Nintendo Comments On Broken Wii Strap

December 1st, 2006, 23:47 Posted By: wraggster

Via Kotaku

I think people are overlooking a huge issue here. I've had my Wii since launch day. I've got 4 controllers total now and I've studied it pretty dubiously. Let's delve...
The strap consists of 3 parts, the fabric-y strap part, and the thin twine-like part that you loop through itself to attach it to the controller, and the plastic bezel used to tighten the fabric loop. The twine material is the same exact thing I'm staring at right now, attached to my USB flash drive. It's not incredibly strong.

Now it looks like the issue isn't the strap being too weak. Proof? Every video we've seen involving Wiimotes flying out, have been of ridiculously exaggerated movements. There is no need for that much force. It comes down to simple wear and tear...if you use something the way it was intended it should last a considerable amount of time. If you ABuse something, ie using it in the manner it was not intended for, you will shorten its lifespan. We see this is the case with the Wiimote.

I think we can all agree that the remote is not meant to be used like you were Kournikova on meth. The manual for system, games, and on-line support all state gentle force should be usd. I'm sure Nintendo thought of the dangers of flying controllers breaking the speed of idiocy to pummel into things. How does this relate to the strap and its tensile strength?

When used properly, the strap does it's job. If you fasten that little sliding bezel it gives the strap more "grounding," (been a long time since i thought physics-wise, so if someone can explain this better and understands what I'm getting at go for it) and a larger tension area to distribute energy when it changes from potential to kinetic. Simply put, most of the force is exerted throughout the ENTIRE strap not just the little connector When worn properly. When it's not fastened properly you're basically treating the Wiimote like a bullwhip, a sharp acceleration following by an abrupt stop. All that force is exerted onto the little strap!

The safety strap was designed for 2 purposes, as I see it. You might just drop the controller in which case the strap works flawlessly. It's got nowhere to go but hang from your wrist! The other method is sweaty hands or losing grip of it during play. At this point the strap will save it....for a time. It's not meant to take the repeated beating its getting.

Granted if you're playing with the force Nintendo recommends, you won't send any Wiimote into a tv, window, PDA, wall or laptop. However if you play like a majority of these "get into it" players, and you repeatedly exert force onto that little strap, it's simple physics it won't last that long.

I don't really think this is Nintendo's fault, and it's isolated cases. If thousands of people were losing electronics due to this strap breaking it might be a larger scale proble, but this is just a small small percentage like the 360 system fails. If you're really worried about your strap breaking, either tone it down Wizard, reinforce your strap with something stronger, or replace it completely. After a quick Google search or two I've found a few straps that look more than capable of never breaking...

...I wouldn't recommend connecting the strap to the nunchuk through that little hook part, because putting it in and taking it out of that poorly designed clasp involves nicking or pulling the twine strap which could weaken it as well.

Just things to think about! This has to be my longest Kotaku post in 3 years.

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