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Wal-Mart's Terrible Nintendo Wii Knock-Offs
MaryAlan writes "Wal-Mart is now selling an electronic LCD game in the kid's section that resembles a Wiimote so closely that even Wal-Mart employees can't tell them apart in a picture. But the games — made by ToyQuest out of L.A. — are complete and utter crap, to the point of being unplayable. Their only redeeming feature is that they look like the Nintendo Wii, which means Wal-Mart is relying on brand confusion to sell any of these things to unsuspecting customers. There is a gallery of photos online, so you can take a look at side-by-side pictures with a true Wiimote, down to the fake speaker on the front. "
Unless the promotional materials (such as the packaging of the toy) refer to it as a device for your Wii, how is selling this unethical? The photo gallery (not article, as there was none) only showed pictures of the toy out of the box. There was no mention of a deceptive box, only a statement that, "hey look, this toy is designed to look like a wiimote. And the toy sucks."
Is it also unethical to sell squirt guns on the basis that they are (or were, anyways) designed to look like guns, except instead of using gun powder to propel bullets, they shoot water? If you look at the box before you buy something, you can save yourself some embarrassment when you have to return it later.
This is a self-contained LCD game, and Wal-Mart has a whole aisle of cheap games like this. It's not with the video games but rather in the toy section with the board games and dolls. Someone in China decided the Wiimote look would distinguish it from the other LCD crap. It's like the Famiclones that look like other popular consoles. If you buy a cheap LCD game and somehow think you've bought a Wii, then you probably needed to do a little more research before leaving the house.
I don't think that are really trying to fool video game players though. I think they are trying to target the parents that have no knowledge about video games aside from seeing a Wii a few times and know that they are popular. I am such a person, and aside from the "Wii" on the bottom of the real controller, would be unable to tell which one was the knockoff. Certainly if someone threw one of the knock offs in my hand, my first thought would be that it was a Wii controller without thinking twice about it. And with Walmart selling these, you only have to fool a small percentage of your customers to sell a whole ton of these things.
Come on... This is wal-mart we're talking about. Who goes to wal-mart to buy *good* stuff? wal-mart is all about large quantities of cheap stuff, end of story. It's a great place to buy cheap or bulk items... I shop there all the time for generic food items and anything disposable that I need in bulk (kleenex, cleaning supplies, etc). If you want to find something really good at wal-mart, you MUST look for the exact name brand and even then you have to carefully check model numbers to make sure you're not getting a cheaper wal-mart only version. You know, the wal-mart equivalent of those crappy dell soundblasters that don't work with anything but dell drivers and which had ultra-cheap and noisy components. I had a drill like that... My Dad had one from Sears and it had a metal body, durable rubberized, grips, etc. The same drill from wal-mart (same model number but with an "a" on the end) had a plastic body and the grip cracked within a week.
The point is, if you're going into wal-mart expecting to get high quality anything, you're either an optimist or a retard and deserve to get what you find there.
Well, just because walmart employees can't tell them apart doesn't mean your average 6 year old can't.
Personally, I have no problem telling them apart and I've only seen a Wii once for about 5 minutes...
Sure this is probably a violation of some intellectual property law or other... but aren't we always complaining about those laws and how stupid and unnecessarily restrictive they are? We defended Lindows and said "you'd have to be an idiot to confuse Lindows with Windows". Personally I'm from the camp of idiocy gets what it deserves. If you're too dumb or ignorant to tell these 2 devices apart, then you deserve to have your money taken. I know my 8 year old brother wouldn't be fooled by the knock off, so why should anyone? Or are we all willing to say that the average adult is dumber than an average 8 year old? And, if that is what we're saying HOW IS THAT OK OR ACCEPTABLE?!?
Damn those cheap foreign knock-offs of quality American designs! Oh wait...
Who cares if some fool is so easily taken by this product. If someone could be so stupid to plunk down their hard-earned cash without understanding what they are paying for in the first place then they should suffer the consequnces. Promoting nannyism to prevent dumb behavior will solve nothing. Idiocy has to hurt or people will never stop being idiots.
Why bother.
no, they won't.
I used to work at a walmart and wow there are some really stupid people there. Most of the people I worked with were complete morons and always had to get help constantly for the same problems over and over. The managers are not much brighter either.
hello
I would imagine that most people who buy this don't honestly think this is a nintendo wii. They think it looks a lot like one, and for kids toys so often that's "enough". The logic is twisted, but if you're a parent who can barely afford the $15 for this toy and your child wants a wii, well, it's a delusion that gets bought into. You can't afford the real thing. You can afford a cheap knock off, and "it's kind of the same thing, right?"
No. It isn't. That doesn't really enter the equasion.
www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
Ok, I hate walmart as much as anyone.
