Nintendo: if your Wii Remote has been bad, give it a spanking

Is your game console in need of some serious discipline? Here’s a tip from Nintendo on how to fix a “frozen” Wii Remote.

GeekDad got the kids a Wii for Christmas. While playing with their new console, they had a Wii Remote stop responding to motion. After some troubleshooting, he called Nintendo customer service for a solution and received a surprising fix. This is how it went down:

Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “Okay – I want you to take the remote, button side down and smack it into the palm of your hand two or three times.”
Russ: “You’ve got to be kidding”
Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “No sir, do it hard enough that I can hear it across the phone line but not hard enough to damage the remote”
Russ: “You’re sure?”
Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: “Yes, sir.”

Believe it or not, this works. This is the first I’ve heard of a Wii Remote needing some physical attention, but it sounds like Nintendo customer support is aware of this potential problem.

What about you? Has your Wii Remote been a bad, bad boy? Have you ever had to spank it?