmas morning.

But on Friday, the key part to Nintendo’s hot new video game system was put under a voluntary recall. The strap that attaches the wandlike controller to a player’s wrist can break easily, sending the device flying, in some cases right through television screens.

Nintendo also warned its customers to throttle back on the enthusiastic play.

Since the Wii’s introduction in mid-November, Wii users have reported cracked TV screens, bruised foreheads and other misadventures caused by controllers flying out of the hands of overly aggressive users.

Jaana Baker, 23, cracked her LCD screen during a particularly spirited round of Wii bowling after snapping the controller’s wrist strap and sending it into her flat-screen TV. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

It’s an unusual side effect of an innovative take on gaming. The Wii distinguishes itself from the other enormously anticipated new video game device, Sony’s PlayStation 3, by using a hand-held controller that senses motion and wirelessly transmits it to the TV. The controller can be used as a tennis racket or sword, and that motion gets incorporated into the on-screen action.

Unfortunately, one of two very low-tech straps that tether the wireless controller to a user’s wrist is failing. As gamers work up a sweat swatting backhand winners, they can lose their grip on the controller. The force of the swing then causes the strap to snap, sending the device flying.

The thin cord connecting the controller to the wrist strap is the problem. “People refer to it as sewing thread,” said Jim Walsh, 27, who has been chronicling the defect and its consequences on a Web site, WiiHaveAProblem.com.

The game enthusiast from Cleveland got an e-mail from a friend who “broke his TV with the controller,” he said. “So we jumped on it and put up the Web site to see where it might go.”

That site was part of the chatter that led Nintendo to issue a voluntary recall Friday for the 3.2 million connecting straps already sold. The new straps are roughly twice as thick as the original ones.

At Walsh’s Web site, there are plenty of pictures of what happens when the Wii goes airborne. He said he receives about 20 to 30 e-mails a day detailing the damage.

One player said the strap on his Wii broke and launched the controller into his 42-inch projection TV. “There are two layers of screens on my TV, and the [remote] broke through both,” he wrote.

Another gamer sent his controller into the television twice. Merely cracking the screen the first time, he kept playing. The next time the controller hit the screen it broke open a big hole. Game over.

People aren’t only hurting their TVs, either.

One woman walked into the room at the same moment her boyfriend was swinging a sword during a fantasy game. He hit her right in her face, giving her a nasty shiner.

Another woman dislocated her knee. A post on the Web site says she was “apparently wearing heels while playing” tennis.

It’s that physical motion that has video game developers so excited about the Wii, despite Friday’s voluntary recall.

Boxing on the Nintendo Wii.

“We love it,” said Reilly Brennan, a spokesman for Chicago-based Midway Games, which is developing a Wii version of Mortal Kombat, the most popular title in Midway’s catalog. “We knew Nintendo would have a hit on its hand when we first saw the Wii. We launched four games with the system and we have a lot of games in development.”

There’s no doubt that the Wii has been a big hit this holiday season.

Through the end of November, Nintendo sold 476,000 units in the U.S., according to the NPD Group. The company claims it will ship about 4 million worldwide by year’s end. Sony Corp. has sold 197,000 in the U.S., and said it will ship 2 million worldwide by the year’s end. The game consoles remain hard to find in stores.

Both were released in November, with the PS3 the more highly anticipated introduction. The Wii has been a surprise hit, with analysts pointing to its fresh approach to gaming, plus a more modest $250 retail price, compared to PS3, which goes for as much as $600.

To deal with its problem, Nintendo on Friday announced the voluntary recall and distributed a fact sheet titled “Proper Wii Remote Usage” that points out “players should keep at least 3 feet from their televisions and should dry their hands if they become moist.”

It also advised gamers not to play too forcefully.

Replacement details can be found at Wii.Nintendo.com or by calling (800) 859-4519. Buyers are asked to fill out a form and send it to Nintendo. Users should hold onto their controller as the gamemaker will send out a new strap within five to nine days, the company said.

Since early this month, Nintendo has been shipping fatter straps with the consoles. A spokesman for Best Buy said Friday that consoles bought at that retailer have the thicker straps. However, buyers of standalone remotes—a popular accessory—still have the older, thinner straps, he said.

Carroll McMahon, a north suburban mom, was involved in seven different Wii auctions on eBay before winning one for $505 for her 12-year-old son, Patrick.

“My son never asks for anything,” she said. “He mentioned he would really like the Wii. He totally deserves this.”

She still plans on putting the Wii under the tree.

It will be there for him, right next to a small package with a new strap—if it arrives in time.