That said, hating them because they don't deal with unions is utter crap. In fact, I think I've actually found a single thing I can respect them for. Yes, they sell cheap crap. Buying from a union shop just ensures you're buying overpriced cheap crap.
You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
Yea it gets you points to bash Walmart on Slashdot.
So why is everybody posting how bad Walmart is for selling this.
ToyQuest out of L.A is the manufacture. So where is the venom for them? Is this a Walmart exclusive? Has anyone checked to see if Sears, Target or those stupid little carts in the middle of every mall is selling them?
I am not a huge Walmart fan but this is so slanted that it is just silly.
Sorry folks it looks sort of like a Wiimote and costs all of $10. I don't think this is anymore of a ripe off than the toy cellphones that look like a Razer.
Good grief.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Far more likely than your utter slam of everyone else in the US (which tells us nothing more than that you think you're better than everyone else) is what the GP said - they're relying on brand confusion and poverty to sell something that looks like a Wii to people who can't afford the real thing and whose kids want a game system. Have you ever been that kid? Ever wondered why Christmas was a big deal in everyone else's house but not yours?
I have, and looking back with a kid of my own, I feel worse for my parents for picking up the knockoff than for myself for getting it. I can't imagine how they felt when they realized it wasn't worth fifty cents and broke the first time I used it. Blame Walmart for targeting desperate parents who want to do something really good for their kids but end up getting cheap crap instead of what they thought they were getting. We can't all be as wonderfully gifted as you, and an eighty hour workweek at a demanding physical job can wreak havoc on a mom who's out doing her last minute shopping.
Think of self-important, critical dickheads like you and realize that while your witty repartee might amuse you for a moment, it doesn't do a goddamn thing to help. Realize that if everyone you meet is "retarded," it may not be them. It may be you.
"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand" - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Union made products cost more because their workers are treated better and are given benefits that places like wal-mart and target avoid. The price difference between Fred Meyer and a Super Wal-mart aren't worth the actual costs to the workers.
Even though there's no Walmart around here (for about 10,000k or so), there are certainly stores that sell crap.
What should annoy everyone is that valuable raw materials are being used to make this crap (often unusable) that shouldn't be made in the first place.
Simple example: I can buy a chinese dustpan on a stick and brush for $2.00. It can't be used though as the pan's edge has been warped during manufacture and it would be pointless trying to use it. There's about 10 of them, lined up, ready for sale.
In other words, some factory in China is pumping out this useless product, some importer/wholesaler is paying for the transport and a distributor sends them out and consumers are supposed to buy it (I don't think the store sold any).
That translates into throwing away oil.
What is needed in situations like this is some kind of authority with enough clout to stop or even prevent material wastage on products that just can't be used.
There should be a form of quality control in the design and manufacture that is definitely missing in certain parts of the world.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
Keep that in mind next time you go to the pharmacist. Or have your brake lines replaced. Or buy meat.
After all, I am strangely colored.
Caveat emptor. People need to take responsibility for their own actions. While it is questionable to make a device that is obviously a knockoff of the Wiimote, it is also wrong to place the blame 100% on Walmart or the manufacturer of the item for a situation in which the buyer did not properly research their purchase. Anyone who has done their research will be able to discern it from the real thing in seconds. The LCD screen should be a dead give away. The fact that it's not advertised or labeled as a Wii controller should be another. And I'm curious as to why the packaging is not shown in any of the photographs. Could it be because the packaging clearly indicates that this is a handheld game and not a Wii controller? Perhaps next time, people should try reading the packaging instead of blindly purchasing something because it "looks" like the right thing. Also, please drop the bantering about how the evil company is exploiting poverty. They (the company) are targeting people who can't be bothered to read the packaging or do research before they make a purchase, not poor people.
Except that isn't actually true. It really depends on more than just unionization. Companies like Costco which pay workers far more than Sam's club don't necessarily end up paying more for workers than those that lowball the wages. I believe that after 5 years on the cash register, an employee at costco is making like 40k a year, while at Sam's club its closer to 15k(or whatever it is that minimum wage comes out to).
What people forget about is that training, lack of company pride and absenteeism are very much a cost of doing business. Shafting an employee by paying minimum wage and no benefits at all, isn't something that is forgotten. Employers that do that kind of thing, especially if they employ people for long terms, can pretty much count on the employees not caring about doing a good job and not being particularly interested in showing up.
By contrast companies that take better care of their employees frequently have reduced turn over and increased productivity which can in many cases more than compensate for a higher rate of pay.
In Walmart's case, the suits that run it are just cheap bastards with little interest in sound business principles. And yes, I do know what I'm saying on this. Walmart's profits were always based upon being able to undercut the competition through and economy of scale, with that disappearing and the rivals largely caught up the regressive employment policies are going to put them in a world of hurt. Not to even mention the municipalities that want to stop subsidizing their benefits or the fact that they are selling products that are less and less difficult to find at affordable prices elsewhere.
