Last night, we got word of Nintendo announcing the new Wii Remote Jacket accessory that will be shipped with all future Wii Remotes and are available to current Wii owners (as stated, orders start today, jackets will be shipped in two weeks). Of course, shipping these remote covers for free to current Wii owners worldwide and including them with all future remotes without an increase in price means that Nintendo will spend a significant amount of money to do so.
Japanese newspaper Asahi reports that the move, put in place as a safety precaution, could cost Nintendo over two billion yen initially (US$18 million) with twenty million jackets to start. In the long run, the Wii Remote Jackets are not expected to have any sort of effect on Nintendo’s net income.
