Nintendo Wins in Wii Flying Controller Suit

Let’s go off topic for a bit here. I came across this earlier and found it quite humorous. This legal suit is just as wacky as yesterdays “Theres an app for that post”. I always like to keep up with these types of cases,  I get a kick out of the verdict all the time.

A U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado sided with Nintendo and offered a summary judgment late last month for a suit filed by angry gamers. Gamers have taken issue with the Nintendo Wii remote controller, claiming that the strap attached does not sufficiently prevent damage caused from accidentally hurling the controller during gameplay. The plaintiff sued alleging that the defective strap is responsible for their broken televisions, and they wanted compensation for that damage. The court sided with Nintendo, agreeing that they had given sufficient warning, including repeated instructions to be careful while holding the controller and warnings that the strap is not meant to withstand the kind of excessive force brought on by a full swing

The court’s decision stems from the implied purpose of the strap and the lack of evidence indicating one specific purpose over any other. One might assume that the purpose of the strap was to prevent a controller from inadvertently flying out of a gamers hand while playing, as the plaintiffs clearly did. However, one might equally assume that the strap is simply intended to keep an inadvertently released controller in the vicinity of the player so it can be more easily retrieved, and may never have been intended to withstand the high stress of being thrown full force out of a player’s hand. Without showing one clear purpose the court held that the strap was not shown to be faulty. Thus, summary judgment was granted for the defendant.

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