Lawsuit of the Day: We are not happy with Wii
The Wii is a gaming console that has challenged the image of gamers as couch potatoes. Using a remote control with motion sensors, player actually goes through the motions of swinging, throwing, dancing, hitting, and punching (depending on the nature of the game) to get their on-screen character to do the same. Most people love the wii… except when an exuberant swing sends the remote control flying into a $2,000 flat-screen TV, ending the game and smashing the screen.
Many have heard horror stories about remote controls being sent flying. Nintendo added safety straps to their remotes, to keep them attached to players’ wrists. But a Colorado woman claims the straps are defective, allowing controllers to “crash into TVs, walls and children,” and has filed a $5 million class action suit, citing a video game review from IGN.com. From Courthouse News Service:
The named plaintiff claims the wrist strap broke while her 11-year-old son used it properly, and the device flew into her 52-inch flat-screen TV, smashing it. She claims hundreds of other consumers have reported property damages and personal injuries from the failed wrist straps.
The complaint cites the editor in chief of IGN.com, who received a promotional game, and claims he “personally witnessed and observed the following while the Wii video game was being used in its intended and advertised manner: ‘so one of the girls in particular really was having a good time and really got into this game, and she was going for the full arcing motions likes you see in those commercials …’ and ‘before you knew it this Remote, with strap on, and I made sure that bad boy was strapped to her wrist, because Nintendo’s warned me so many times. It actually flew out of her hand anyway, broke, out of her hand, the strap actually ripped, it went like this, flying at mach speed I think, BAM!, hit our wall, put an indent in our wall.”
The complaint cites Nintendo’s instructions for the controller, including, “The key is to pump the Wii Remote and Nunchuck back and forth in your two hands as rapidly as possible without abating” and “Swing hard to make sure you clear the net!”
Nintendo should probably reword that, “Pumping your wii remote as rapidly as possible, but not at mach speeds.”
And Nintendo thought it had its hands full with controller patent infringement suits.
Wii Remote Out of Control, Says Class [Courthouse News Service]
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Comments
victory
Hi there
I'd like to have seen one of the girls arsing around with a strap on.
"with strap on"
THAT THIR CUMPINY AIN'T TELL ME THAT MA GAME THING COULD HIT SUMTHING ELSE AN' BREAK IT IF I LET IT FLEW OUT MA HAND! I'S WANT MUNEY!
"The key is to pump the Wii Remote and Nunchuck back and forth in your two hands as rapidly as possible without abating" and "Swing hard to make sure you clear the net!"
This is also my policy when I'm alone with a copy of Glamour.
Does Nintendo have minimum contacts in Coloroda?
#7 sounds like a TTT 1L that is about to fail his Civ Pro final.
the american legal system makes me shake my head in shame.
care < 0
The Wii is trash, but the original straps that shipped with the unit were of poor quality (they've since been replaced with stronger straps after reports of this kind of damage hit the MSM). But seriously, this lawsuit is a joke. Sheesh.
strap on, strap off, the strapper
didn't nintendo already do a fre exchange of wriststraps/sleeves of the older units for this stuff? it was pretty well publicized. this lawsuit is garbage
"a Coloroda woman"?
You type with a Southern accent?
The sad part is that technically if the straps are defective there could be some merit to this suit. But then again I might just be a 2L who has spent too much time outlining for my Complex Litigation final.
"Player actually go through the motions of swinging, throwing, dancing, hitting, and punching"
Yeah, noun-verb matching is faggy.
Holy shit, this wasn't Elie.
"Player actually go through the motions of swinging, throwing, dancing, hitting, and punching"
Yeah, noun-verb matching is faggy.
Holy shit, this wasn't Elie.
f*ck the wii
xbox 360 is where its at
cept for fall out 3, which BLOWs
gears 2 RAWKS
18-
Wait, what's wrong with Fallout 3? I heard it was good, and am planning on getting it
Guys in my high school used to pump it as rapidly as possible without abating. It was no big deal, according to Joycelyn Elders.
Pretty funny, 20.
Kash, if you do have a southern accent ("Coloroda"), that makes you even more incredible. The only thing better would be if you weren't liberal, but I'm willing to overlook that (as I've had to except for all but one of my real-life girlfriends, too, sadly, even though I think most of them were simply "toeing the line"). Anyway, I've already offered to give it all up for you, so I'll restate that.
Fallout 3 is amazing.
Strict Liability FTW
Only if it's a manufacturing defect, 23.
Products liability should be abolished. It would really help us weed out the gene pool. If you need a special label on a bottle of bleach not to drink it, we are better off without you.
Also, 19, don't listen to 18. Fallout 3 is really good. Get it for Xbox 360 instead of PS3 in case you have both because Xbox is getting downloadable expansions.
Finally, 5 is my hero.
22 - fuck you
the game sucks
you must think fucking donkey kong or ms. pac man is amazing
fallout 3 blows big time
fallout 3 = game designed by trigs, for trigs
I guess they didn't check out www.wiihaveaproblem.com