Disc errors plague some unlucky Brawlers, Nintendo offers repairs
by Candace Savino 
{ Mar 9th 2008 at 12:30PM }
A number of Wii owners on this side of the globe are reporting problems similar to ones seen in Japan -- disc errors, supposedly caused by dirty laser lenses. Since Smash Bros. is the Wii's first game that's on dual-layered DVD, it's extra sensitive to such problems.
The good news is that Nintendo will fix the problem for you. The bad news is that it might be a few more weeks before you get to play Brawl ... or any Wii game, for that matter.
Nintendo is urging people experiencing this problem to fill in this form and send in their Wiis for repair. They'll be footing the bill for the shipping and repair costs (as they should), so the only thing you'll be losing out on is quality time with your new copy of Brawl.
Are any of you affected by this problem? If so, feel free to rant about it here. Just let it all out.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 12:41PM
It happened to me. I keep a clean house, so I'm not sure how the lens got dirty. Is this problem going to mean that I'm going to have to send the system to Nintendo once a year to get it cleaned? Nice.
Mrblonde @ Mar 9th 2008 12:48PM
Dang bro. Now im worrying about it and things like this, i worry about like alot
Mrblonde @ Mar 9th 2008 12:47PM
I hope I won't be one of those few. Picking it up later
Co @ Mar 9th 2008 2:58PM
Hey i never got ur FC
Mrblonde @ Mar 9th 2008 3:47PM
oh sorry bro. I thought you had. Here ya go dude. I added you so it will sync up when you add me
1156-6139-0267-5943
Mrblonde @ Mar 9th 2008 5:05PM
It works!!
NobleArc, The Lazy Canadian @ Mar 9th 2008 6:54PM
Congrats, man.
Dan Blanchard @ Mar 9th 2008 12:56PM
I'm guessing that those of us who have modchips just to play imports are not going to be eligible for this program. Which sucks, since I'm pretty sure I'll be one of the ones affected (every once in a while Wii Sports just will not read). I wish companies would get over this stupid region coding bs.
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 12:57PM
Why don't you just play by the rules instead of modding (thus voiding any warranty) and then complaining about how it doesn't work?
You want the best of both worlds without any consequences? That's what greed is.
ssuk @ Mar 9th 2008 2:20PM
You voluntarily voided your warranty and knew your warrant would be in void if you fitted the mod chip, so ultimately, this is YOUR fault.
Pie Pants @ Mar 9th 2008 5:50PM
You really have to live in a PAL region and get regularly screwed over by Nintendo's release dates to appreciate why people mod their consoles. :P
THe Shit @ Mar 9th 2008 9:40PM
I have a D2C and it works fine for me
Shogan @ Mar 9th 2008 1:10PM
I got mine home last night from a midnight launch, and it didn't work. I thought, man, *I* get the bad disc out of the bunch! Took it back, swapped it for a new one, and the same problem.
No Brawl or anything else until I can ship my Wii off to Nintendo to 'clean the lens'. Such bullshit. EVERY other game works just fine, but some magical dust on the lens keeps SSBB from even registering? Sounds totally believable!
Screw Nintendo. The issue was obviously known about since they put the repair link up last night before people had started to complain.
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 1:17PM
The repair link has been out since the Japanese release. It's because Brawl is a dual layer DVD format (or something like that, I don't know all the jargon).
Shogan @ Mar 9th 2008 1:31PM
Well it would have been nice to have gotten it 'repaired' before the game launched. A notice or something via the Message Baord would have worked.. they sure don't mind spamming us with that Mii Channel nonsense.
Sisyphus @ Mar 9th 2008 1:37PM
Shogan - Considering that it seems a vast minority of the people are having this problem, who should've gotten it repaired prior to the release?
Shogan @ Mar 9th 2008 1:42PM
It seems to be a known issue with 2006 Wiis. I'm pretty sure it is NOT a dirty lens problem, otherwise they wouldn't foot the bill for so many free repairs. If it's a certain lens type in these units that won't work, wouldn't the serial number help identify these models?
Beanie @ Mar 9th 2008 1:49PM
Well, we should verify that, by, anyone who is having issues, tell us what year they bought their Wii. I'm so nervous now. I bought mine in the middle of '07, so hopefully I'm good.
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 2:33PM
I got mine in October of 2007 and it ran Brawl just fine, no problems. Hope that helps.
sepaar @ Mar 9th 2008 3:26PM
While it's possible that it's a certain lens, it's also possible that it's dust. My wii is a launch unit and Brawl works fine.
vidGuy @ Mar 9th 2008 7:14PM
I tested Brawl in three launch-day Wiis and it worked in every one.
Anticrawl @ Mar 9th 2008 1:36PM
Hrm, wouldn't blasting the little fucker's (Wii) slot drive with CO2 clean out any dust on the lens?
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 1:41PM
That would be what I'd try first before sending it in for repairs. I would make sure I'd do everything that I could think of before sending it in.
mian @ Mar 9th 2008 2:08PM
it depends on how big the particles are and what edges are showing. If it doesn't really present an edge for the compressed air to apply force to, then it's going to stick around.
Rob @ Mar 9th 2008 7:44PM
Thats the stupidest idea I've ever heard. You'll probably off-seat your lens.
Anticrawl @ Mar 9th 2008 10:48PM
You clearly don't know how disc drives work Rob, your an idiot. Worked fine for me.
Wiitard @ Mar 9th 2008 1:41PM
As I can't get Brawl until it comes to the UK, I'm worrying.
Can you just put a normal CD/DVD lens cleaner into the Wii?
mian @ Mar 9th 2008 2:09PM
How do you plan to apply it? Most people aren't going to want to void their warranty to give it a try.
