When I first heard of the Wii wrist strap breaking issue (currently sensationalized at Wii Have A Problem), I originally thought Nintendo should be held liable for television damage. I was wrong to come to this conclusion. I also said that the game player in question was using the controller following all safety precautions. I was wrong to come to this conclusion too, as my conclusion was based on an assumption that the person had read the manual (I don't know if he did or not). In any case, after a bit of careful research, I don't think Nintendo is liable on this issue and any potential class action lawsuits regarding the wrist strap should be thrown out.

One of the issues this whole Wii Remote wrist strap controversy brings up is that people hardly ever read the manual before playing a new game system. I include myself in this group, and I have to say that I'm glad Nintendo put most, but not all, of the safety precautions in the games themselves, because otherwise people like me would have probably never seen them. Imagine my shock when I opened the Wii manual and found this:

(you can click on any image in this article to enlarge it)

I'd like to point out the following paragraph:

"Wii gameplay with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk can involve rapid or vigorous motion. Please use the wrist strap to [b]prevent losing your grip[/b] on the remote and causing damage to the remote and surrounding objects, or injury to other people."

Now, you have to read the paragraph carefully. I suppose that's why Nintendo put the whole paragraph in bold and the first thing on the page so that it was impossible to miss it. It clearly says that the Wii remote wrist strap was intended to prevent losing your GRIP on the controller, meaning that it's there to reinforce the holding of your Wii remote in your hand. It does NOT say that the strap was designed to CATCH the Wii remote if it flies out of your hand. If you don't have a firm grip on the controller or you let it fly from your hand while playing, you are not following the instructions, regardless of why it flew out of your hand in the first place. If your palms are sweating, you should take a break. In fact, Wii Sports tells you to do this!

You are probably wondering if I never read the manual until recently why I knew how to use the wrist strap correctly. Well, let's take a look at the strap, correctly connected to the controller:

Wow, that looks awfully familiar. Where have I seen that before?

Yep, the Nintendo DS uses a practically identical wrist strap, just in a different color. When you play games like Mario 64 DS, the manual tells you to thread your thumb through the strap. The reason you do this is because their is a little thumb stylus that you can use to simulate having a joystick (and it actually works fairly well).

This is how it looks when you have your thumb correctly threaded through the strap to play joystick-style games. Note how firmly tightened the thumb strap is. It's not too tight too cut off blood circulation, but it's just tight enough so it doesn't move around when my thumb slides across the touch screen. Now, when I first played my Wii, I placed my wrist strap on in exactly the way I was familiar with doing with the DS.

It so happens that this is exactly the way the manual says to thread your wrist through the wrist strap. Again, it should not be too tight to cut off blood flow but just tight enough so the strap doesn't slide around while playing. Many people don't know this because they never read the manual. Luckily, when I brought the Wii to my parents on Thanksgiving to throw down some Wii Sports, I was there to teach them how to properly wear the wrist strap, and to remind them to never let go of the controller.

I couldn't help but notice that the cheap digital camera I used to take these pictures also uses the same kind of wrist strap. It must be an industry standard. Would you sue the camera manufacturer if you were swinging around the camera like a medieval flail and the strap broke and broke something or injured someone? Of course not - it's obvious that the wrist strap was never intended to be used that way. The same goes with the Wii Remote. You must have a firm grip on the controller at all times, and if you start losing your grip, it may be necessary to dry your hands or take a break. If your palms frequently get sweaty, it would probably make sense to get one of those third-party controller gloves. If you have an existing health problem (you perspire too much) and you play without taking breaks, that's not Nintendo's fault if the controller leaves your hand, that's your fault for ignoring the health and safety warning (that even tells you to consult the manual), which you see every time you turn on the Wii.