Report: Chinese Kids Were Used to Manufacture the Wii U

Kotaku - Excited for the upcoming November release of the Wii U? New reports out of China might curb that enthusiasm. These reports claim that some underage teens were used to assemble the Nintendo Wii U consoles.

[nrvalleytime]

Kids are baby goats.

Teenagers are young adults. Underage teens are known as children.

Grammar check - over. Sorry... it's a problem of mine. OCD.

OT: if true, this is disgusting news. The possibility of this happening always exists when production is outsourced to countries with relaxed labor laws.

[Tired]

Kids:
adjective
noun
1.
Informal . a child or young person.
2.
(used as a familiar form of address.)
3.
a young goat.
4.
leather made from the skin of a kid or goat, used in making shoes and gloves.
5.
a glove made from this leather.

Pedant:
noun
1.
a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning.
2.
a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.
3.
a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.
4.
Obsolete . a schoolmaster.

[DeadlyFire]

This says kids were used to make the WiiU. So that means every WiiU has a young Chinese citizen in it. Global invasion plan. Better watch out.

[Fez]

Curb your OCD... this story is about baby chinese goats learning how to manufacture next gen system... be afraid.

[ElectricKaibutsu]

Kid also means child. For example: kidnapping.

That Foxconn. Well now that they've been outed hopefully they won't get away with it anymore.

[DarkHeroZX]

Actually Kid just mean't "baby or young goat" at one time. Kid meaning child(human) is the same as gay meaning "homosexual" now then when it just use to mean happy or when virgin just use to mean "young or new."

[DarkHeroZX]

I guess you could say kidnapping in actuality means goat napping.

[WetN00dle69]

Well thats not good. Something tells me the first batch of systems will be faulty. Ill wait till sometime after the Holidays to try and get my hands on a WiiU system.

[Chidori]

Ugggh something about your comment isn't right dude. You think the systems will be faulty because a kid assembled it....Well If true, I doubt they had the kids responsible for the important stuff. They're kids after all. If you read the article, there's a kid that was interviewed that apparently did some work at the factory. He said they had him doing transport work. So if they do in fact have teenagers working at these factory's, I'm sure the majority of them would be doing transport work.

It's quite horrible though. Work all night for your extra credit or you're gonna be kicked out of school? That's just messed up.

[Tired]

You guys know that they will be working on things like an assembly line.

It's not like a mechanic fixing your car. They don't have carte blanche to be let loose with the hardware.

It's place object A into hole B.
Rinse, lather and repeat. Ad neauseum.

If you boycotted things because of child labour, for fear of things not working, you wouldn't be able to use much of what has come out of China/India or actually anywhere the western world sends it's expensive items to be done on the cheap.

You wouldn't be able to wear pretty much ANY branded item of clothing either.

Just because most western 14 yr old can't wipe their own arses without assistance, doesn't mean others can't.

America is well below average in International Education League Tables. Whilst China is above average. The U.K slipped to average.

The workers from China are far more likely to far better equipped for the job.

In fact, buying a console made in China by 14 yr olds, could well be better than buying a console built and made in your home country by adults.
Considering the level of education your typical 'factory assembly line' worker has...none.

The arguement is whether or not children should be working in factory condidtions.

It'll have ZERO impact on the finished product either way.

[WetN00dle69]

No one knows their situation. Some of these kids WORK these types of jobs just so they can support their families. Yes its quite bad how they force them to work overtime for a meager penny. BUT ill tell you this much, better to win a meager penny the right way rather than having them in the streets working for the Triads or selling themselves. And note that some of these kids become the bread winners at an early age. Some of you see this as a bad thing. It actually is since they are being forced to work overtime BUT there is still some good in this. Which ive already stated the reasons why its also a good thing.

[Godmars290]

Nice to know where your priorities are.

No fu*king idea where to find your morals however...

[MariaHelFutura]

As long as you demand the cheapest prices for things that should not be cheap to manufacture, this will always be a problem.

[fourtwenty2009]

$350 is cheap?

[MariaHelFutura]

For a tablet and a system. Yes.

[cervantes99]

Yes $350 is cheap. If you think otherwise then your in the wrong hobby.

