Nintendo now shipping beefed-up Wii strap?

We've seen the violence, now behold the solution. We think. Friendly tipster Arthur S. bought a Wii on November 24th with a flimsy little Wiimote strap just like the rest of you fools, but when his mom, won over by the beauty of the tiny little Wii box, purchased her own on December 6th, Arthur was shocked to discover a new and improved string for connecting the strap to the Wiimote. She also purchased an additional controller, which had the flimsy, non Tyler-proof string. This would seem to imply that Nintendo is quietly improving the Wii straps as the consoles fly out of the factory, but since none of this is official, we only have blurry camphone pics (is there any other kind?) for proof of this change. Peep another after the break.

[Chris Merchant @ Dec 7th 2006 2:51PM]

Great, now fewer idiots will throw their Wiimotes around the room.

Granted, the Wiimotes and the Wii systems oddly never seem to be harmed in the slightest during these incidents, but hey- I'm a conspiracist.

Chris

[joshua @ Dec 7th 2006 3:42PM]

haha, what if you bought a rock and started swinging it around in your living room then broke a tv... it would be YOUR fault, not the person who sold you the rock. right?

[Paul @ Dec 7th 2006 3:04PM]

@Chris

You would be surprised how durable those Wiimotes are.. And how easy they are to accidently let go while playing Wii Sports...and how easily the strap breaks. It's already happened to me twice. The first time though the Wiimote was fine. The second time it happened the Wiimote now makes a rattling sound and the B button gets stuck. Hopefully Nintendo will hook us up with some of these straps

[Adam @ Dec 7th 2006 7:19PM]

I have the exact same problem. Goodbye, $40....

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 7th 2006 3:15PM]

Engadget (Paul Miller), nice redundant links in the article.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 7th 2006 3:19PM]

The problem here is that nintendo sells plenty of extra remotes, but they do not sell extra light bars, so if I want one for my pc and another for my TV/WII, then I will need to buy two Wiis.

I suspect that a homemade light bar hack is the next (minor) challange to conquor.

[wei @ Dec 7th 2006 3:21PM]

You can buy a replacement sensor bar from nintendo directly at nintendo.com for $10.

[Liqwid @ Dec 7th 2006 3:23PM]

You can buy the sensor bar on Nintendo's online Store. store.nintendo.com

[master_of_fm @ Dec 7th 2006 3:24PM]

direct link to purchase a sensor bar

http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1¤cy=USD&ignoreCrumbs=N&crumb1=&crumb1Ignore=&crumb2=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527X%2527%252C%2B%2527ChooseView%2527%252C%2527%2527%252C%2B%2527%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EWii%253C%252FA%253E&crumb2Ignore=&crumb3=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527C%2527%252C%2B%2527CategoryDisplay%2527%252C%252762707%2527%252C%2B%2527N%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EParts%2B%2526%2BAccessories%253C%252FA%253E&crumb3Ignore=&translateFrom=%C8%C9%C7&translateTo=EEC&usrSearchText=&searchText=&selSrchType=&page=&view=&productId=117713&categoryId=62707&lastAction=ProductDisplay&orderTotal=null

[Gil @ Dec 7th 2006 3:24PM]

The DIY sensor bar has already been done. Do a search for it. It's a really simple thing

[Wy @ Dec 7th 2006 4:37PM]

Quick home-made IR lights (since I run a projector, the cable is MUCH too short)

http://static.flickr.com/122/315441427_e7c33e6e5d.jpg

...

On the other hand, unlike plasma TVs and the like, my wall doesn't really care if a wiimote is thrown at it.

[Rikko @ Dec 7th 2006 4:47PM]

"The problem here is that nintendo sells plenty of extra remotes, but they do not sell extra light bars, so if I want one for my pc and another for my TV/WII, then I will need to buy two Wiis.

I suspect that a homemade light bar hack is the next (minor) challange to conquor."

Here's a 5-pack of sensor bars for 3 bucks:
http://www.discountcandleshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/150

[Smeagol @ Dec 7th 2006 3:20PM]

The thing is, Nintendo cant come out and say that these are 'stronger' or 'improved' .. they would be basically saying that there was a defect on their earlier straps.

