Nintendo taken to court over Wii straps

A Wii purchaser in Texas has filed a suit against Nintendo, alleging that the Wii wrist strap was ineffective for its intended use.

The Wii hasn't been all fun and games

Despite the Wii getting off to a record breaking start, things haven't been quite as problem free as Nintendo would have hoped. Stories about breaking Wii wrist straps have been hitting national press, and as a result of the apparent widespread problem Nintendo announced a voluntary wrist strap replacement program.

Things don't end there though. A Wii purchaser from Texas has filed a law suit against Nintendo, alleging that the platform holder has violated the Washington Consumer Protection act. It seems Nintendo could be in trouble for telling customers that the wrist strap was to prevent the controller from coming out of your hand during use, but then providing a strap that was "ineffective for its intended use."

The suit also claims that the problems also amount to a breach of warranty, and seeks to become a class-action suit, meaning anyone who has purchased a Wii would be able to join.

"As a result of the defective nature of the wrist strap on the Wii remote, plaintiff's wrist strap broke on his remote causing damage to the Wii product plaintiff purchased," the suit reads. "The controller is an essential component of any video game console, and so [the] plaintiff is unable to use the Nintendo Wii for its intended purposes as a result of the broken wrist band. Accordingly, it renders the Wii console, which retails in the United States for $250, useless."

In the filing, the plaintiff demands that Nintendo cease its unfair and deceptive practices, to refund or replace the strap with one that works (something Nintendo is already doing), reimburse him for legal fees, and further relief as the courts sees fit.

A Nintendo representative told GameSpot: "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."