Amidst rising reports of broken TVs and injured players, Nintendo is offering to replace 3.2 million original Wii Remote wrist straps with a newer, stronger version.
Nintendo, which is facing at least one lawsuit over damage caused by a reported wrist strap breakage, firmly asserts that this action is a replacement, not a “recall”, of the original strap. The company is also taking efforts to “reinforce with consumers the proper use of the Wii Remote” according to Nintendo.
Not wanting to risk any potential Wii-related catastrophes (other than my sinking bowling average) I filled out Nintendo’s online replacement form. Within a few weeks, my two replacement straps arrived.
Credit: Bill Detwiler
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When I first saw the original Wii Remote wrist strap’s cord, I knew Nintendo was in for trouble. The strap’s wrist band is thick and sturdy, but the end cord feel flimsy. I’ll admit that this may only be perception. I have seen no credible data on the cord’s actual tensile strength or the force required to break the cord.
According to a press release from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the original strap cords are 0.6mm in diameter, while the replacement cords are 1.0 mm in diameter.
I was also surprised by just how dirty our original strap was after just a few weeks of play–image what these straps will be like after a year or more. Yuk!
The new strap cords are almost 70 percent thicker than the original strap cords.
The thickness difference really stands out in this closeup shot.
It’s was slightly more challenging to thread the replacement strap’s end cord through the Wii Remote, but not overly difficult.
With the replacement strap attached, I’m ready to swing for the fences in Wii Sport baseball.
The packaging from an individual Wii Remote shows four happy gamers, enthusiastically using the remote. I’ve looked really hard at the pictures, but can’t tell if they are all wearing the wrist strap or not.
Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Previously, Bill was an IT manager in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.