[jamesgrasso @ Dec 7th 2006 5:31PM]

FYI - they do sell light bars - you can get them from Nintendo directly for $10.

[Reginald @ Dec 7th 2006 7:49PM]

"Nintendo [sic] would be basically saying that there was a defect on their earlier straps..."

...or that these Wii Remote mishaps were just user error, which might further alienate the first-time or non-gamer users.


Not to sound arrogant but for the record, I have a Wii and have not yet lost control of my remote, even when playing Rayman which requires much more violent Wii Remote gestures.

[Liqwid @ Dec 7th 2006 3:20PM]

I've never had a Wiimote slip from my hands. Just let go of the button, not the remote. If you throw/slice/swing/bowl faster than you actually need to, use a tight grip! I don't even have to use the wrist strap. It's just so simple.

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Dec 7th 2006 3:21PM]

Accidently let go. lol

I honestly don't see how people can throw around their remote like they are. Is it that hard to apply just a little more pressure on holding the remote? When playing Wii Sports, it's not like you have press any buttons. It's all movement that just requires you to hold onto the remote.

Also if people moved the strap further up their wrist and tightened it, it wouldn't fly as far to gain momentum to break the strap.

Plus I don't think people realize you don't have to swing the remote crazily. All you need to do to get fast movement is quick acceleration and stoppage. You can do that in a short stroke, not a huge swinging motion.

[Raider @ Dec 7th 2006 3:23PM]

Let me correct myself. There are buttons needed for bowling and baseball. But that should provide a better grip anyways.

[Logic @ May 8th 2007 2:11AM]

The momentum lost in 2 inches of travel through the air is inconsequential; moving the wrist strap wouldn't accomplish anything. And while I can probably hold on to a remote just fine, I certainly wouldn't wager my TV on the dexterity of my 5 year old. Hell, he's already tried to throw a rock as high as he could in the air.. and my car caught it. Kids will do pretty much anything and everything you can imagine. The thicker the strap, the better.

[Baffled @ Dec 7th 2006 3:52PM]

Ever heard of tinyurl.com?

[Andy @ Dec 7th 2006 3:25PM]

It is not hard at all to hold onto these things!

I've yet to have one fly from my hands or my friends' hands. Just squeeze a little and it's not going anywhere.

[Dae @ Dec 7th 2006 3:25PM]

So i hope this will be the last time i hear about this. this is getting old

[NNTPgrip @ Dec 7th 2006 3:28PM]

Confirmed. Ordered two replacement straps just to have on hand. They came in on Monday. The new straps are beefier in the little string department. Almost makes me want to buy a few more and replace all and still have extra. I want to see what the official word from nintendo is first. They might be planning, or a third party might be planning to make some out of nylon.

[Dae @ Dec 7th 2006 3:28PM]

for people to fiqure that out they would need Common Sense. But i know for a fact the Common Sense is not as Common as you may want to believe.

[Brian @ Dec 7th 2006 3:29PM]

I guess since Nintendo can't stupid proof people, they must stupid proof the strap...

But wouldn't a thicker strap just encourage more people to freely use more force when knocking down those on-screen pins that require "HULK SMASH!" ?

[Galley @ Dec 7th 2006 5:27PM]

Yeah, that's gotta be the world's longest URL!

[master_of_fm @ Dec 8th 2006 7:56PM]

didnt realize the link was that long until you pointed it out, otherwise i would have used it

[Paul @ Dec 7th 2006 3:53PM]

When you are playing bowling or tennis for 3 hours straight with your friends you forget about gripping the remote really tight and are only thinking about the game. That was one of Nintendo's goals: to get you more involved in the game and feel like you are actually playing a sport. That said, it IS easy to let these things come flying out of your hand. Like I said before it's happened to me twice, my roommate did it a couple times but luckily the strap kept it from flying across the room, it has also happened to at least 3 other people who have played this at my house.

When I first started hearing these stories of people throwing their wiimotes I thought they were just not paying attention and being negligent, then it happened to me a few times, and almost everyone I know who has played it. Then I realized the breaking strap really is a problem, and Nintendo obviously agrees

[chenry @ Dec 7th 2006 3:54PM]

ok... so how do i get one? fill out a form? mail my old ones to nintendo?

