We should've seen this coming.

The Nintendo Wii is garnering quite the reputation in the online world as a domestic threat.

With motion-sensitive remote in hand, gamers caught up in the excitement of wielding virtual shield and sword have been inflicting damage to TVs, tables and themselves.

But lost amongst the YouTube postings of bloodied knuckles and cracked flat screens is any mention of the unanticipated benefit for gamers' parents: Cleaner rooms.

Jason Tsang, 26, says he and his brother Gary, 23, did a major clean-up in his family's Toronto home so they could have more room to punch and swing.

His mom and dad had been on Tsang's case to clean up for 10 years, the University of Waterloo graduate says.

"I cleaned out my whole basement just so I can optimize the amount of space I use to play," Tsang says. "(The Wii) was sort of the catalyst that did me in."

A wise move by Tsang, and it spared him the self-inflicted pain of 23-year-old Al-Murtaza Ismaili.

While attempting to throw a bullet pass spiral in a game of Madden '07 - the football game of choice - Ismaili's hand and wireless Wiimote connected with a table.

"The problem was that, when you get into the game, your game play area slowly gets smaller," the Brampton resident says. "My hand hit the table, as well as the Wiimote, and I felt a sting in my hand sort of like you get when you hit your funny bone."

Ismaili says he expected he'd eventually hit something. After all, the co-creator of website GridironJunkies.com and his friends had been eagerly awaiting the Wii's release - in fact, they're serious enough about games that they've dreamed up an all-star Madden team populated strictly by stars of old Nintendo games. (Super Mario, for example, plays cornerback.)

"I got overexcited to a point where I didn't really notice where (the table) was anymore," he says.

Both Ismaili and Tsang were among those queued up on Nov. 19 to be among the first to purchase Nintendo's new $279.99-gaming console.

And they are now part of the crowd that's learning the hard way to take seriously Nintendo's pre-game screen-warning: "Make sure there are no people or objects around you that you might bump into while playing."

That includes other players. Ismaili says moments before he hit his hand, he'd been laughing at a friend who caught a vicious forehand in the head while playing Wii tennis.

'I got overexcited to a point where I didn't really notice where (the table) was anymore'
Wii gamer Al-Murtaza Ismaili.

A Google search of Wii injuries calls up pictures and video clips of sliced hands and bloodied knuckles. Zack Lyons, a poster on a message board on 1up.com, revealed that he smacked a friend squarely in the groin while winding up in Wii bowling. Another would-be bowler, Nick Rider, 17, from Winnipeg, reports that in his follow-through he let go of the Wiimote, whose "protective" strap (meant to keep it from flying into friends and property) then guided it to a violent collision with his head.

And yet, as skeptics point out, the carnage is unnecessary. You can play Wii tennis from the comfort of your cushion, serving and volleying with a flick of your wrist.

But gamers say once the Wiimote's strapped on, it's next to impossible not to want to take a full swing. "You can flick your wrist, but you really want to get into the game," says Tsang.

So, the stories of friends smacking each other while playing Wii tennis are bound to continue.

And if you don't get socked in real life, the effort can still leave you winded. Ismaili says his brother and a friend collapsed onto a couch, exhausted, a minute into a round of Wii boxing.

"The Wii gives you one good workout," says Ismaili. "Both guys were sore the next day."

The soreness and joint pain has become common enough that gamers have coined the term "Wii elbow." But could the system also spawn the Wii personal trainer?

Jason Gee, fitness director of Personal Fitness Consulting, is giving some free advice - stretch your arms before playing and take it easy, especially if you don't usually do physical activity.

"You should watch how many times you are stroking or swinging at the ball," he says. "If you feel something acting up, take a break."

Nintendo also reminds users to take a 10- to 15-minute break from play every hour to avoid repetitive motion injuries.

Personal damages aside, the Wiimote has proven to be a force for home décor to reckon with, if you believe the pictures on the Web of cracked television sets and family photos.

Some players say their palms got sweaty and they lost their grip on the Wiimote. Others claim the strap broke.

Joytech Europe Ltd. is trying to cash in on this with Wii gloves, similar to the accessories for the iPod.

And then there's the danger of heart failure.

Nintendo warns that the Wii console and Wiimote may emit radio waves that can affect the operation of nearby electronics, including cardiac pacemakers. It advises to not operate the Wii console or remote within nine inches of a pacemaker.

"I would personally not get my neck in a twist about this," says Dr. Paul Dorian, director of the pacemaker clinic at St. Michael's Hospital, in Toronto, who notes pacemakers are usually shielded against radio waves, although "theoretically, this could happen."