I wanted to take a few moments to clarify a story that was posted a few days ago, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl errors: More than meets the eye." Written by Ron "I called the Wii nunchuck a Wiichuck" Workman, this post has drawn a lot of ire and even caused a bit of confusion, so I do feel it necessary to clear a few things up.
If anything, Ron's post needs to be viewed as an "investigative" piece, and should not be taken as official information and/or confirmation from Nintendo. In his own words, Ron did some "Matlockery" into the situation that has been arising with Super Smash Bros. Brawl disc errors on the Wii console. In the original article, Ron cites a few unnamed sources as well as some anecdotal evidence to make his point that Nintendo's position regarding "contamination" on the lens may not be the only reason behind these disc errors.
To be clear, Nintendo has not officially gone on record regarding percentages or numbers of users who have experienced Super Smash Bros. Brawl errors in Japan or North America. A spokesperson for Nintendo of America has issued the following statement on the matter:
Nintendo of America has received some reports that a very small number of Wii consoles cannot properly read the dual-layered disc for the new Super Smash Bros. Brawl game. Upon examination, Nintendo has preliminarily determined that this disc-read error is caused by the soiling of the consoles’ optical lens by environmental factors such as excessive dust and cigarette smoke. Nintendo is offering to clean these systems free of charge, and recommends that consumers do not attempt to clean the systems on their own. Information regarding the cleaning service can be found at support.nintendo.com or by calling customer service at 1-800-255-3700.
While I will always back Ron (or any other writer on Destructoid) and his sources, his original article should be viewed as investigative and purely speculative. We're sorry if this has caused any confusion or if it made baby kittens cry.
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I forgive you, Nick.
Ron has to buy me a beer, though. An imported one!
My baby kitten has been bawling ever since that post, the thing won't shut up.
I was getting the same error and I tried turning my Wii up on it's side, and popping the disc in and out a few times. It always works within the first few loads, and I've had it work on two launch Wii's now.
That's only a temporary fix though and if you send it in it's a free repair from Nintendo, with free shipping. If you really want to play Smash now, give it a try before you ship off your Wii.
If the only problem is a dirty lens, then Nintendo should be able to send out a cleaning disc or something to affected peoples.
If the thing needs to be sent in to be cleaned, then perhaps Nintendo needs to physically do some work under the hood...
@ RJG:
This is something Ron brought up in his story, and something Nintendo wouldn't comment on. (Trust me, I tried.)
Ron not safe for journalism Workman does not write his own corrections? Should I still be holding my breath for MGS4 on the 360?
I tried mine upside down and on its back, blowing in the slot and tapping it on the top in various rhythms and sequences, using canned air, playing Melee for an hour to trick it into thinking I was playing Melee again when I loaded Brawl, spinning around in circles, psychoanalyzing it...
Nintendo just sent me an email saying its being worked on at the moment, so I'm being patient... now.
lol @ Rockvillian
Baby kittens! Did you try them?
@ Nick Chester
Thanks for the update, I didn't read the original article.
If Nintendo is skirting the issue, then I guess that's all that needs to be said.
Huh, I don't really see how that could be misconstrued. Well whatever. This whole issue sucks for those it has happened to, but honestly I know quite a few people who have it and it hasn't happened to any of us. I don't see any reason not to believe Nintendo if they say it's an extremely small number of people. Mistakes happen, especially when making a game on this scale.
People misconstruing what Ron said? NO WAI!!!
Shameless plug time: The next episode of Failcast, which should be out later today, has a special segment where we let Mr. Workmeng himself talk about this very issue... CHECK IT OUT
They don't call him PR Nightmare for nothing.
BRAWL IS PERFECT, BAWWWWWWWWWWWW
So the fanboys sent hate mail regarding the article? "ZOMG THE WII IS PERFECT, THERE IS NO DEFECT!!!!111!1"
I hate Nintendo fanboys, they're so out of touch with reality.
@ scottus:
This wasn't really a correction, it was more of a clarification. Ron will admit as much, he's not a journalist ... he's simply Ron Workman. That said, Ron is an extremely intelligent guy who has connections and an insight into this industry that (regardless of how it's presented) shouldn't be entirely ignored.
Also, I have sixteen copies of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the 360 sitting right here on my desk.
ron is so sexy/smart
I always read Ron's posts through a block of cheese. I find it works like a good filter. Try it.
I'm just glad my launch console worked without needing this "cleaning".
So basically you're saying the cblogs are that way ----->
@rockvillain:
You should have used bottled air. Canned air has metal shavings that shred lenses on a molecular level.