As a result of the generally bad attitude that the execs have towards their employees, the employee cost per square foot of retail space is much higher than it is for costco.
Oh, I've heard of a security label. But this didn't have anything like that. It was just a pack of socks. I realized that I had bought the wrong kind. If no one is working the front door, then I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.
---
Rob Flynn
Pidgin
buying from a union shop makes it just about impossible for you to be supporting illegal immigrants working in this country for illegally low wages without paying taxes
If buying from a union shop was a guarantee that you weren't supporting illegal labor, I'd be a lot more inclined to buy union. But it isn't, and in fact quite a few of the unions are involved in legalization schemes because they think all the illegal workers will increase their political clout, if they can get them unionized.
In effect, the union organizations are selling out their rank-and-file (who are the ones who really get hit by the wage depression as a result of all the illegal workers) in order to bring in lots of new members and make themselves more powerful. I've seen this to most obvious effect in the unions that have gotten involved in the service industries, but it's pretty widespread if you look for it. Very few of the unions seemed to be putting up much of a fight when push came to shove earlier this year on the immigration issue.
At least the corporations generally are upfront about screwing you; the union leaders seem to enjoy pretending that they're on the side of legitimate workers while doing the same thing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
That's capitalism for you. Is there really a better alternative? It sure has its flaws, but it's been the best working economic system so far and I doubt that'll change (especially for a communisismesque "quality control" body). You just have to hope that said company will go in the gutter sooner or later.
Besides, I'm sure that an international "quality control" body would just make things too bureaucratic to live with. Sooner or later, we'll have claims of corruption and corporate-influenced monopoly practices in a year or two.
Obey the law? It's a sad commentary on corporate culture that that should have to be specified in a mission statement.
Technically, murder-suicide does not violate the golden rule.
Hey! You know what? Thats good! It shows that the (partially) free market in still at work and doing well. Unions drive up the price of labor (a commodity like entity) and thwart performance. Union employees are asked to provide mediocre labor to keep the work available longer and easier to perform. Its in the union rules most of the time how much work can be performed to prevent overburdonning members. Remember when labor performance incured a reward in the form of a raise? Not if you're unionized you don't remember. Union members make rate. So it doesnt matter how hard you work and your buddy is a slouch you both get paid the same. If a boss tries to fire the slouch the union board steps in and says hey hold on here a minute you cant fire our union member. Remember when bad performanced incured a punishment in the form of dismissal? I doubt you do if you're a union member. Unless labor is priced as a result of supply/demand then it is artificially priced. If there are 2million ppl who can do your job its going to have LOW VALUE. Too bad! Have some ambition and learn some more valuable skills or work longer hours. This is how business men made successful companies. By insisting on unions and government enforced minimum wages you cripple the labor market and all those companies who must now RAISE THE PRICE OF GOODS. As a result higher pay results not in higher buying power but simply INFLATION.
And btw, your health is not the responsibility of your employer or the govt. IT IS YOURS!
1. If the vouchers can be used at religious schools, that obviously raises First Amendment issues.
2. Taking money out of the public school system makes the public schools worse for everyone who chooses to stay in them (or can't afford to switch, or can't get accepted by a private school - see below).
3. The vouchers aren't guaranteed to cover tuition at any private school, which means they may end up as little more than handouts to the rich families who can afford to pay the difference between $voucher and $tuition.
4. Private schools often perform better simply because they can reject "problem" students, or because of factors at home (parents who are involved, proper nutrition, etc.) that vouchers will not address. Requiring private schools to accept all students will drag down their performance; not requiring them to accept all students means the ones who are rejected will have to stay behind in drastically underfunded public schools. Failure/Success is pretty much defined as whatever the parents think it is. Unfortunately for that idea, We The People have decided that a government funded education must fit certain criteria. It isn't acceptable to most voters or taxpayers to have education funds spent on schools that teach that the earth is only 6000 years old, or that the sun revolves around the earth, or that George W. Bush is a shapeshifting lizard, even if a few hundred parents would consider such a school "successful". Thats why the voucher system would be good. It would introduce some sort of feedback into the public school system. There already is some sort of feedback: it's called voting. If your school board isn't doing a good job, throw the bums out!
