Cheats-Area.com

   The so-called "patent trolls" aren't the only ones threatening to put Nintendo in legal trouble, as we've seen last week. But we can't say this comes as a surprise either: after all the Wii-induced injuries that have been scandalously reported ever since the console launched in the US one month ago, simple complaints about the Wii wrist strap were bound to become blown-out lawsuits against the Japanese console maker. And that's exactly what happened on December 6, when a suit was filed in the US by Green Welling LLP, with the (plaintiffs') hope of becoming a "class-action" and squeezing some money out of Nintendo's accounts:
"The class action lawsuit seeks to enjoin Nintendo from continuing its unfair or deceptive business practices as it relates to the Nintendo Wii. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction that requires Nintendo to correct the defect in the Wii remote and to provide a refund to the purchaser or to replace the defective Wii remote with a Wii remote that functions as it is warranted and intended."    Nintendo was quick to react to this issue, and they began replacing the original 0.024"-thick straps with a thicker, 0.04" strap, that was supposed to be included with every Wii console shipped in early December. But much to my surprise, when I got my brand new console just a few days ago, it was still using the old, thin and supposedly fragile strap. I'll be putting it to the vodka-imbued multiplayer test tonight, so wish me luck!

   Those who are already stuck with the allegedly faulty Wii strap have no reason to join the class-action, though, because Nintendo also took a second measure to keep themselves legally safe: they offered to replace any Wii strap for free with the thicker variant. And to top it all off, they have also issued the following statement this week: (our bold)
"We believe the lawsuit to be completely without merit. Nintendo has a long tradition of delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service, and we take all reports from our customers seriously.

At the time we became aware of the lawsuit, we had already taken appropriate steps to reinforce with consumers the proper use of the Wii Remote and had made stronger replacement wrist straps available. This suit has had no effect on those efforts."    The matter is probably far from over, but if there's any sanity left in this world, we should be able to conclude that all's well when ends well. When it's done.