We checked the status of our repair through Nintendo and noticed that the incoming serial number did not match the outgoing serial number. I called Nintendo and they explained that so many parts would need replacing on our Wii that they were sending us a new one. They were going to have to replace the Disc Drive, the Main Board and some other components.
This still left me skeptical. The Wii worked except that it could not read the disc. We could play our downloaded games just fine. So I could see the disc drive being replaced but all the other stuff?
I see this as instead of Nintendo owning up to the fact that old Wiis have trouble playing newer dual later discs, they are just telling people that they can repair them, then send us a new one. This has also happened to a few more people pretty much in the same way(send it in for repair, then they get a new one). While I am not complaning about getting a new Nintendo Wii for $64 but I still would like for Nintendo to own up to what they’ve done and not do this under the covers.
As you probably could guess when we unboxed our new Wii we played Just Dance 3 and Rock Band 3 most of the night, trying to break the system. So far it’s still working. A few more times of playinhg JD3 will let us know if it will continue to work or not.
Our Wii began failing when my wife was playing Just Dance 3. She got it for Christmas and this was the 2nd time she had played it. Since the error occured no disc would work in our Wii. We could play Super Mario Bros 1 that we had downloaded just fine along with any other games, but failed to read and discs. I took the error and began searching the Internet to see if anyone else had the issue and see if there was a quick fix. I then quickly learned that many many people have had this same issue but with a few other games. While we were playing Just Dance 3, the majority were playing Call of Duty Black Ops when it failed while others were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl(all dual later discs). It does not seem like a coincidence that these three games are the ones being played when the consoles fail. If you want to see the numerous threads on this Google “Black Ops Disc Failure”.
I called Nintendo support and talked to someone about this. They would not own up to the fact that these discs are tearing up the Wiis. They keep saying that games cannot tear up the console. They did offer a discount to me but I wanted it fixed for free since I did nothing to tear it up. My wife called back tonight with the serial number and the best they could do was $60 plus tax(included shipping). She asked if that was ok and I thought about it. If we did not have these expensive Rock Band 3 Professional Drums for the Wii I think I would have just sold the Wii games and Wii online and began buying more games for the PS3.
Let me explain how I think a game can tear up a Wii. DVDs have a thickness tolerance when they are made. Too thin and the Player cannot pull it into the console and could possible break while spinning at high rpms, too thick and it could rub the lens. The other idea is that these DVDs are not totally smooth and have bumps on them or some other imperfection. Now I will say that Activision makes the Black Ops game, Ubisoft makes the JD3 and Nintendo makes the Super Smash Bros, but I wonder if they had bought the blank DVDs from the same company. Or maybe on the older Wiis the lens was not set far enough away from the the DVD and when the thickness gets close or exceeds the tolerance it scrubs. Either way explains why some Wiis can play these games fine and others do not.
Either way no one will own up to the errors and Nintendo is making $85 a pop to repair them(unless you haggle with them in which you pay $60). I am not happy with paying to get it fixed, but I want it working.
Posted by Arden Wallace
Although I love my wife with all my heart, she is extremely obnoxious when it comes to planning for a trip. I guess I have to pretend that I’m thankful that she’s so anal, but I feel like the only thing I see for days before a trip are lists. To-do lists have become my least favorite thing in the entire world, and before we go on a trip it gets worse than ever. Passports, cleaning, turn off the air, set the alarm system (which we found a great one through: wireless home security systems), put the dog in doggy day care, etc., etc. I know a ton of guys who say that they do the same thing but don’t have to make those dang lists. I guess that’s the difference between men and women. