The Shrine

Just click the link. You'll need to put in the console's serial number first

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/strapreplace.jsp

I'm going to get 4 for all the future controllers I buy (only have two now and buy everything used). They're free, so why not?

I am glad to see this turn up. Though my opinion is that the broken straps are more the cause of carelessness than any fault of Nintendo, I am glad that they are taking steps to take care of the problem before it becomes big.

M'k'n'zy wrote:I am glad to see this turn up. Though my opinion is that the broken straps are more the cause of carelessness than any fault of Nintendo, I am glad that they are taking steps to take care of the problem before it becomes big.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I mean, you're not supposed to whip the thing around and you don't need to. A flick of the wrist will hit a powershot in Wii Tennis.

I think some people saw those early Wii teaser commercials with everyone playing with over-exaggerated movements and figured that's how it should be played

Hot dog! Yeah, I'm going to request 4, just in case the future Wiimotes I buy have the old one. Granted I don't even use it anymore, but still.

IMAGINE THAT. I don't use the strap and yet I still haven't smashed my TV! What a surprise!

I do use the strap for the sheer reason that it has given me a save once already. A friend of mine and I were playing Tennis and our arms hit, and he lost his grip on his controler. The strap saved it. Careless on our part yes, and the strap did its job. Sience then though I have always worn it, just because you never know when an accident can happen.

It's all fun and games until you Wii somebody's eye out!

My friend, his brother, and I all played some Wii Bowling last night without any problems. And let me add this: his brother has Downs Syndrome. He never once lost control of the Wiimote. Think about that.

Also, he got 5 strikes in a row and almost beat both of us. I have a feeling that the next time we play, he's going to get almost a perfect game.

damnit lox register my wii

Oracle wrote:damnit lox register my wii

haha...I totally forgot about that. I'll actually go downstairs and do that now before I forget again. I'll send you some Miis as soon as I can.

This is why you don't buy the first cycle of any next-gen system. Hell, they should pay for all of the HDTVs that they have broken because a 99 cent strap broke.

SineSwiper wrote:This is why you don't buy the first cycle of any next-gen system. Hell, they should pay for all of the HDTVs that they have broken because a 99 cent strap broke.

Are you serious? Really? The only way the strap can break is because you let the controller go. Letting the controller go is not the recommended use therefore Nintendo it isn't at fault. If you let the thing go and break something, it's your fault.

It's sad because they are actually starting a class action suit against Nintendo for this. People are stupid.

SineSwiper wrote:This is why you don't buy the first cycle of any next-gen system. Hell, they should pay for all of the HDTVs that they have broken because a 99 cent strap broke.

No, it's people's idiocy that's causing them to break. Do you know how hard you have to swing to a) break the strap and b) fly that far and hard after breaking the strap? All you need is a flick of the wrist, you don't need to do these unbelievably exagerrated movements. That's like saying Red Octane should pay damages to the idiot who broke his knee (www.guitarherobrokemyknee.com).

These are people who barely have the intelligence to find a door to get out of the house in the morning, they should be happy Nintendo's doing anything for them at all. They're doin' it solely as a PR move so it doesn't get out of control, but it's not their fault, man. I wouldn't have thought to test the straps for that kind of idiocy either.

Well, while I disagree with class action lawsuits and I was just joking about the HDTV, I don't blame the people who use it. Nintendo purposely illustrates people flinging the controller wildly in their commericials and demos. Since this is a brand new technology, people are just going to see the commercials to get an idea how you would use the controller.

And in some cases, the strap breaks in fairly normal circumstances. After all, why are so many stories cropping up about the straps breaking?

SineSwiper wrote:Well, while I disagree with class action lawsuits and I was just joking about the HDTV, I don't blame the people who use it. Nintendo purposely illustrates people flinging the controller wildly in their commericials and demos. Since this is a brand new technology, people are just going to see the commercials to get an idea how you would use the controller.

And in some cases, the strap breaks in fairly normal circumstances. After all, why are so many stories cropping up about the straps breaking?

