Nintendo cares about Wiimote safety

by JC Fletcher { Oct 2nd 2007 at 9:45AM }

Nintendo announced that all new Wii systems, Wii Remotes and Wii Play bundles will now come packaged with one of these cushy-looking Wii Remote Jackets. The new bundles are shipping out today, and expected in stores by the 15th. (Side note: expect Wiis in stores on the 15th?) The design of the things completely kills the simple aesthetic Nintendo was going for with the Wiimote, while really driving home the feeling of safety with the enormous padded helmet on the top of the controller.

If you don't want to buy a new Wii or Wiimote just for one of these, then you can get up to four free from Nintendo. North American customers can order them online or call 1-866-431-8367; Japanese customers fill out the form here; and Australian Wii owners call (03) 9730 9822. We're sure there will be an option for Europe as well, but Nintendo of Europe has yet to provide the information.

This news comes just three days before the release date of the NERF Wiimote sleeve. That's a shame. A shame that results in big savings for you!

Tags: jacket, sleeve, wiimote

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Smoke @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:06AM

I just got a Wii message from Nintendo of Europe telling me I can order Wiimote Jackets for free through their site. Just go to NoE's Wii site(wii.nintendo.yourcountry) and there's a link right there to order up to 4 free of charge. They do ask for your Wii SN though.

andyl @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:04AM

I dunno about you all, but I've dropped my Wiimote more than a few times (on carpet, granted...) and it still works beautifully. HOWEVER, I know a few people that have bought Wii Play and the Wiimote that's included has some issues connecting with the Wii...as in, the included Wiimote doesn't make the connection and, thus, is worthless...

Has anyone else noticed that? Was this mentioned on the site awhile back and I missed the message?

danny. @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:04AM

Worst Blue Light message ever.

reef @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:06AM

Wow, pretty worthless.

curryman @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:11AM

Could you provide a link for the Japanese webpage?

FM @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:13AM

I can't believe this is a blue light message. Comment #2 says it all. :\

the real mii @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:21AM

wow, ugly. i'll order them up because they're free... and could come in handy if i ever have little kids over to play. tried putting my order in earlier this morn and the nintendo store is being flooded right now.

Valien @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:36AM

Yeah..i got all stoked on the blue light thinking it would be the September surprise. Alas, twas saddened like all with this plain email.

Oh well. Free jackets will work.

Brendon @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:43AM

This blue light message is so crappy, it busted my blue light!

Seriously though, I think this is a sick, twisted case of "blame the message, not the messenger" in reverse. My Wii's light glows to bright as smooth as always, but now it "flickers" back to dim. Not sure when it became faulty, as the novelty of Wii-mailing myself just to see the glow wore thin quite some time ago. Anyone else having this problem (possibly due to the WiiConnect24 issue)? I suppose I should contact NOA and see what kind of canned response I'll receive...

Andy R @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:45AM

I've been trying all morning to get one of those, but it keeps saying my serial number is too short. I've only got 10 characters listed where it says "Serial Number:", and it says I need 11. I'm baffled.

racecar @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:51AM

@8: This probably was the September surprise. *shudder* Oh well. I've got four on the way.

Honestly, though, I think this is more for protection against damaging people than the Wiimote itself (which is made of the same material as most spacecrafts, it would seem). I've seen more people get injured (usually ending in just bruises) when I've newly introduced them Wii Sports Tennis than I'd care for.

@11: There should be one more number/letter inside of a box after your Serial Number. That must be included. The Serial Number, if you didn't already know, can be found on the bottom(if in stand)/side(if not) of your Wii.

racecar @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:52AM

Duh. That last comment was @10 not @11 (who was me).

Mike @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:35AM

@1 (andy), I experienced similar issues with the Wii Play remote (maybe just an issue with a non-packaged remote in general). But since doing the hard sync using the red button inside the battery compartment, I have not had any more problems.

afzilla @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:14PM

You can get them in the UK at

http://wii.nintendo.co.uk/22690.html

Zack W. @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:14PM

So, I guess this means that we can all have our Wiimotes look like Cardassians...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardassian

Justin @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:00PM

RE #10

The last number is separate from th others on the same line mine was in a square and it was 0

Anticrawl @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:26PM

You're welcome for the tip. Anyway the damn sleeve is ironically designed. They denied wiimotes destroying property and people's faces, which is probably true, yet the padding is located in the region that would be most beneficial if it was ever used as a projectile against you. Also I bet this really sucks for those remote glove manufactures, why buy them now when you can just get them for free from now on with each remote/console?

But honestly, I think those same manufactures deserve this, making money off of those fake incidents and consumer fear really erks me. I bet some of the reports were fabricated by the same people making the original gloves just to push the sale of their product.

the common cold @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:49PM

Do you have to remove the jacket to push the on/off button?

snupher @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:55PM

I know I am not the only one that thinks the fact that Nintendo even has to issue these is ridiculous. But, I guess if you go hardcore after the casual gamer market, you have to understand that most of them are wii-tards.

Matt @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:12PM

This is the most horrific "September surprise" ever, if that's what this is. Someone wanna confirm/deny?

killerBOY @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:28PM

I had my Wii in it's box (moving this weekend) and now I turned it back on to get this message but it's not coming! Have I missed it or is it just to wait a little bit longer?

Matt @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:29PM

#9/Brendon- Mine does that too. It started with the last System update. Anybody have this occur too? (Brightens fine, but flickers to off)

Matt B @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:30PM

Hmm, after some research, that appears normal. It just looks weird.

Timerider @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:19PM

The website didn't work for me. It froze up loading then said "Not Found" (not the browser, the page).

Dan @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:58PM

@#9/20

Yup mine duz exactly the same >:(

Mr Khan @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:08PM

Oh, so that's the blue light

damn, if that isn't a kick in the nuts. Blue Light messages are supposed to be cool...

Jeremy @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:30PM

Hey we got our Sept. surprise two days late! I think that this jacket is a good idea I am sure my dog has brain damage after getting knocked in the head every other day. I just want to know if I have to take it off ever time I need to change batteries like the other jackets that you can already buy.

Archibold @ Oct 2nd 2007 6:48PM

Like others, I was expecting a "September Surprise." To say the least, I am disappointed. At least they are free.

tiamat1990 @ Oct 2nd 2007 7:25PM

ARGH!!! They don't have a NZ number! I have to bloody call Australia!!

Matt @ Oct 2nd 2007 7:40PM

"the enormous padded helmet on the top of the controller"

...and just like enormous padded helmets, these are for retards.

Don't let go of your damned Wiimotes, people. For the love of Christ, what's wrong with you?

DBuck_Eye @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:44PM

The site keeps saying that the amount of sleeves that I have ordered is over the limit of what the serial number can have, even when I only order one.

Don @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:25PM

To be honest, I could use some of those. There've been at least a couple times where I banged my Wiimotes really hard against stuff like the coffee table, usually when bowling or doing some low arm motion.

I'm afraid my infrared part of the Wiimote might get cracked.

But I'll wait til they get their ordering system straightened out before I make a request. And they do look bad... so not sure if I'd actually put them on.

And BTW, "Retard" is the definition of people who complain when Nintendo offers to give out stuff for FREE.

iofthestorm @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:49PM

Hey, I started noticing the ugly fading right after the last update too. What gives? It brightens fine, but pretty much just blinks out. Kind of weird that they would break something so simple with an update. I thought it was the light burning out or something, which doesn't make sense since it's an LED and I hardly get Wii messages anyway. I don't think very many people use Wii messages right now.