Nintendo to replace 3.2M Wii straps
Wii mishaps lead to busted TVs, injuries
If you've heard about the new Nintendo Wii videogame system, you know it has a motion control sensor that you wave around to play games. Maybe it was error proofing (or maybe it was lawyer driven), the sensor was built with a wrist strap to keep it from flying if you dropped it during the heat of gaming.
Unfortunately, the straps are breaking. Controllers are flying into TV's, windows, etc. (I'd rather break my window than my TV). So, Nintendo will be beefing up the straps. It's the equivalent of an automotive recall, eh? Well, without the government involvement.
Nintendo will now allow customers to exchange the old straps, which have a 0.024 inch diameter, for a beefed up strap that has a diameter of 0.04 inch, company spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said.
“People tended to get a bit excited … and in some cases the control would come loose from their hands,” Minagawa said. “The new strap will be almost twice as thick.”
It's too bad the PDCA cycle couldn't take place BEFORE 3.2 million units had been sold.
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Not enough lunatic game players in testing… :)
Seriously, it is unnecessary to wave the thing like a madman to play effectively. In fact, going spastic with the controller is the sign of a novice player.
Maybe they shouldn’t let novices buy it. That would solve the problem.