Yeah but the commercials aren't depicting them tossing it around by the strap or waving your arms around completely like a lunatic. I've known some people to get...overly excited and animated...while playing some games or doing some activities where they are somewhat...out of control...in a sense and have no bearings for their surroundings. These people are the ones that should be held responsible for this mess. Not Nintendo.

My point is that the commercials, the manuals, etc never ever tell you to release your grip on the controller. There's no way the strap could break or the controller could bust a TV if you didn't let go. Read the wording of the suit also. It says that the strap is breaking, causing them to let go of the controller. Sounds backwards to me. I hope these people get crushed like bugs under Nintendo's giant boot.

My point is that the straps also break under normal circumstances. Hell, M'k'nzy just pointed out one instance. The strap could have easily broken in that case.

The whole point of the strap is to keep the controller from getting thrown if an accident happens. If it's not doing its job, then the strap needs to be better. After all, if nobody is accidently throwing their controller, then why the hell did they put on the strap in the first place?

SineSwiper wrote:My point is that the straps also break under normal circumstances. Hell, you just M'k'nzy just pointed out one instance. The strap could have easily broken in that case.

The whole point of the strap is to keep the controller from getting thrown if an accident happens. If it's not doing its job, then the strap needs to be better. After all, if nobody is accidently throwing their controller, then why the hell did they put on the strap in the first place?

I agree they need the strap to begin with, but when i've had people over playing Tennis for the first time, they've let go of the controller while swinging fairly hard and it just hung there. Not a big deal. You need to fling that thing pretty hard to get it to break.

This is simply a case of the company not accounting enough for people's idiocy. They get the false sense of security with the strap, so they don't bother with common sense.

Kinda like a woman in an SUV (there's one for ya, Sine :-)

Zeus wrote:This is simply a case of the company not accounting enough for people's idiocy. They get the false sense of security with the strap, so they don't bother with common sense.

There's too many cases of it happening for it to be simply people's idiocy. Granted, many of them are people who haven't played games before, and are more animated than usual, but Nintendo really should have expected that.

Anyway, it's a moot point, since they are re-enforcing the straps.

Zeus wrote:Just click the link. You'll need to put in the console's serial number first

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/strapreplace.jsp

I'm going to get 4 for all the future controllers I buy (only have two now and buy everything used). They're free, so why not?

I thought you weren't getting a Wii until it was somehow proven to you?

SineSwiper wrote:My point is that the straps also break under normal circumstances. Hell, M'k'nzy just pointed out one instance. The strap could have easily broken in that case.

Could have, but it didn't. You can't use a "coulda" argument as evidence!

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote:Just click the link. You'll need to put in the console's serial number first

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/strapreplace.jsp

I'm going to get 4 for all the future controllers I buy (only have two now and buy everything used). They're free, so why not?

I thought you weren't getting a Wii until it was somehow proven to you?

No, man, I said that I was getting one but that Nintendo would still be #3 in this generation. It was the DS I waited on, the Wii I was convinced a couple months before launch

Zeus wrote: No, man, I said that I was getting one but that Nintendo would still be #3 in this generation. It was the DS I waited on, the Wii I was convinced a couple months before launch

Ah, what do you think now? Personally I think PS3 will be third.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote: No, man, I said that I was getting one but that Nintendo would still be #3 in this generation. It was the DS I waited on, the Wii I was convinced a couple months before launch

Ah, what do you think now? Personally I think PS3 will be third.

In the US, Nintendo will still be #3 due to coming out one year later than the Xbox 360. But they have a decent shot at passing them due to the price as long as they can prove to people they're not a fad (not me or you, but the masses). If next year they're still considered one of the hot Xmas buys, sure, they'll likely be #2. But Sony based on name and marketing, should still be #1. You would be shocked how many people say "Sony or nothing" without even considering the others. Nintendhos got nothin' on Sony bitches, it's unreal.

