Video of Wiimote destroying TV

"Mama!"

Another Wii Sports Casualty [Fandome via Gizmodo]

[#1 posted by SC_Wolf , December 15, 2008 7:23 PM]

Obligatory Penny Arcade Strip.

[#2 posted by theawesomerobot , December 15, 2008 7:39 PM]

The kind of guy who would do this? The same kind of guy that would tap his recently shattered LCD to try and fix it.

[#3 posted by lectroid , December 15, 2008 7:39 PM]

the most heart-breaking moment is the futile, desperate rap on the top of the screen, as if perhaps, just perhaps, it's all just a silly loose connection.

[#4 posted by rAMPANTiDIOCY , December 15, 2008 8:16 PM]

Mama!

[#5 posted by bkofford , December 15, 2008 9:01 PM]

I know there were issues with the original strap on those, but the new ones come with better straps, and if you've got the old straps, they'll give you the new ones for free.

It's all moot though, if you don't bother to use the strap at all, like this guy.

The Wii even pops up helpful pictures indicating the proper usage of the straps before every game; you don't even have to know how to read.

It's just sad.

[#6 posted by nixiebunny , December 15, 2008 9:02 PM]

This is why I require my children to use a 27" CRT for their Wii activities, since I can't get them to use any of the safety features so thoughtfully provided by Nintendo. It's a much thicker screen face, and if by some chance it ever breaks, it will hurt them more than me^w^w^w^w^w teach them a valuable lesson.

[#7 posted by TedJohnson , December 15, 2008 9:31 PM]

My stepkids will be required to watch and discuss this video, perhaps write an essay about it. (Tomorrow will be a snow day.)

[#8 posted by shutz , December 15, 2008 9:32 PM]

Am I the only one who thinks this looks fake? Granted, I've never seen it happen for real, but there's something about the image on the screen after the hit that makes me think it's fake...

[#9 posted by Anonymous , December 15, 2008 9:59 PM]

No, that's really what it looks like. It would also be incredibly difficult to time the switchover to prank someone like this.

Unless of course a cool programmer puts together a homebrew channel that pops an image up like this when enough change of acceleration is detected.

[#10 posted by lectroid , December 15, 2008 10:03 PM]

@8:

as a purely anecdotal data point, a friend's LCD screen on his camcorder was damaged after being dropped, and the end result looked remarkable similar to this.

[#11 posted by igpajo , December 15, 2008 10:13 PM]

I don't think it's fake, but it certainly looks planned. Why you would plan to destroy an LCD TV, I don't know. But why would you just happen to have you camcorder on recording yourself playing Wii Bowling at the same moment you just happen to toss your wiimote at it? It just too much of a coincidence.

[#12 posted by Rooney , December 16, 2008 12:43 AM]

I'm with #10. If you watch the slow motion you can see the image kind of vanish in a wave, rather than than just switching as you would expect it to if it was fake.

[#13 posted by owza , December 16, 2008 2:18 AM]

Real, but staged for 5 seconds of fame on the internet...meh....

[#14 posted by Frank_in_Virginia , December 16, 2008 4:17 AM]

Left handed; there's your problem right there.

[#15 posted by 13strong , December 16, 2008 4:52 AM]

My main problem with this:

HOW CRAPPY ARE MODERN TVS? They break after a mild collision with a small piece of plastic? And you know you can't take these flat-screen pieces of garbage to a repair shop to be fixed. No sir. They have to be shipped all the way back to the manufacturer.

Get yourself a CRT or something and this will never be an issue.

[#16 posted by rAMPANTiDIOCY , December 16, 2008 5:53 AM]

@14: the controllers are more dense than you might imagine, if you've not held one - it's got a couple of batteries in there. also, consider there is a good bit of acceleration required to release the ball. understand that it's the product of mass and velocity responsible here, so even a "small piece of plastic," released with a quick snap of the wrist, at point blank range, is dangerous.

[#17 posted by 13strong , December 16, 2008 6:31 AM]

@15: I have used a Wii. The controllers are heavier than one might otherwise think, but I still doubt that if you launched one of these at a CRT TV, or at least something a little more sturdily built, it would result in the thing being written off.

Even if it did manage to break the screen of a CRT TV, you could get it repaired locally, rather than shipping it off to the manufacturer for a hefty fee.

Flat screen TVs in general are very fragile and not designed to last. They're crap.

[#18 posted by rAMPANTiDIOCY , December 16, 2008 6:53 AM]

fair enough but have fun watching your CRT

[#19 posted by Ceronomus , December 16, 2008 6:56 AM]

Well, get used to that since CRTs are slowly sinking into history's tarpit.

[#20 posted by dculberson , December 16, 2008 7:05 AM]

I bet a Wiimote to the head at that kind of velocity and range would knock a person unconscious and maybe even cause a brain injury. That's a *lot* of kinetic energy in a small area.

I really don't look down on the TV for breaking. It's just such an "outside case" to consider for the usability/durability design of that sort of device. Perhaps not *now*, but when most current LCD TVs were being designed, who would've thought that people would be flinging small heavy objects at them at high speed?

Maybe the new generation should have laminated safety glass protection over the front. That way you'd just have to replace the shield.

[#21 posted by 13strong , December 16, 2008 7:08 AM]

I know that CRTs are (in the "developed" world) a thing of the past. However, I also think that, until designers come up with a replacement for the CRT that achieves the same longevity, repairability and quality of picture (I find most digital screens horribly pixelly and/or fuzzy), then it's not something to be happy about.