Brian @ Mar 9th 2008 2:18PM
The wii can not read any other CD/DVD unless it is a wii game!!!!
i thought everyone knew this by now.....
ssuk @ Mar 9th 2008 2:31PM
You could always give it a shot. However, the chances of that working is incredibly low.
Brian @ Mar 9th 2008 2:40PM
@ssuk: "incredibly low"? there is NO CHANCE!
vidGuy @ Mar 9th 2008 5:41PM
Yes, you can. Many people on other boards have said that a normal lens cleaner disc will spin up and clean your lens. It's fixed the problem for a ton of people. Doesn't hurt to try.
Rowdehaj @ Mar 10th 2008 3:50AM
For Heaven's sake, Brian, would you calm down until you actually know what you're shouting about? Even PS3 (blu-ray) games I (when extremely bored) slip into my Wii spin up properly before the little bugger shoves them out.
Ayumin @ Mar 9th 2008 1:50PM
I have a 2007 Wii and with the first time I put my game in the Wii, it loaded up with no problem. However, when I loaded it this morning... DRE OMG... But I kept loading and reloading it and it played. I think I'll just live with the problem until it becomes impossible to play.
ssuk @ Mar 9th 2008 2:35PM
Nintendo Japan gave a hand out about this issue on their website. If you eject the disc, push and hold down the power button until the console shuts down (red light), then power the console back up and insert the disc, it should read the disc.
Other than this, I take it there is no absolute solution to fix the problem, just keep the disc clean and cross your fingers every time you put it in. Or send it off to Nintendo for this 'cleaning'. But Nintendo's RMA isn't the best thing I've encountered... I am European, however... So that may say something about why I get a shitty service...
milk weasel @ Mar 9th 2008 2:00PM
I just moved to a new town on thursday. I had to cancel my preorder where I used to live and try and preorder here, but they wouldn't let me. So now I'm left brawlless for a while. Not to mention I can't get the TV to the right setting for alternate inputs cause they use cheap universal remotes. And once I get into a house I won't have a TV of my own until I buy one, since my roommate had the TV where I used to live.
:(
Wiitard @ Mar 9th 2008 2:07PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEAMYf32Qqs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW1P5hS_t00
Brian @ Mar 9th 2008 2:22PM
In the secound video the guy was using a mod chip. So it is obv that he will get a error.
ssuk @ Mar 9th 2008 2:37PM
Well, no, it's not obvious actually. There has been NO cases so far of games not loading due to mod chips being in games. SSBB is no different, other WiiKey users have booted SSBB fine. It's just luck of the draw if your console boots the game anyway, regardless of hardware modifications.
Mike @ Mar 9th 2008 2:21PM
Nelson:Ha ha!
Macroy @ Mar 9th 2008 2:38PM
I have a Wii from launch, and Brawl loaded fine for me.
Ken @ Mar 9th 2008 2:47PM
Nintendo should make a cleaning kit for the Wii.
It has a DVD drive, I can clean my DVD player and my CD player myself, why not the wii???
And what are users supposed to do, send the Wii to nintendo every time it gets dirty? That not good for the customers and costly for the company.
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 2:53PM
This is the first time this has happened since the console's release. It's the first game that is a dual layer DVD. Something tells me that not many companies are going to be putting that much into their games as Nintendo did with Brawl.
Rob @ Mar 9th 2008 7:44PM
Well, if peoples wiis got dirty in one year, they can easily get dirty again.... Nintendo needs better testing before they release a crappy product. I would have rather smash bros be a 2 disc release.
imbozzy @ Mar 9th 2008 3:36PM
this is weak. happened to me as well. i got mine at launch.
Alaska Nebraska @ Mar 9th 2008 3:37PM
Urgh. What NEEDS to be emphasized is that it should be determined whether your Wii's lens are filthy OR if your disc channel is simply out of date. You WILL get that error if your Wii doesn't update to read dual-layered DVD goodness.
dustfree @ Mar 9th 2008 3:41PM
Wow some bad news regarding the wii? I thought that was impossible. Wasn't the wii like the holy grail of all consoles? Isn't the best thing since sliced bread? Wasn't the wii ment to be a revolution in gaming? We'll if the revolution is a ton of crappy mini game compilations and an innate inability to read dual layered discs due to shoddy design allowing dust to penetrate the disc drive, then I don't really wanna be a part of it. I will stick with my unrevolutionary Xbox 360 or PS3 yes my Xbox may red ring on me but at least my PS3 and 360 wont need cleaning every so often. But anyway I'm amazed at this because I thought nintendo could do no wrong everything they do is amazing. I hope by the next generation they focus only on the handheld market so I can stop being bombarded with stupid fanboys going on and on about how great the new mario party game is...
Ken @ Mar 9th 2008 3:53PM
Get out of here troll, you are not wellcome.
And FYI you are on Nintendo Wii Fanboy, what did you spected to find here? Go to Xbox Fanboy instead and stop trolling.
Tom @ Mar 9th 2008 3:53PM
After 6 months of inactivity you come back with this? That's really nice. If you enjoy your systems so much go back to them. I'm not a fanboy of the Wii (I enjoy the system and I do acknowledge the flaws), but to just take a cheap shot because some people are having problems with one game makes you seem petty. I like the 360 and the PS3 as far as gaming, I choose the Wii because of cost and I don't have an HDTV etc... I'm cheap and I wanted a new console, so I went the cheapest route possible.
HellsHammer @ Mar 9th 2008 4:02PM
Just because people claim something is good or revolutionary doesn't mean it's god like.
'Great video game system' and 'completely and underly impervious' are two different things, moron.