Warning: Smash Bros Doesn't Work on all Nintendo Wii Consoles

One of the hottest Nintendo Wii game releases so far this year, Super Smash Bros Brawl (released over the weekend), only has one significant downside - it may not work on your Nintendo Wii game console hardware.

Nintendo says "a very small percentage" of Wii game consoles will have trouble reading the Smash Bros game. That's because, as Nintendo reports on its support pages, the games comes on a double-layered disc.

Nintendo explains: "Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive. Nintendo has specialized cleaning equipment that can resolve this problem. (Please do NOT attempt to clean the lens yourself, as you may damage the system.)"

Get the Free Fix

Nintendo says it is looking to rectify the problem at no cost to Nintendo Wii users. If you experience any problems with your Wii not reading the Smash Bros disc, you can fill out a repair form on Nintendo's Web site here. The bad news is you will have to send your Wii away to Nintendo for repairs. The bad good is Nintendo says the repairs won't cost you a dime.

I Got Lucky

I stood in line at my local videogame store at 10 p.m. Sunday so that I could pick up my copy of the game at midnight. There were at least 80 other people waiting in line with me. I can't even imagine how upset any one of us would be if after all of that waiting we got home and the game didn't work.

Unfortunately it looks like from posts on the Web that was exactly what some people experienced.

This is a terrible mishap on Nintendo's part, especially since Smash Bros is such a hot title. But credit should be given to Nintendo for at least stepping up to the problem right away and offering a free fix.

Comments

That's incredibly lame. And so what if they are fixing the problem for free? That's a no brainer. Imagine the outcry if they didn't.

At any rate it's not just Nintendo. Microsoft and Sony's game systems have issues too. Guess it's the nature of the beast. I just figured since the Wii is using older, more widely tested hardware than the 360 or PS3 that it would have less problems, but apparently not.

Izabael

March 10, 2008

10:58 AM PT

If the worst problem that the Wii ever has with its hardware is a dirty lens then they are leaps and bounds ahead of both PS3 and 360 in reliability.

OrionAntares

March 10, 2008

1:10 PM PT