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Nintendo Offers Wii Strap Replacements, Recalls DS
by David Jenkins
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December 15, 2006
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Nintendo officials have begun to replace fabric wrist straps for the Wii remote on a voluntary basis, after continued reports of them snapping during play, but has denied that any active recall is in place.
Reports of users breaking the straps during more excited bouts of play emerged immediately after the console’s launch, with stories of remotes slipping from hands and smashing into televisions, furniture and even fellow players’ faces.
Nintendo executives responded quickly to the reports, with legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto advising fans to “calm down”. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata commented, “Of course before the launch of the Wii hardware Nintendo had a number of tests on the durability of everything, including the strap, but our understanding right now is that even beyond our expectations people are becoming more and more excited playing with the Wii."
In North American, the company is already offering to send a newly strengthened strap to any customer who applies online, although newer versions of the console shipped from the beginning of December already contain the new straps.
According to a statement from Nintendo UK, where almost all straps are of the newer variety: “Nintendo is not recalling any of the Wii wrist straps for its motion sensitive Wii Remote. There is no problem with the existing wrist strap as long as the Wii Remote is used sensibly and properly in accordance with the guidelines provided by Nintendo.” Nevertheless, new straps are being provided via a voluntary exchange program.
In related news, Nintendo of Japan has announced it is to recall 200,000 AC/DC power adapters for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite consoles. The recall involves adapters supplied by Nagano Japan Radio (JRC) between January and October this year, which could generate excessive heat and potentially cause burn injuries while charging.
Nintendo has reported nine incidents of overheating, including one where a hole was burned into the console itself. No injuries have been reported, though, and the defective adapters have not been sold outside of Japan.
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