It really is Free, shipping and all. I just ordered mine the other day.

I've used one of the third-party rubber jackets, and I just really hate the way they feel in my hand. I somewhat doubt I'll be using this -- I've never even come close to having the remote slip off my wrist with the wrist strap tightened properly.

I've also never even come close to losing my wiimote. I'm very confident in my ability to hold onto it, and I only wear it when playing something crazy like Smooth Moves.

However, when company comes over, that's a different story. The first day we had our Wii, a guest chunked the wiimote into the wall while playing baseball. No damage was done, but I make sure that everyone else wears a strap. If I break my stuff, then so be it.. but I really don't want my brother in law to be responsible for buying me a new controller or TV.

So THUMBS UP Nintendo. At least their taking precautions. I've never heard a bad Nintendo customer service story!

I tried to order and the site gave me a 404 then when I tried again later it said I had already ordered... sheesh.

@rmz: I doubt I'll use them either, but free is free. I ordered mine.

Wrist straps AND grip jackets? What the hell is wrong with people? Hang onto the controller!

@mopar_man: Indeed. I cannot imagine these people trying to go to the bathroom...

@WARF0X0R

Their site was getting hammered pretty hard the first few days. If you wait 24 hrs, it seems to know to 'reset your quota', and you should be able to get your order through.

Considering the 17 million this is gonna cost them you have to give a lot of credit to the big N for the wiicondoms.

@KingPsyz: "wiicondoms" - you beat me to it.

Same thing happened when I tried to get them, error. However, we have never once lost grip on the wiimote, even playing the sports games. Most of the games I play are a bit more mild anyway.

I don't see how all these people keep throwing the wiimote at the TV. If you fasten the strap, and hold onto it, it stays with you. Geez.

I agree, i doubt I'll use it either. But free is free. :)

The nice thing for nintendo is, even after spending 17mil on this, they are still making lots of money on the wii

The grips are kewl. It's nice that they are being offered for free. Even if you don't use them it's a lovely gesture on Nintendo's part.

@MonkeySwitch: I'm ordering one for my 10 year old nephew right now... his hands are always extra sweaty for some reason...

It's also nice to see that they are not trying to hide this offer. It is right on their main homepage. Most companies would try to hide this about 20 pages or more deep into their site.

Nintendo must think people are incredibly stupid enough to throw their remotes into their TVs. Then again, they're probably right. :)

Like the others in this thread, I haven't even come close to having the Wii remote slip out of my hand. Hell, I didn't even order the strap replacement and my current one is fine.

The new DDR for the Wii is actually risky, because you have to swing the nanchuck (the smaller controller held on the left hand) wildly. And the nunchuck has no safety strap because usually it's just used for navigating.

I can see another safety issue coming.

@uricmu: The nunchuck is supposed to be looped through the wrist strap...but it's a bitch doing it over and over and over....

I've also never even come close to losing my wiimote.

Perhaps, somewhere in Japan or China, a controller slipped out of a player's hand and destroyed a TV, or clobbered a child on the head. In the US, the parents of the child would have immediately contacted an ambulance-chaser lawyer so they could sue. Shortly after, the lawsuit would have been all over CNN and Consumerist.com, with pundits and bloggers demanding the head of whoever was responsible for the ill-designed controller. Then the Wii naysayers would come out in droves, letting us all know how they were the first to say no to the Wii, and they just don't do business with Nintenblow. I'm sure this is a proactive measure by Nintendo to prevent lawsuits. Good on them.

I only let go of my remote once. While drunkenly Wii bowling, be careful.

They've done it again. Nintendo is a rarity in the current corporate climate. While other companies look for ways to squeeze you once they've hooked you Nintendo makes sure to keep their customer's satisfied. As soon as few user's started breaking their original Wiimotes straps Nintendo redesigned them AND sent out up to four replacement straps to existing customers. Other companies would've spent the money on marketing and blaming the consumer for 'misusing' the device. Now they reward the early-adopters with this jackets.

This is what customer service is all about. Kudos to Nintendo!

@XianZomby: There were a number of cases in the US, actually. They were all over sites like Engadget/Gizmodo, though I haven't seen any for a few months.