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Class Action Lawsuit Against Nintendo For Wrist Strap |
We all saw it coming, it was only a matter of time after all of the reports of damages caused by the Wii remotes. Green Welling LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Nintendo of America for the defective nature of the Wii wrist straps for the new game console controller.
The lawsuit states, “Owners of the Nintendo Wii reported that when they used the Nintendo remote and wrist strap, as instructed by the material that accompanied the Wii console, the wrist strap broke and caused the remote to leave the user’s hand“.
We here at Slippery Brick are no lawyers, but we all concur that there is a hole in their case with that statement since the remote had to most likely leave their hand first, and then it would break the strap, not vise versa as is afore mentioned.
That aside, the lawsuit wants Nintendo to discontinue their “…unfair or deceptive business practices…”, and asks Nintendo to correct the defect and provide a refund or a replacement remote. Nintendo has already corrected the strap with a thicker one, offered a replacement strap to existing owners of the Wii game console, and has posted instructions on safe play.
Nintendo has issued a statement in response to this lawsuit saying “We believe the lawsuit to be completely without merit.“.
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I hope the lawyers in this case bet everything and loose everything. The users of the remote should have been more careful. Who knew the users would swing the remote as if their life depended on it. If Nintendo would have known better, they would have spent an extra 5 cents on the strap. Lawyers in America make companies not even want to do business here.
Frivolous lawsuits are a serious problem in this country. Why don’t we see a class action suit for frivolous lawsuits. I would be the first on it. Can I sue them for suing on my behalf without my permission? Fast cheap and easy money thats all those people care about. Nintendo goes and makes a great product like this and all lawyers can see is how do I get some of that cash!!! Maybe the 2% that can’t handle holding something and moving around with it should be sued for being that stupid.
There is no shortage of stupid people!! Sorry, but if you seriously injure yourself playing a video game,,,,YOU’RE AN IDIOT. What would happen if these people got power tools for Christmas? Lawyer’s suing over people’s stupidity should be a crime. Why should Nintendo have to spend money to defend against people that just lack common sense?
It is a game controller! For crying out loud, it is not meant to be swung around like a broad sword. The users that are signing off on this lawsuit must have a single digit I.Q.
There article brings up a very good point: “the remote had to most likely leave their hand first, and then it would break the strap, not vise versa as is afore mentioned.†Perhaps, we should file a class action suit against God, for creating unfairly disadvantaged people that can go out a buy a Nintendo Wii, yet cannot seem to manage the Wiimote. People’s stupidity, their refusal to admit their own stupidity, and their unwillingness to accept responsibility for their own stupid actions, will never cease to awe and amaze me. The Wii is a great product, as long as common (or uncommon) sense is utilized.
‘Frivolous’ lawsuits are not a problem. Why do you care what other people sue for?
I can assure you that you wouldn’t enjoy a world where companies can get away with making dangerous goods. Wii straps may not be a life-threatening defect, but I can’t see how it’s a bad thing to have a legal system that allows the average Joe to keep a massive corporation from making unsafe products.
I’m sure there’s some great electronics in Thailand that can buy without having to worry about people suing the manufacturer, Rich, maybe you should move there?
Ah yes, the lawsuit by wii owners.. and by wii owners we mean microsoft and/or sony employees trying to stir up trouble. Otherwise it’s folks who apparently refuse to take resonsibility for their own recklessness.
from above: “If Nintendo would have known better, they would have spent an extra 5 cents on the strap.”
This is exactly why this lawsuit is a good thing, and why most of you are missing the point. Nintendo DID or SHOULD HAVE known that the strap was insufficient. They certainly knew that users (rightly or wrongly) had a tendency to release the controllers – that’s why they added a strap to the controller in the first place! My guess is that they wanted to save that nickel.
Mark,
It might not have even been about saving the nickle, but about not seeing the need to make the strap that thick. No matter how thick it is, it WILL wear down. but i agree they should have seen this coming. but you must agree that taking it as far as a class action lawsuit seems alittle….whats the word…money hungry? or even, someones bored? or just being an oprutunist?
there’s always two sides to everything. i’m sure there is to this as well. ^^
That being said, I hope the lawyers loose it all on this one.
Chris and Rich are right: If you do the research you’ll see that the only one’s who make money on these kinds
of lawsuits are the croeked lawyers who file them “on behalf” of the harmed. It makes a total farce of the justice system and costs everyone money. Not only that the but stop to consider that the wrist strap was provided in the first place for those with a slippery grip, see what convenience costs you? Mmmmm… let’s what other tools around the household are lacking a “safety” wriststrap that we can sue for neglegence over? hammers, spoons, irons, cell phones, golf clubs??? With the cost of litigation there are all kinds of companies with deep pockets who’d rather settle just to keep these kind of crap-lawsuits out of court. As a memeber of the “class action” after court costs and lawyers fees your talking collecting only a few bucks while the lawyers pocket millions “on your behalf” See where this goes people?
It’s kind of funny looking at Nintendo’s history that people are actually sticking up for them. In the peak of the NES’s (which Nintendo originally wanted to be sold in the states under the ATARI name) popularity Nintendo forced many console manufacturers out of the market by basically forcing developers to develop solely on the NES, forcing electronic stores to keep rival systems and games off the shelves, and forcing consumers to pay extremely high prices. Of course Nintendo was sued for this and other practices. Actually pretty interesting reads. The reason the Wii is geared towards a different target population is because A) they have been beat out by Sony and eventually Microsoft, and B) They burned all their ties with software/hardware manufacturers through dirty practices. They can’t put together a machine like the 360 or PS3 even if they wanted to.
ANYWAY (sorry for the soapbox there), this lawsuit will go nowhere. Not only does it say to play under control, take brakes during play, and wipe your hands when sweaty in the instruction manual AND during the games. The Wii games I have played have the gamer squeeze the A (on top) and B (on bottom) buttons simultaneously to make sure they have a good grip. Honestly though, its still a dumb move on Nintendo’s part to assume everyone will play lightly with the controller (I personally don’t even use the strap)! They should have used the thicker string in the first place, probably no price difference whatsoever, and gave the Wii-Mote some grooves to better fit the hand. Garbage lawsuit and will disapear from the media spotlight just as fast as the Xbox 360 lawsuit.
why?
these people should calm down if i had a wii i would be very carful with it.
you people are lucky to have one
Harley g
Aust.
K honestly if people are dumb enough to let go of the Wii Remote while playing, then they deserve to get hurt and damage their property. I have never had to let go of my remote or nunchuck since day one, nor has my strap broke and i have the original strap.
there is a hole in your argument as you clearly did not go to high school or college, as you do not know the difference between “there” and “their”