These flat-screen TVs are, from what I can see, complete crap. They break easily. They cost a fortune. They're impossible to repair without sending to the manufacturer. They're mostly incredibly bad for the environment, and as far as I understand it, they're also extremely difficult to dismantle.

My girlfriend's small CRT TV has been working brilliantly for the past 10 years, having been dropped or accidentally kicked numerous times. The picture is still great. The sound is still good. Yeah, it's bulkier, but I would take it over the obviously inferior flat-screens any day.

If anyone knows of any leaps forward in flat-screen TV technology that address my criticisms, I'd be really keen to hear about them.

[#22 posted by 13strong , December 16, 2008 7:12 AM]

@20 - "It's just such an "outside case" to consider for the usability/durability design of that sort of device."

Really? I don't think it's that uncommon for TVs to be dropped or fall off their stands, or have something collide with them. Whether it's a toddler's head, or an excited dog, or a remote/console controller thrown in frustration, I would have thought TVs potentially get knocked about a fair bit.

I just think flat-screens are, from a lot of different angles, badly designed.

[#23 posted by 13strong , December 16, 2008 7:14 AM]

And aside from the piles of irreperable flat-screen TVs winding up on land-fill sites around the world, they're apparently pretty noxious to produce, too:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/03/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange

[#24 posted by dculberson , December 16, 2008 7:21 AM]

A dropped big screen CRT would never survive. Never. Even from 2'.

A toddler's head wouldn't break an LCD unless he hit it so hard that you're not worried about the LCD at that point.

The Wiimote is thrown very hard here and it's much heavier than a regular remote. I just really think you're underestimating how much force is behind it.

I agree with you on some of your points regarding CRT TVs, but some of them are overstated. For example, the same people that could fix a CRT TV can fix an LCD. I've done it before. If the screen is broken, it's actually easier to replace the screen than the tube on a CRT. But it's not worth it for either one; a new CRT is ridiculously expensive, as is a new LCD. Both are disposable commodities nowadays.

CRTs do definitely have better color rendering and better blacks, although the contrast ratio of modern mid- and high-end LCDs is catching up. (Note that a $150 LCD is not high end!) CRTs also have more consistent color rendering over their entire viewing angle. (Photoshop on an LCD is a pain in the ass!) But I'm not a graphic designer so I've given those up in exchange for having my desk back. (Two 20" CRT's take up a *lot* more room than the equivalent LCD's!)

I have plenty of LCDs that are over 10 years old. Even some that have been knocked around and scratched up. I also have seen and owned plenty of broken CRTs that were less than 10 years old. But remember, the plural of anecdote is not data.

Anyway, as has been pointed out, we won't have much choice soon. The CRTs are already very uncommon, and HDMI has ensured that the ones that are available won't be useful for that much longer.

[#25 posted by Anonymous , December 16, 2008 7:26 AM]

The moment my face went from smile to frown was when the person started calling for his mom and tapping on the TV. I got the feeling that he really felt terrible/panicky, and that makes my heart break. If it were a punky kid trying to show off, I could laugh at him. But someone who is just trying to have fun and all of a sudden has a crushing panic attack? No. Not funny.

[#26 posted by nixiebunny , December 16, 2008 8:02 AM]

LCD televisions could be made just as sturdy in the face as CRTs. A CRT has a thick piece of glass glued to the face to protect the user from implosion of the screen if broken. It wouldn't be difficult for the LCD maker to put a similar piece of glass in front of the LCD.

They just have no financial or regulatory incentive to do it, since death by Wii only results in death to the LCD, not to the user.

[#27 posted by igpajo , December 16, 2008 8:17 AM]

Now you can have your LCD TV and a Wii, and not have to worry about loose Wiimotes.

And it sounds like at least one manufacturer of flat screens is making their screens impact resistant.

[#28 posted by Anonymous , December 16, 2008 8:38 AM]

The worst part is that you can hear him get that strike.

[#29 posted by Brent Housen , December 16, 2008 9:32 AM]

Poor guy. This video makes me feel awful. I would hate for that to happen to anyone. At least theres the chance that it is fake.

[#30 posted by jathomas , December 16, 2008 9:59 AM]

"Poor guy. This video makes me feel awful. I would hate for that to happen to anyone. At least theres the chance that it is fake."

This comment... and most of the other ones, is why I love Boing-Boing. Once in a while I'll look at a video, read the comments here, then go to the source and read the comments THERE.

"YOMAMA 37 Minutes Ago its a plasma screen right so i think that the glas is not broken..."

"9o47 1:52 am This is one of the worse fakes, you can clearly see the 'smash' is just an image on the screen."

"Slippa Shakur 11:45 pm Thats what you get for getting too emotional with your WII, god damn retard."

Boing-Boing readers... so many of you are just so awesome, sweet and amazing. There is a culture here that I really hope doesn't go away. I love you.

[#31 posted by dofnup , December 17, 2008 2:14 PM]

Boy am I glad we:

a) use the straps on our Wiimotes
b) have the LCD hanging from the wall, slightly above eye level
c) have a piece of IKEA furniture under the TV, not letting us get that close to it

If for whatever reason our Wiimote went flying, the odds of it actually striking our TV is pretty close to nil.