[Manuel @ Dec 7th 2006 3:54PM]

At least they�re fixing something.... DID YOU HEARD THAH SONY?????

[Matt @ Dec 7th 2006 4:08PM]

New strap: samel stupid Wii players.

[gadjitfreek @ Dec 7th 2006 4:20PM]

I would be happy just to be able to buy one of these!!! The second they appear at any store, they are gone. How on Earth are all of you getting your hands on these??? I put my chances of being able to get one in the next several months as being just slightly less than zero, and I am not going to feed the great Ebay Greed Machine.

[Woody @ Dec 7th 2006 4:22PM]

Im sure a lot of you are the perfect consumer in Nintendos eye. The one who can contain their game playing, and use every precaution needed when playing their system. But face it, not everybody is like you. There are actually people who can't really control themselves. They get over-excited, and out of hand. I had friend like this in grade school. Every time I had them over, something got broke.

So just because you can control your movements, and actions, doesn't mean everybody can, no matter how many time you have to tell them, or give them time-outs.

[Mike Litchfield @ Dec 7th 2006 4:40PM]

Ok, so then more reasons why retards should wear helmets and duct tape the controller to their hand before they play. If you really are too dumb to not realize that it is a game not an olympic sport then you do need a time out and more importantly staying away from my console/tv. Go break your own you twit.

[Kevlar3D @ Dec 7th 2006 4:47PM]

Or you could buy a wireless one (or make a wireless one)
http://www.wirelesssensorbar.com/

[TVGenius @ Dec 7th 2006 4:52PM]

I don't get everyone who says 'you get lost in the game after a while... that's how Nintendo wanted it..." blah blah blah.


Once again, last I checked (and I haven't played real tennis lately, you don't throw the racket.

[Woody @ Dec 7th 2006 4:57PM]

@ mike. Holy cow, such vulgarity over a console, and someone else views of what was, and is inevitably going to happen. I always find it very humorous seeing people like yourself get all bent out of shape because some people may have a different opinion than your own. So I will wait here for your smart, quick wit reply, because I know its going to come.

Oh, and here's something to help you. I will not be buying a Wii personally, because I do not feel that the system is right for me. I don't feel like playing games about games that I can play outside for real. I get more exercise that way. But hey, thats just me. Plus I have always thought that it was a gimmick. And I am not going to fall into the hype.

Your turn.

[S @ Dec 7th 2006 4:57PM]

@Paul:

Stop admitting the ignorance. I go crazy with baseball and bowling. I never even came close to losing the controller, much like I wouldn't lose a tennis racket in a real life game.

That said, my five year old son isn't "there yet" when it comes to controlling his grip and so on. He's broken a strap, so yes they do break. Hell he even dinged the base of my projection screen. The controller was unharmed. TV? Also... unharmed.

Everyone getting themselves up in arms and ordering straps are pleading guilty to "stupidity".

These pictures of TVs being pierced by Wiimotes is BS just like everyone who EVER thought it might be Nintendo's fault for any of this even if they did NOT include a strap.

[Dean @ Dec 7th 2006 5:17PM]

I have the wii, and playing baseball, have had the wiimote slip from my hands. The strap saved it though. You just get a little sweaty, and into the game, and the wiimote has no grips on it, so it doesn't take much to slip from a sweaty gamer's hand.

[Matthew Rasmussen @ Dec 7th 2006 6:42PM]

I'm in a group of Wii owners (my friends). We (Wii... hehe) have parties, where we play a variety of games, Sports included (in a huge dose). We can play for 8 hours straight, all of us on 'motes (that's 8 people, mind you), and not one of us has ever let it slip. It's not that we're conscious of it, constantly thinking "OK, don't let it slip"... I get plenty into the game. It's just never been an issue. My index finger is always on the B button and my thumb rests on the happy median between Down on the D-Pad and the A button. I actually took off the strap entirely, 'cause I don't have problems with it the wiimote taking flight.