Zeus wrote: In the US, Nintendo will still be #3 due to coming out one year later than the Xbox 360. But they have a decent shot at passing them due to the price as long as they can prove to people they're not a fad (not me or you, but the masses). If next year they're still considered one of the hot Xmas buys, sure, they'll likely be #2. But Sony based on name and marketing, should still be #1. You would be shocked how many people say "Sony or nothing" without even considering the others. Nintendhos got nothin' on Sony bitches, it's unreal.

Sony's brand name is arguably not nearly as large now as it was a year ago. Evidence of this is that the PS3 is no longer selling out despite the much smaller shipment numbers.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote: In the US, Nintendo will still be #3 due to coming out one year later than the Xbox 360. But they have a decent shot at passing them due to the price as long as they can prove to people they're not a fad (not me or you, but the masses). If next year they're still considered one of the hot Xmas buys, sure, they'll likely be #2. But Sony based on name and marketing, should still be #1. You would be shocked how many people say "Sony or nothing" without even considering the others. Nintendhos got nothin' on Sony bitches, it's unreal.

Sony's brand name is arguably not nearly as large now as it was a year ago. Evidence of this is that the PS3 is no longer selling out despite the much smaller shipment numbers.

But Sony is still king on a lot of electonics fronts in a lot of peoples minds, including gaming, TVs, cameras, etc. Their marketing keeps them on the conscious of the masses, which means a lot, even in gaming. While Nintendo's gotten a lot of good (and some bad) press this Xmas, let's see what happens in the spring and summer, once the initial rush and love-in cools off. Sony we know can keep their name bandied about. Everyone knows who Nintendo is, but will they find a way to keep themselves on the tips of people's - especially the press - tongues? That's the doubt IMO and something that we'll find out by next October.

Zeus wrote: But Sony is still king on a lot of electonics fronts in a lot of peoples minds, including gaming, TVs, cameras, etc. Their marketing keeps them on the conscious of the masses, which means a lot, even in gaming. While Nintendo's gotten a lot of good (and some bad) press this Xmas, let's see what happens in the spring and summer, once the initial rush and love-in cools off. Sony we know can keep their name bandied about. Everyone knows who Nintendo is, but will they find a way to keep themselves on the tips of people's - especially the press - tongues? That's the doubt IMO and something that we'll find out by next October.

That's not a strength, that's their biggest weakness. Sony's major problem so far is attempting to mix their electronics and movie market with their video game market. It happened with the PSP and it looks as though it will happen with the PS3.

The Seeker wrote:That's not a strength, that's their biggest weakness. Sony's major problem so far is attempting to mix their electronics and movie market with their video game market. It happened with the PSP and it looks as though it will happen with the PS3.

I totally agree with you on this. Unlike the DVD format chosen for the ps2 and xbox, the whole blueray/HD-DVD bullshit just doesn't make any sense. The DVD thing was a good idea because this was a thriving format, not so the case with these new offerings. It just looks to me like they're putting a Betamax machine inside a SNES.... Anyways, that is a good point with the PSP/PS3 comparison, blueray does equal UMD to me, it's just sort of useless right now.

I have to agree as well. Personally I think its too early for the whole Blu-Ray and HDDVD bit. Think about it, only in recent years have people TRULY accepted and switched over to DVD. People aren't going to want to buy their movies all over again.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote: But Sony is still king on a lot of electonics fronts in a lot of peoples minds, including gaming, TVs, cameras, etc. Their marketing keeps them on the conscious of the masses, which means a lot, even in gaming. While Nintendo's gotten a lot of good (and some bad) press this Xmas, let's see what happens in the spring and summer, once the initial rush and love-in cools off. Sony we know can keep their name bandied about. Everyone knows who Nintendo is, but will they find a way to keep themselves on the tips of people's - especially the press - tongues? That's the doubt IMO and something that we'll find out by next October.

That's not a strength, that's their biggest weakness. Sony's major problem so far is attempting to mix their electronics and movie market with their video game market. It happened with the PSP and it looks as though it will happen with the PS3.

