Some Wii remote charge stations were getting a bit more of a jolt than they needed, injuring two consumers and prompting a nationwide recall.
Distributor Griffin International, along with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, voluntarily recalled 200,000 of the third-party recharge stations. Nintendo does not seem to be involved, as it's not their product.
The 4-dock recharge stations were being sold at Best Buy under the name React, and at Target, Toys R Us and Amazon.com under the name Psyclone. A notice from the CPSC says six incidents of overheating were reported, and two people suffered minor burns to the hand.
Owners of these stations should stop using them, obviously, and contact Griffin International through the means provided at CPSC's Web site. The CPSC is encouraging people to report other incidents as they occur.
I'm kind of surprised by the industry that's popped up to provide Wii remote rechargers. Check out the search results from Amazon and you'll see lots of docking stations from no-name companies. Nintendo doesn't make an official solution, which has led to third-party products of inferior quality, as evidenced by this recall.
More importantly, Wii remotes run on batteries, and in my experience regular rechargeables work just fine. I'd much rather use the batteries and recharger that I already own and use for digital cameras than spend between $20 and $50 for a battery pack and docking station that can't be used in any other way.
I'm only more inclined to keep doing this if I know some of these obscure docking stations could cause an injury.