Just use compress air people!!!
Bottled air? Compressed air? Maybe I should just go to the top of Mount Fuji with a liter bottle and cap up some air, wary of any wind demons I might catch in the process.
Regardless of what the solution is, I gave in for a refurbished Wii.
unique DVD drive means no cleaning disc. Srykthxbye.
A laser lens cleaner would probably work, but hey! You can't play CDs or DVDs on the Wii. Great work, Nintendo.
I sense a cover up!
My son and myself just got home from Blockbuster with SSBM in hand. I popped it in and....disc read error. My son called Nintendo and they gave him the "dirty lens" rap. They then offered to clean it for "free' on the condition that it was mailed 2nd night air and have the game accompany the console. When we explained the disc was a rental they suggested we go out and buy it.
So much for "free"
Cunts.
Ron's article may be speculative, but it totally adds up. Something's going on here.
God, it needed an editor bad. Can I just say that?
The stupid press release above pretty clearly implies there is a defect. Why would you offer to fix or replace something that isn't defective? Isn't being prone to failure due to dust or smoke after just a few years itself a defect? OMG, YOU SPENT LIKE 5 PARAGRAPHS arguing that it is a defect!
It got Wii-fanboy ire because the whole thing came off as a anti-Wii-fanboy rant, I'm pretty sure. Fanboys are cannibals, they usually only prey on other fanboys. :)
Nintendo is not a company that likes to admit when their Wii system has issues...
I got my first Wii in February of 2007.. after a while it started having these vertical graphical glitches that seemed to get worse daily. I found some YouTube videos of people with the same problem. I called Nintendo and they offered to "fix" my system..
The new one worked (they replaced the whole thing) for a few months, then sure enough, the "new" system started doing the same thing. I called Nintendo and explained I had it replaced once already, and he was all super-defensive when I suggested this was a known problem because this is the 2nd Wii I've owned that this happened to, and I've seen video on YouTube of other people's Wiis that had the same problem. He was all, "THIS ISN'T A KNOWN ISSUE, WE DON'T HAVE THE RED RING OF DEATH LIKE MICROSOFT! THE INTERNET IS JUST A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE GO TO WHINE ABOUT EVERY LITTLE PROBLEM"...
no shit, this is what he told me. After investigating further & asking for my serial # he said that my Wii was "red flagged" to be replaced (ummm, probably because Nintendo knew what the issue was and what consoles had it, but never released any press releases about it... Nintendo tries to keep their problems hush hush)
Anyways, they replaced my Wii again and the new one (3rd times a charm I guess) works fine, and even though they won't admit it, Nintendo knew what was wrong with the other two Wii's and finally fixed the issue.
Point being, Nintendo hides their problems like shameful parents hiding a retarded child they keep in the basement.
"his original article should be viewed as investigative and purely speculative."
Sounds like an oxy-moron to me.
I have a launch day console and I'm experiencing this error. Nintendo will fix it for free, even though it is out of warranty.
This isn't some kind of conspiracy or cover up. Nintendo recognizes that there's a problem, and they're offering to fix it for free, and not denying it or making us wait a year after they've cracked under the pressure (I'm looking at you, Microsoft).
The point is, who really cares what the actual problem is? Nintendo isn't obliged to give us any details and they're doing the right thing. How can anyone fault them for that?
Like I said. Yes it's obvious there are some defective Wii consoles, and they don't want to admit it. Why? Because they fixed the problems, and aren't dragging it out in some retarded half ass revision process like the 360 does.
It is fucking sad that consoles in general are like this these days...
Ron's article was interesting and I think it's message was clear. Those that got upset either read in something that wasn't there or just plain didn't read the article. I'm sad any sort of follow up has to be done to an article that was nothing but thought provoking and fairly presented.
I'm a Ninty fanboy and I thought the article was perfectly fine. The lame-ass comments that were posted in reaction to that article wasn't caused by Nintendo fanboyism as much as it was by "stupid idiots who don't know what the fuck they're talking about."
Goddamn rabid Nintendo fanboys ruin eveything. I think the PS3 fanboys reacted better to the failure of Lair.
Another bad story, eh? I've got some words for Ron after he gave Kane and Lynch 11/10. ;)
Actually it's not hard to believe that Nintendo would try to cover something like this up. If you look at what happened to the Xbox 360 with the RROD, any console maker would want to keep things hush hush. Especially Nintendo, with the kajillions of consoles that they've sold if they had to do a recall, it would probably bankrupt them.