Nintendo is offering free replacements for up to 3.2 million remote controllers in its Wii video gaming console.
In an effort to duck criticism that its remote controllers can fly across the room when wrist straps break, Nintendo Co. Ltd. is offering free replacements for that part of its new Wii video gaming console.
Carefully avoiding the term "recall," Nintendo made the move before any regulatory agency could step in. The replacement could affect up to 3.2 million straps, according to the Associated Press. Nintendo did not return calls for comment.
Shortly after Wii consoles began selling on Nov. 20, North American customers began reporting failures of the strap that holds Nintendo's wireless gaming controls to players' wrists. A key difference between Wii and its rivals, the Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PlayStation 3, is that players can use Nintendo's wireless remote to, for instance, virtually roll bowling balls or swat tennis balls.
"We have received some reports that when consumers swing the Wii Remote with the original version of the wrist-strap using excessive force and accidentally let go, the cord connecting the controller to the wrist strap can break, potentially causing the Wii Remote to strike bystanders or objects," Nintendo said in a statement on its Web site.