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!
Nintendo cares about Wiimote safety
Posted Oct 2nd 2007 9:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Peripherals, Controller
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-02-2007 @ 10:04AM
andyl said...
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?
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10-02-2007 @ 10:04AM
danny. said...
Worst Blue Light message ever.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:06AM
reef said...
Wow, pretty worthless.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:06AM
Smoke said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:11AM
curryman said...
Could you provide a link for the Japanese webpage?
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10-02-2007 @ 10:13AM
FM said...
I can't believe this is a blue light message. Comment #2 says it all. :\
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10-02-2007 @ 10:21AM
the real mii said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:36AM
Valien said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:43AM
Brendon said...
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...
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10-02-2007 @ 10:45AM
Andy R said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:51AM
racecar said...
@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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:52AM
racecar said...
Duh. That last comment was @10 not @11 (who was me).
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10-02-2007 @ 11:35AM
Mike said...
@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.
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10-02-2007 @ 12:14PM
afzilla said...
You can get them in the UK at
http://wii.nintendo.co.uk/22690.html
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10-02-2007 @ 12:14PM
Zack W. said...
So, I guess this means that we can all have our Wiimotes look like Cardassians...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardassian
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10-02-2007 @ 12:26PM
Anticrawl said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 12:49PM
the common cold said...
Do you have to remove the jacket to push the on/off button?
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10-02-2007 @ 12:55PM
snupher said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 1:28PM
killerBOY said...
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?
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10-02-2007 @ 2:29PM
Matt said...
#9/Brendon- Mine does that too. It started with the last System update. Anybody have this occur too? (Brightens fine, but flickers to off)
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10-02-2007 @ 2:30PM
Matt B said...
Hmm, after some research, that appears normal. It just looks weird.
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10-02-2007 @ 3:00PM
Justin said...
RE #10
The last number is separate from th others on the same line mine was in a square and it was 0
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10-02-2007 @ 4:19PM
Timerider said...
The website didn't work for me. It froze up loading then said "Not Found" (not the browser, the page).
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10-02-2007 @ 4:58PM
Dan said...
@#9/20
Yup mine duz exactly the same >:(
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10-02-2007 @ 5:08PM
Mr Khan said...
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...
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10-02-2007 @ 5:12PM
Matt said...
This is the most horrific "September surprise" ever, if that's what this is. Someone wanna confirm/deny?
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10-02-2007 @ 5:30PM
Jeremy said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 6:48PM
Archibold said...
Like others, I was expecting a "September Surprise." To say the least, I am disappointed. At least they are free.
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10-02-2007 @ 7:25PM
tiamat1990 said...
ARGH!!! They don't have a NZ number! I have to bloody call Australia!!
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10-02-2007 @ 7:40PM
Matt said...
"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?
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10-02-2007 @ 8:44PM
DBuck_Eye said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 9:25PM
Don said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 10:49PM
iofthestorm said...
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.
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10-02-2007 @ 11:25PM
dsmaster65 said...
Im really hoping that this is not the september suprise, then a again, september is over, lol.
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10-10-2007 @ 12:36PM
Omen said...
I've tried a dozen times on different computers to get a free cover for my wiimote, but the website always locks up when it goes to the nintendo store.
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