by CIO Staff

Nintendo Wii Remote Wrist Straps Draw Class-Action Suit

News
Dec 21, 20062 mins
Consumer Electronics

Nintendo of America, the U.S. division of Japanese electronics firm Nintendo, has been hit with a class-action lawsuit filed on the behalf of a number of owners of the Nintendo Wii system, the company’s next-generation game console, who claim the wrist straps included with the Wii Remote controller are defective and can break while in use, according to a release on the website of law firm Green Welling.

Nintendo Wii
Nintendo Wii

San Francisco-based Green Welling filed the suit on behalf of the Wii owners in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, according to the release. Nintendo is based in Kyoto, Japan, and Nintendo of America is headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Nintendo Wii’s Remote controller features a new, innovative design that enables users to swing it like a sword or wand, and even position it as a bow and arrow, to control game play. Just last week, Nintendo announced that it would voluntarily exchange some 3.2 million Wii Remote straps after receiving reports of the straps breaking and controllers flying through the air.

Replacement Wii Remote wrist straps
Wii Replacement Straps

“Nintendo’s failure to include a remote that is free from defects is in breach of Nintendo’s own product warranty,” the Green Welling release reads.

The suit seeks to stop Nintendo from distributing faulty Wii Remote straps and cease its “unfair or deceptive business practices” in relation to the sale of the controller, and it also requests an injunction against the electronics firm that would require it to replace all defective products with a functional alternative or provide refunds to Wii owners, according to the release.

Additional information on the replacement Wii straps can be found on Nintendo’s site.

Nintendo Wii went on sale in the United States and Canada on Nov. 19 with a price tag of $250, and it was made available in Japan on Dec. 2.

Related Links:

  • Experts: Nintendo Could Beat Sony in Console War

  • Nintendo to Exchange 3.2M Wii Remote Straps

  • Nintendo Wii Gets Free Opera Web Browser Beta

  • Nintendo Wii on Sale in U.S., Canada

  • Nintendo Sells Roughly 372K Wii Consoles in Japan

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