You wouldn’t think playing computer games was a very physical sport, but the
American arm of the Japanese company Nintendo is now providing protective gear
for its users. Owners of the Nintendo 64 game “Mario Party” have been
complaining of blisters, cuts and other hand injuries caused by rotating the
grooved joystick with the flat of their palms during the game. So Nintendo has
issued fingerless padded gloves—four per household—at a total cost
of $80 million. The company finally decided to act following a finding by
the US Attorney General that the joysticks can indeed cause injury.
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