by Matt Bird

Created on: June 07, 2009

Given that the Wii is a rather active system, it's no big surprise that the Wii's remotes come with wrist straps. The amount of swinging needed to register anything on the sensor (especially for poorly programmed games, which are LEGION) will invariably generate a few accidents.

And I can't help but wonder if Nintendo's workers realized as much AFTER they'd had problems. I can only imagine how many television sets they went through before discovering that a wrist band is a good idea for a remote. It's such a simple concept, yet I bet it flew right by them in the planning stages.

I recognize firsthand the dangers of not using the wrist band. My ex, while bowling, usually swings her arm in as vigorous a manner as possibly, perhaps even more strongly than if she were hefting a real bowling ball - and in doing so one evening, she let go of the remote on a backstroke and sent it flying into a painting. The remote bounced onto the floor, surprisingly without damage - and, much to my ex's delight, without damage to the painting.

Had she been wearing her wrist strap? Nope!

They're a bit like seat belts in a car. Nothing goes wrong when you actually have it attached. Fate isn't interested in people who won't get in trouble. No, it preys upon those who neglect to attach the proper safety devices beforehand, so on that ONE measly little occasion where you forget to secure the strap, your hand becomes just sweaty enough to make a projectile out of your remote.

I've heard plenty of other stories, as well. There was the case of the one gentleman who claimed to have demolished his LCD TV by swinging too hard and embedding his remote partway into the screen. Given the pictures that accompanied the story I'd say the evidence is pretty compelling - besides, I've seen videos of people lobbing their remotes at screens, probably intentionally, and recording the results. It's pretty gruesome most of the time.

And the sad part is, most who do it by accident probably blame Nintendo. I don't see why: those wrist bands are pretty tough. They're not likely to snap. If you messed up your TV you either didn't have it on properly or didn't have it on at all. Besides, the Wii's games (despite what I said earlier) don't require a whole lot of force to register, as long as your sensor is properly configured. Most of the Wii Sports games, where a lot of the troubles come from, can easily be played sitting down with mere flicks of the wrist.

Come on, people. Wear the wrist band. It takes, like, five seconds to properly adjust, and will save you a large repair bill in the process. To do otherwise is just silly.

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