A law firm known as Green Welling LLP has petitioned for a class action lawsuit against Nintendo for what they are calling "the defective nature of the Nintendo Wii." It will be up to a judge to decide whether or not this lawsuit will move forward.

"Green Welling LLP filed a nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of the owners of the Nintendo Wii against Nintendo of America, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The class action lawsuit arose as result of the defective nature of the Nintendo Wii. In particular, the Nintendo Wii game console includes a remote and a wrist strap for the remote. Owners of the Nintendo Wii reported that when they used the Nintendo remote and wrist strap, as instructed by the material that accompanied the Wii console, the wrist strap broke and caused the remote to leave the user's hand. Nintendo's failure to include a remote that is free from defects is in breach of Nintendo's own product warranty.

The class action lawsuit seeks to enjoin Nintendo from continuing its unfair or deceptive business practices as it relates to the Nintendo Wii. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction that requires Nintendo to correct the defect in the Wii remote and to provide a refund to the purchaser or to replace the defective Wii remote with a Wii remote that functions as it is warranted and intended."

Those of you familiar with class action lawsuits will remember that the plaintiffs in these cases usually receives approximately ten cents per person while the lawyers will receive a healthy percentage of the total settlement. Personally this seems like an attack on Santa's Elves, and it's fairly distressing. Why a band of lawyers have decided to take up arms against the beloved toymaker from the Land of the Rising Sun is beyond me. There are a lot hurdles this lawsuit would need to clear before it became a clear threat, but it's something to keep an eye on nonetheless.