Is it just me? My hand's don't get abnormally sweaty, but I don't really even see that as causing an issue since your hand wraps all the way around the remote. Do people like to hold it with two fingers or something?

The strap is not built to swing the remote by. I have seen kids do that with PSP's and other handhelds, as well as digital cameras, etc. If I have any influence over them, I advise them to stop because "that's meant for if you drop it... don't carry it by it or it could break". Swinging/holding by these straps is not what they were meant for, they're meant as a backup. I suspect at least one of the poor poor televisions that got a wiimote to the screen got one because the kid was just fiddling around and was swinging the 'mote by it's strap.

But maybe I'm crazy. I am the one without the strap. "Oh god, he's a madman!"

[therpham @ Dec 7th 2006 6:43PM]

I got a Wii on 6 December at Wal-Mart along with three people who live on my floor and all of our Wiimotes have the old-style strap. They must have been ever-so-slightly too old to have the new straps.

[Tom @ Dec 7th 2006 6:51PM]

Good thing I bought mine on the 6th I should get a good wrist strap.

[Mike @ Dec 7th 2006 7:18PM]

On Wednesday, December 6, I saw a Wii commercial where the users had straps on their controllers. I kept thinking that something was different, and this now clears it up.

[MR @ Dec 7th 2006 7:36PM]

I bought an extra strap for each of my wiimote about a week ago (the old thin ones) and I just put 2 straps on each wiimote for better protection.
I don't think it'll slip out of my hand but just in case, especially if you have friends coming over to play and swinging at a 46" LCD TV.
I'm put fences in front of the TV just so they don't get too close as well. :P

[Jon Graft @ Dec 7th 2006 7:57PM]

I think it is fake...reason being, if you look at the second picture, it is very long. What type of cell phone takes pictures that wide. None that I know of...

[Kazuya @ Dec 7th 2006 11:25PM]

@Jon Graft

Heard of cropping? :)

[Jason @ Dec 8th 2006 12:39AM]

People need to realize that everybody is not the same, in how sweaty their hands get when playing videogames or how much action they put into playing videogames. Yes, these people who have been breaking their tvs with wiimotes may have been using a little too much force when swinging the wiimote, but nintendo didn't put a limit on the amount you have to/can use when playing. They give us the option to choose, but they(nintendo) should make sure to put in a backup plan if something goes wrong, which they did, but they didn't make the strap strong enough obviously.

[boku @ Dec 8th 2006 1:19AM]

OK Seriously. Think about it. Put your feet in someone elses feet for a minute. Lets take bowling for example, since most of the accidents that ive seen involves the bowling game. I think its natural for us to let go of the remote when ur bowling, because in real bowling you let go of the ball. Thus people naturally let go of the remote if they get really into it. On top of that, you have people with sweaty hands, getting to excited, and high velocity. Its bound to happen. IMHO its hard to completly blame the consummer because the intent of the console is to provide a interactive gaming system. I personally think I can totally imagine launching a wiimote at the tv under certain circumstances, yet to do so. One thing for sure, i would suggest users to tie a fishing line to reinforce the strap. If you can break a strong fishing line, i dont think you should be playing the wii.

For those who are looking for the remote, i suggest hitting up toys r us, they seem to be stocking up 2-3 times a week. I bought the console this sunday, and they sold out of their shipment that day. Came back 3 days later, they have another shipment. Bought 3 wiimotes and nunchucks, i guess im lucky. But the wii isnt that hard to get, just line up 9am at toys r us im sure you will get one. The toysrus at torrance, ca had enough for people till 920am. I think they had over 200+ unites that day. I got to the store at 840, and saw the line. I was depressed cause it was a huge line till the toys r us guy asked me if im getting one. Scored myself a wii. YAY.

[Cam @ Dec 8th 2006 2:37PM]

geez, those pics are terrible. Those look like they were taken with a cameraphone. And if you're using a real digital camera, use macro for close-up shots!

[Matthew @ Dec 8th 2006 3:40PM]

Just got my Wii today (UK launch). I believe I still got the old strap. Well if it breaks I'll ask Nintendo for a new one. BTW my Wiimote came with strap attached. Awesome.