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And sitting next to this product hanging on the same pegs are handheld versions of tetris, solitaire, yahtzee, an old atari controller with a dozen games in it, some dora and spongebob game controllers as well. as for about the same price as the "imitation wii" game controller. A parent can choose any of those as well. they all work fine and are fun. sorry they are not a wiimote, try electronics buddy. and conveniently on the back of the box are screenshots of the games. i've seen the pastic blisterpack this thing comes in, and the pictures of the games on the back are indeed kind of crappy. so the parent didnt bother to look and see. bummer. maybe they will learn to look before throwing their hard earned money around. but dont worry, even if they made a mistake and hate the game, they have recourse. take it back. 90 day return policy. kept the receipt? awesome! no? hope you atleast kept the box, or are willing to dig it out of the garbage. no receipt or box? take it back anyways, talk to a manager, be calm and nice and tell em what happened. amazing what happens when you try treating them like humans, or neighbors. try it. happy holidays.
1.they pay above minimum wage - sure it's not huge but what do you expect to be paid for stacking boxes?
A living wage you stupid arrogant fuck. The fact that you and I were privileged with a higher education, or the fact that we were born smarter doesn't mean that the mere peasants should all live in poverty.
I have a good job programming computers. That doesn't mean I have any place disrespecting someone else's work. If there is a job that needs to get done, someone deserves to be paid a living wage to do it. If a company cant afford to pay a living wage to do it, it shouldn't get done. Belonging to a society which marginalizes and preys upon it's uneducated and stupid, is disgraceful. And that is exactly what you are doing with "what do you expect to be paid for {insert job here}".
I expect someone to be paid a living wage. A wage that will let them:
1. Pay for housing
2. Buy food
3. Get healthcare
4. Get heat
5. Support a child
6. Have enough time to spend with that child
$20k/year doesn't even buy rent and health insurance. For one person. Let alone someone trying to support a family.
Anyone who treats other people, who talks about other people who are doing useful work, that is necessary, like they are somehow not worthy of those simple things is either not thinking about what they are saying, or to me, mostly a vile person.
I expect a living wage. So should you. Shame on you or anyone modding you up with your hateful rhetoric.
I guess I fully expect others to get a job appropriate to their needs, a stockboys position is clearly not for someone trying to raise a family, you stupid arrogant fuck.
Why the hell should someone be able to support a family on the position of a stockboy?! I would argue these positions are clearly designed for those who are in high school, down on their luck and need cash incoming between jobs, or just plain don't need any more to get by (housewives who need out of the house, househusbands that need out of the house, seniors, etc).
Whats it say about the asshole who irresponsibly started a family well before ready to do so or to stay* in a position that does not allow them to meet the needs of the family? Should we just do away with any pay scales and just start paying people whatever they need to live on? We'd have an entire society trying to flip hamburgers and stocking shelves...
*I use stay because I fully respect that sometimes shit happens and your have to TEMPORARILY take job well below your needs just to have something flowing in... in all actuality if they STAY in the position despite them NEEDING a better job its just laziness.
Whats it say about the asshole who irresponsibly started a family well before ready to do so or to stay* in a position that does not allow them to meet the needs of the family?
Didn't you know that we are ALL responsible for paying for the baybees that ignorant people squirt out because they fuck before thinking?
I disagree. I think you are confusing entitlements and rights. Rights are things other people can't stop you from doing. Entitlements are things other people give you. I'm all for everyone enjoying strong rights, like freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom to organise, etc... I'm against entitlements except for medical care and education. If you think anyone who works deserves more then you are free to give YOUR money to anyone you think needs help.
If you are stacking boxes you deserve a low wage. Stacking boxes should not be any ones career who expects to raise a family, it's a job for students. Running a cash register takes more skill and should pay more, but no one has the right to expect ANY old job to pay enough to support a particular life style.
What people expect has gone way up over the last 50 years. When I was very, very young the 'apartment' my dad rented for his family was an unheated attic (some heat drifted up from downstairs). It was CHEAP, and you could not rent it out today due to regulations. No one thought it odd that a poor family had no car or even a radio, and getting new shoes was a big deal. You could get by on a very low wage. I think it is harder to live on the cheap today due to high taxes, regulations, and much higher expectation as to what a minimal standard of living is. (Dad did work his way up the ladder of success and we were in the attic for only a year.)
If you want a higher wage, learn a skill that pays more. This is where a government provided entitlement to education can help. So why is it better to give out free education instead of just increasing the minimum wage? Increasing the minimum wage often gets people laid off and/or moved into the black market which generally has no benefits and other drawbacks. Not everyone who gets more education, and I mean trades training as well as college, immediately lands a great job, but they do tend to do better over the long term. Education has no draw backs except for high taxes to support it.
Walmart plays hard-ball. They closed a store in Quebec rather than deal with its newly unionized staff, but it is their right to do that. Boycott them if you disagree with their policies.
Anarchists never rule
Regardless of the size of the company, the legal principles should remain the same. Making exceptions because of a sad story is a quick way towards bad law. If there is significant market confusion, it probably should be brought to a court case, never mind who is david and who is goliath.