Source: The Mario-centric forums on Gonintendo.com and play-nintendo.com.

　　The official story: Nintendo had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

　　What we heard: Earlier this month, the mainstream media was rife with reports of wrist straps for the so-called "Wiimote" being snapped en masse. In dozens of alleged incidents, the motion-sensing controllers slipped from overeager players' sweaty hands with such force that the safety wrist straps snapped. The resulting injuries and broken televisions led to the inevitable legal action and parody T-shirts.

　　Following an investigation, Nintendo offered to replace any broken controller straps with a new, supposedly more robust version. Now, according to reports from two popular Nintendo blogs, the company has released a third, even sturdier controller strap to prevent any more potentially litigious mishaps.

　　Nintendo's silence makes it difficult to officially determine whether or not a third Wii Remote strap was even released. Pictures on both blogs, though, show a new strap with a thicker cord that ties to the controller. The adjustable loop, attached with a rounder plastic clasp, is even smaller than that of the second strap, which was reportedly one-third the length of the original's.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Looking not bogus--hopefully the third time will be the charm.