Wii owners today got to see the blue light illuminate their disc drives as Nintendo announced the new Wii Remote Jacket. The accessory is apparently an updated response to the past instances where unsuspecting people and appliances were hit hard by a flying Wii remote after the wrist strap snapped.

In response to the strap incidents Nintendo replaced the original wrist strap with a stronger version, allowing people to swing the Wii remote hard without worries of it flying out of their hand and to hopefully rid the possibility of airborne Wii remotes. The new strap was to replace all new Wii remote wrist straps packaged with the console and the individually sold remotes. For those people who had already bought several Wii remotes, Nintendo created a wrist strap replacement request page where, after filling out a form, Nintendo would send up to four new straps to the customer.

Nintendo is doing the same for the Jacket, which covers the entire Wii remote and provides a large cushion on the front in the case it should fly out of someone's hand. The goal is that the impact should not be nearly as damaging if the remote were to fly. However, the jacket isn't exactly easy on the eyes and could prove too bulky, which seems contrary to the Wii's fluid design.

For those interested in the new Jacket or looking into getting one, you can fill out a Wii Jacket Accessory Form where you can request up to four jackets. Shipping will begin on October 15, 2007.

EDIT: I know GS posted an article on this. However, I posted this 3 hours before the official GS article. No comments on how GS already talked about this please.