Nintendo vows to replace 3.2m broken console straps

NINTENDO announced yesterday that it will replace 3.2 million straps for its popular Wii computer game controllers after receiving a rash of reports that the device flew out of players’ hands.

The console went on sale in Ireland and throughout Europe on December 8 and is tipped as a must-have Christmas gift.

The voluntary exchange program is a bittersweet development for Nintendo — a costly hitch in its three-way battle with Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360, but also confirmation of its enthusiastic reception.

The Wii’s signature wand-like remote controller is used to mimic the motions of a tennis racket, golf club or sword, depending on the game.

But soon after the Wii went on sale last month, people started reporting cases of the controller’s strap breaking as they waved it about vigorously.

Nintendo will allow customers to exchange the old straps for a beefed-up version. The worldwide exchange is expected to cost the company several million euro.

“People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing Wii sports, and in some cases the control would come loose from their hands,” company spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said. “The new strap will be almost twice as thick.”

The control wand is one of the unique features of the Wii, which Nintendo introduced as its counterchallenge in a fierce competition with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Customers can exchange straps through their local Nintendo service centres, Minagawa said.

Despite the hype in recent days about problems with the new Nintendo Wii controller, demand has been sky-high for the console and anyone who hasn’t bought or ordered one yet is unlikely to get their hands on one before Christmas.

According to a spokesperson at the Game store on St Patrick’s Street in Cork, their supply of the Nintendo Wii has already been exhausted.

Another shipment is due next week but these are already accounted for through advance bookings and deposits.

“The demand has been huge,” the spokesperson said. “Every second person in the door seems to be asking about them. For the last six months, people have been pre-booking them and we’re just trying to honour those orders before Christmas.”

The same situation seems to be happening around the country. “All the Game stores are fully booked.

“Anyone who hasn’t got one or booked one yet can forget about it until the new year, that’s the information we’re getting from Nintendo anyway.”

Pain as Wii proves a smash hit

USERS of the new Nintendo Wii console have reported a variety of injuries and problems, including:

* A man was performing “a slashing movement” with the hand-held control, while fighting a monster in a Zelda game, when he hit his girlfriend full force in the eye, leading to a severe black eye.

* A woman playing a bowling game swung hard to knock the pins but was hurt when the tether attached to the control wrist band hit her on the head.

* During a Wii baseball game, a woman who was losing slammed her hand — holding the controller — onto a coffee table in frustration, cutting her finger and breaking the controller in the process.

* A boy in America who was playing baseball swung the bat/controller just as his eight-year-old cousin was walking towards him. The cousin suffered a large red bruise between the eyes.

* Throwing a Wii controller in a burst of over-excitement resulted in a player receiving cuts from a broken glass lampshade.

* “Wii elbow” is a new affliction suffered by Wii video tennis players.

* A man smashed his stereo system when he failed to hold the controller while swinging the “bowling ball”.