Working out on the Wii Fit or EA Sports Active burns calories.  Lots and lots of calories.  Fat calories.  You are Fatty McGee!  But here recently things have gotten a little hotter with your scorching white hot Nintendo consoles.

Griffin International has just recalled about 220,000 Wii battery recharge stations due to fire and burn hazards.  These units are very common in the Wii gaming community, hell even I have one.  The product in question is the Psyclone Essentials and React Wii 4-dock charging station.  All of this recall stuff ultimately reminds me of the scene in Fight Club where Edward Norton spells out what it is he actually does for a job.  He is an inspector for the insurance company that determines whether or not there needs to be a recall using a simple mathematical formula:

Take the number of Wii recharge stations in the field (A), multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B), then multiply the result by the average out-of-court settlement (C).  A times B times C equals X….. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don’t do one.

Apparently Griffin did the math on this, and found that there was a bigger risk of the recharge unit overheating the battery pack, posing a burn or fire hazard to the consumer.  So far six incidents have been reported of overheating, and two of actual burns to the hands. OUCH!

The two model numbers to look out for are the Psyclone (PSE6501) and React (RT530) units.  The model numbers can be found on the underside of the charging stand.  I will have to go home and check mine out as well to make sure it’s not this one.  I’m pretty sure it’s a Griffin but it’s only a dual charging station, not the 4-port unit.  It’s been so long since I have actually checked to see what model my Wii charging stations are that I don’t even remember.  That’s pretty bad.  I should be getting around to hooking up my Wii in the new house soon, so I might be getting a free replacement from Griffin.

If you have one of these Wii recharge stations please stop using it immediately and contact Griffin for a free replacement unit that won’t scorch your face off or burn your hands into small nubbies.  Contact Griffin International toll free at 888-344-4702 from 9 a.m. to 5pm Central Time Monday – Friday, email: productsafety@psyclonegamer.com, or visit the website www.psyclonegamer.com/Wii4Dock.  It would be really funny if you called Griffin around 7:30pm or 8pm on a weekday just as they were sitting down to dinner, although it’s probably not wise.  You do want that replacement unit don’t you?