What I meant was, Sony is the king of electronics in a lot of people's minds. The PS3 is an electronics item. Couple that with their excellent marketing and they have a good headstart on Nintendo in the masses' minds.

I do agree on the fact they're trying to make a set-top box and that just isn't what people want. The PSP is a portable set-top box and it isn't doin' that great (unless you ask Sony, in which case, it's the market leader). This is the same discussion we've had since the PS2 came out. Most people simply don't want a set-top box 'cause anything that does everything never does anything well. The PSP is proof and the PS3 MAY end up joining it (we'll see).

Zeus wrote:
What I meant was, Sony is the king of electronics in a lot of people's minds. The PS3 is an electronics item. Couple that with their excellent marketing and they have a good headstart on Nintendo in the masses' minds.

And what I meant was that mixing their electronics, proprietary media, and videogame markets is not a strength or "headstart" it is the PS3's major weakness.

The fact that Sony sticks with "combined multimedia package" bullshit is what is hurting the PS3. The costs for that is through the roof, and nobody wants a goddamn Blue Ray anyway.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote:
What I meant was, Sony is the king of electronics in a lot of people's minds. The PS3 is an electronics item. Couple that with their excellent marketing and they have a good headstart on Nintendo in the masses' minds.

And what I meant was that mixing their electronics, proprietary media, and videogame markets is not a strength or "headstart" it is the PS3's major weakness.

I don't disagree with you, but you're still missing my original point

Zeus wrote:

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote:
What I meant was, Sony is the king of electronics in a lot of people's minds. The PS3 is an electronics item. Couple that with their excellent marketing and they have a good headstart on Nintendo in the masses' minds.

And what I meant was that mixing their electronics, proprietary media, and videogame markets is not a strength or "headstart" it is the PS3's major weakness.

I don't disagree with you, but you're still missing my original point

Explain the relevance of your original point then. If you do not disagree with me.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote:

The Seeker wrote: And what I meant was that mixing their electronics, proprietary media, and videogame markets is not a strength or "headstart" it is the PS3's major weakness.

I don't disagree with you, but you're still missing my original point

Explain the relevance of your original point then. If you do not disagree with me.

Go back to my original post and read it. You'll see it has nothing to do with the make-up of the actual electronics themselves but rather the position of the companies in the conscious of the masses

Zeus wrote: Go back to my original post and read it. You'll see it has nothing to do with the make-up of the actual electronics themselves but rather the position of the companies in the conscious of the masses

Sony's position in the electronics industry might sell 200,000 units; Not any more than that. The Playstation brandname is something separate from the Sony brandname in most consumers eyes. People do not equate the PSP to the second coming of the Discman, it is a Playstation Portable. It is their position in the videogame market that matters. Otherwise, a larger electronics company like Matsushita (with massive backing from partners like Time Warner, Sanyo, and others) would have been successful with their Panasonic 3D0.

The Seeker wrote:

Zeus wrote: Go back to my original post and read it. You'll see it has nothing to do with the make-up of the actual electronics themselves but rather the position of the companies in the conscious of the masses

Sony's position in the electronics industry might sell 200,000 units; Not any more than that. The Playstation brandname is something separate from the Sony brandname in most consumers eyes. People do not equate the PSP to the second coming of the Discman, it is a Playstation Portable. It is their position in the videogame market that matters. Otherwise, a larger electronics company like Matsushita (with massive backing from partners like Time Warner, Sanyo, and others) would have been successful with their Panasonic 3D0.

You notice how you and I seem to hijack every post with our arguments? :-)

When Apple releases a new product, people stand up and take notice 'cause it's Apple. They made their name with the iMac and put themselves in people's minds. When they released the iPod, they had the Apple name to get people interested and then it took off. Even though there were many other mp3 players for many years before, they used their brand and marketing (forget for a second whether or not the product is superior; superior products don't always win) to take over the market. They have what, 80% of the market with the iPod?

