A few claims are floating around the internet this week examining the theory that the frequency emitted by your Wii will attract cockroaches. That’s right - nasty, vile, cockroaches. And we don’t mean the cockroaches you call friends that come over to scam time on your Wii and eat you out of house and home. We mean the creepy, crawly, insect creatures that many scientists think will one day outlive every life form on Earth.

Where did these allegations of cockroach attraction come from? Japanese online ‘zine BARKS was the first to report the rumor. The story was quickly translated and picked up as the funny science theory du jour by blogs like destructoid and others. The idea that your gaming console could emit the perfect frequency to attract something as disgusting as cockroaches seems to have tickled the funny bone of the online community.

I’m not sure if I believe the theory, but I am sure that it’s been making me chuckle since I first heard it. It gives me visions of the stereotypical gamer, living in a pile of discarded soda cans and pizza boxes, fending off cockroaches while still trying to wield their Wiimotes*. Technology gone wrong, indeed. I think this is going into the annals of urban myth and legend, to be proven wrong by some enterprising gamer/scientist eventually. I wouldn’t be surprised to find another platform behind the rumor, hoping to slow sales of the Wii this shopping holiday season.

*Yes, I am aware the “stereotypical” gamer would be playing a “real” game console, and probably not a Wii.

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