Could the Wii’s Dirty Lens be a Filthy Lie?

Wii hardware issues

Shortly after the launch of Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii, reports began to surface that a small, yet noticeable number of people were getting disc-read errors and were unable to play one of the most anticipated titles of the year. Last month in Japan, Nintendo said that this was caused by a dirty lens inside the console, but could there be more to it?

Nintendo’s official statement claimed that because Brawl uses a double-layer disc, bits of dirt on the Wii’s lens prevent the disc from being read properly; on a single layer disc the dirt is in a small enough quantity not to cause trouble. Nintendo said that if you get this error, they will fix it for you free of charge and pay for you to ship it to them.

This all seemed rather plausible and everybody was happy. Until it was pointed out there are a few, rather large flaws in Nintendo’s statement. Firstly, why do you need to have your Wii sent of to Nintendo, just to have the lens cleaned? If it’s just a simple bit of dirt, wouldn’t a CD lens cleaner do just as good a job?

Secondly, won’t the discs just get dirty again? Simply cleaning it once isn’t going to stop the same thing from happening again. The only way to get a better result is to change something else inside the console. If this is the case, won’t it have to be done to all Wiis?

Finally, and this is the real blow, some people have reported getting this error with brand new Wii consoles and using brand new discs. If this is a dirt issue, is it really likely that a brand new Wii is dirty enough to not work correctly?

So, this leaves the question: could Nintendo be lying and actually trying to cover up some kind of hardware issue? Or is there genuinely an innocent reason for this slightly implausible excuse? Either way, at this moment in time all reports seem to indicate the issues are with a very small portion of consoles, so don’t let that distract you from your final smashes just yet.

Source: Destructoid

Please Recommend RipTen on Facebook

  • rijahs

    Hey, nice thinking that this could be a Wii problem rather than a dirt problem.. Yes, it is true that Nintendo, or rather any other company, let it be Microsoft or Sony, will not ask the user to send back the machine just for cleaning the drive..

    I am sure Nintendo should have a local vendor who should be able to support small and simple issues like this at least for a one year warranty time rather than asking the user to send the machine to Nintendo itself..? Sounds very strange though…

  • Drew

    While I haven’t picked up a copy of Brawl yet, I had disc read errors the very first night I had my Wii. Even the standard copy of Wii Sports, I had to pull the disc out twice and blow into the slot. I kinda look at it as a throwback to the old nintendo ways of getting a game to start.

  • ngagej

    good analyzation!

    yes same thing happened to me the verry first time I played wii sport i had a disk error.. but after 3 days when i played it. It just run again without any problem… your analyzation is somehow true. they may have some hardware issues with it.

    enjoy wiiiiii!!

  • http://www.21tvgame.com peggy

    we sell all kinds of game parts for ps2.ps3.wii,.xbox.xbox360 etc,
    e-mail:yuexiang01@yahoo.cn
    msn:webmaster-21tvgame01@hotmail.com

  • Atmosck

    I didn't have this problem when i first got my wii, and the handful of launch titles i bought ran just fine. But when i got brawl, not only did it have the problem, but i started getting it with Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam and Guitar Hero 3.

  • http://www.yogibotanicals.com organic spices

    I am sure Nintendo should have a local vendor who should be able to support small and simple issues like this at least for a one year warranty time rather than asking the user to send the machine to Nintendo itself..?

  • vette 6582

    i heard the wii console needed a new lense that could only be installed by nintendo…this problem has been kept a secret till now…i think that the old lens and software needed to read the disk needed to be changed….they probably didnt expect this problem till complaints came in. for example,the start of 2010 showed no consoles available at any store in U.S. it was thought that production was stopped to change lense and software in over 20000 console made for 2010……..specialized cleaning equipment my butt !!!!!!!!!! i rest my case[for now !!!!] p.s.- I dont expect them to admit it,but i have a feeling we are not getting the truth…