[1upgamer99]

$350 is cheap, considering the PS3 is how old? Selling for how much? The $350 bundle is the "deluxe". Now as for the kids working in factory's. It is wrong, but I don't feel that it is Nintendo's fault. This is clearly the fault of the factory. Thank God it was not Children doing the work. I mean here in the states you can work at age 15, with a work permit. Why they would single out Nintendo is beyond me. It is not like the Wii U is all these kids worked on. If you are truly concerned about this topic. Next time you are at Wal-Mart look at your labels and think before you buy.

[Benjamminkno]

Apple is doing it, not to legitimize the practice, but people demand cheap consumption. I doubt Nintendo had Wii U assembled by a bunch of adolescents. Wal-Mart's products are almost exclusively child labor, but people still shop there. We're Americans, we're all looking for the best deal at any cost.

[SonyNGP]

Nintendo is a sick and disgusting company for forcing children to manufa-

What's that? Foxconn manufactured their products alongside other major hardware companies like Sony, Samsung, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, HP and Acer?

The stuff that goes down there is rather unsettling...

[MacDonagh]

Yeah. What is the true price for all those gadgets I wonder?

[Neonridr]

Seriously, don't paint Nintendo the bad guys here. They hired a company to manufacture their consoles. What that company does is beyond Nintendo's control. Sure, Nintendo could look to another company to assemble its products, but I highly doubt this is the first time something like this has come up.

[Hufandpuf]

Burger King hires a farm to produce the beef for their burgers. The farm mistreats their animals and some die from malnourishment.

That's not Burger King's fault for not checking up on their product?

[Neonridr]

Nintendo can't tell another company who it hires to build its machines. Its only option is to outsource to another company. Obviously money plays a part in a companies decision to choose one contract over another, not ethics as we would all like it to be. Child labour seems to flourish in those countries unfortunately.

It's a problem that affects more companies than just Nintendo (Apple, Microsft, Sony, etc)

[bub16]

find something these days that isnt made by kids or people slaving their asses off in a factory doing 16 hours shifts so they can bring a loaf of bread home to their family, were all quick to jump down companies throats but no one makes an effort to stop them, we support them by buying the products they make...

[Jadedz]

Things definitely need to change.

[mcstorm]

You are spot on. But then the flip side if the WiiU was made here in the UK or USA the price would be double what it is now and then people would complain about the price being to high.

We need to stop the slave labour but I don't see it going away any time soon as its been here as long as we can go back and it will still be here after or gran kids kids have kids.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

Well child Labor is a tough subject. There are a lot of variables that need to be looked at as well as laws and regulations of other countries.

Generally child Labor is where a child is exploited by a company who has to work for an extremely low wage due to their families economical position within the countries standard of livings.

We can point fingers at countries who are the usual suspects but then what about right at home?

How much do kids get these days for being a paper boy? Large newspaper corporations that make millions and millions of dollars for their newspapers while they pay kids nickles and dimes per each paper. If my family had been poor and I had to work, I could simply argue that a paper route for a kid is a form of child Labor simply because it puts a child at risk for an extremely low paying job. Going around to strangers homes, loose dogs etc...

We associate Child Labor to rusty old factories with heavy machinery where lines upon lines of workers sit hunched over a white sweat stained metal table. We need to open our eyes and see that corporations are not just outsourcing to other countries to get kids to do their dirty work in generating millions of dollars of revenue while they pay children little to nothing for their hard work and efforts.

When it comes to other countries, it's also very difficult for any other country to dictate to them what is right and what is wrong.

We also have to consider that families in poor financial situations...and I am talking sever poverty, needs to live, and as a family they have the choice to either accept poor wages for hard work or come up with an alternative way of making money to live...unfortunately theses other decisions that they may make lean more to the illegal and unlawful ways of life.

If you are familiar with Gypsies in the Romania, you will see what these poor kids are put through living a life a crime FORCED by their parents.

I HIGHLY recommend you watch this episode. It shows just how poor and sad these kids have to learn the ways of street living to how unbelievably rich they can become with nothing more then just stealing their whole lives.

http://www.cbc.ca/documenta...

It's a tough world we live in as a child depending on what cards you were dealt with in the game of life. Do you make an honest living by being a child taken advantage of by ugly corporations or do you choose NOT to be a mindless sheep and go out making money illegally.