Sony is similar. A lot of people have this idea that Sony's high-quality products (we're not arguing whether that's a valid point, just that it exists). So, when Sony announces a new piece of electronics, like the PS3, there are a lot of people who say to themselves "Sony's a high-quality product, I"ll get that one if I'm going to get one at all". They have very strong brand loyalty.

It's position in the electronics industry did a lot to win over the crowd with the original PSX (for the masses; the games brought in the gamers) and with the PS3, you'll have people waiting just 'cause of the brand name. I saw it at my store with the PS2 vs the DC. People waited for the PS2 based on brand name alone without even looking at the DC, which had WAAAAY better games in the beginning (and, arguably, the best first two years of any console). I just don't see that kind of blind loyalty with the other two systems, other than the children and the parents buying them for the children with Nintendo.

It's because these companies are masters at marketing that they can do something like overcome an inferior product and still be market leader. Again, not saying either is the inferior product, just trying to explain my point.

Nintendo works the opposite. They rely on brand loyalty and quality to create the market for them. With the NES, they had no real competition, so they won easily. Then the SNES comes out and it takes it 4 years to overcome the Genesis not because it was inferior (I don't think too many would argue that the SNES was a far superior machine), but because Sega used smart, aggressive marketing to put themselves in people's minds. Nintendo kept it's fans through the quality of its product. Eventually they relaxed their ridiculous iron grip a bit and they were able to catch up (it happened with MK2 and after). But they were forced into that and their marketing was shit. They were that way through the N64 and GC days, no marketing and just relying on their product to sell itself.

And nothing's changed. In today's world, you can't just put something out there and expect it to dominate, but they still think they can. That's their arrogance and even though they've been badly beaten for two generations in a row, they're not changing. If they EVER learned to market like Sony or Apple, they'd kick ass...hard. But their arrogance will keep them from doing that which, IMO, will lead to them never truly dominating.

So Zeus, essentially to sum up your paragraphs:

(Note that I do not agree with this.)


-People buy products just because they are Sony (although you said Apple, you meant as a comparison).
-People will buy a PS3 because it is Sony
-PSX sold because of Sony Electronics
-PS2 sold because of Sony electronics
-People have blind loyalty to Sony which other systems do not have
-Sony are masters of marketing and will be market leader with inferior products
-Nintendo works opposite of Sony
-Instead Nintendo sells its systems by brand loyalty


Do you see the problem with your argument?

I also have a few corrections to make. It was not Sony's state in the electronics industry that made the PSX successful, the PSX was out for years before it took the lead in marketshare, and it was due to MANY more developers developing for it than the Sega Saturn and the N64, and that the games and system were on par or cheaper than the competition.

The PS2 did not build off of Sony Electronics brand name, it built off of the Playstation brand name.

Sony fails quite often; UMD, PSP, Memory sticks, and Sony Portable DVD players, are just a few recent failures; no medium developed by Sony has ever been successful. You are greatly exagerating peoples loyalty to a "Sony" brand name. There is loyalty to the Playstation brandname, but I don't see people running around saying "Sony Discman is the best!" or "Sony Plasma TV is the best!" etc...

Nintendo and Sony do not work the opposite of each other, they both make an attempt to help the consumer overlook the downsides and focus on the upsides. This is a business strategy. It worked greatly for the N64, though it wasn't as successful as the PSX, it still sold a relatively large number of consoles in the North American market and was much more successful than Xbox or Gamecube. The problem with Xbox and Gamecube is that neither had many unique and good titles; the N64 didn't have many titles, but it did have enough unique and good titles to maintain fairly good sales (even if only about 35-40% of the PSX sales).

As fort he whole Ipod thing, there is no secret about it, Ipods are seen as cool, if another company released something marketed to be more cool later, then it would beat Ipod.

We're going in circles now...

What's that called "Godwinned?"

Zeus wrote:We're going in circles now...

What's that called "Godwinned?"

Nope. Nobody's mentioned Hitler yet.

Remember the corollary that you can't intentionally Godwin a thread by mentioning Hilter too. It's sort of like the Murphy's Law corollary where you can't make it rain by intentionally not bringing an umbrella.