Many times....the choice isn't even that of the child, but forced by the parents.

[fourtwenty2009]

Clearly Nintendo has not heard of my 'no kids touch my Wii U' policy.

I demand a Wii U certified as handled only by adults.

[pennywhyz]

Apple does the same shit.

[R6ex]

... except that it is worse.

[AO1JMM]

Nope I am still excited for the WiiU. This is not surprising considering it is China.

[esemce]

The rich exploit the poor to get richer, sadly that's how it will always be and China, India and Africa still use child and borderline slave labor. It's a sick world indeed for the have nots.

[shackdaddy]

Um. Apple, Microsoft, and most of the big name companies use Foxconn. Don't just single out Nintendo...

[mamotte]

I'm pretty sure everything we buy "Made in China" is manufactured by kids. We just dont get to know that fact.

[cleft5]

This is sad, but the real question is whether or not Nintendo had confirmed knowledge that children where working in these factories in any way? Somehow I highly doubt it, just because of the potential PR nightmare this could have for them with the release of the WiiU so close. Another sad reality is that any factory that did this will end up getting closed down putting a lot of legitimate Chinese workers out of work.

[Summons75]

well they could be out doing drugs, stealing, killing, getting sucked into terrible circles. At least they are doing something productive.

[yewles1]

If true, the fault lies not with Nintendo, but with Foxconn. You have to realize the companies that give out these kinds of assignments to manufacturers, whether it be giving out contracts to sign or whatnot, don't always know what really goes on behind such closed doors.

Otherwise, someone mean can come into these comments going "DUURRR!!! DISS EXPLAINS WHY IT ONLY COSTSTSTS $180 DOLLORS 2 MAEK!!!!!"

[Animal Mutha 76]

Well thats the seedy side of capitalism for you.

If its not children making it then we know that we ALL own something that was made by exploited labour somewhere in the world.

The rich will always exploit the poor and the big companies will always produce where it cheapest to do so.

I can't be a hypocrite and condem these practices because I own many devices which were made in the far east and bought them knowing that this kind of thing goes on.

So as I'm part of the problem I would like to take this opportunity to thank the children and underpaid, overworked and exploited workers of the world for my lovely xbox,laptop,iphone,ipad,ps3,tv 's,cinema system,alarm clock, shoes, toys for my daughter, and no doubt many other things produced in sweatshops.

Your hard work is appreciated but the only way things will change for you is if you lobby your governments for better conditions. I could stop buying these goods in protest but in all reality - I won't.

[ChunkyLover53]

That is terrible if true, but once again it'd be ignorant to speculate without some actual facts to back it up. I also wouldn't put blame on Nintendo, they seem like a company on the up and up. Foxcon would be where I'd put the blame, billion dollar corporations wouldn't risk the backlash to save a few dollars.

*Edit*
@ gamingGod123
If you think I'd trust Google over any other source, you'd be mistaken. You can find some "facts" supporting just about anything using Google.

[N6]

Don't knock the Chinese hustle. You gotta get yours, I gotta get mine...&they gotta get theirs. This is no Kathie Lee Wii U manufacturing situation.

[ALLWRONG]

Welcome to the world of electronics. Chances are, the device everyone is using now to comment, made in china. Some of them made using child labor.

[Enigma_2099]

Blame China, not Nintendo. I hear it's kinda f***** up over there.

[YoungPlex]

Man, almost everything I own is probably made by Chinese or Mexican children! From my Flat-screen down to my shoes, what am I supposed to do? It sucks that this is the way the world is but honestly what can we do?

Nintendo should however look into another company in assembling the Wii U before this gets blown out of proportion but, to be completely honest, the Chinese government should step in and do something about these labor laws. It really isn't Nintendo's problem but if they are aware of the child labor conditions they should do something or leave.

[stuntman_mike]

I'm surprised these chinese kids have time to make the wii u, especially when thier busy making trainers, stitching clothes, making handbags, making jewllery, making kitchen appliances and TV's.

[wiiulee]

lol...thats news...although i dont support that....nintendo is not setting a trend, this has been going on

[AO1JMM]

Still buying a WiiU

[CaptainN]

Its funny in this country we bi+ch about child labor and kids working ....yet in China they have enough jobs to actually use kids lol. How about some jobs here in USA !!!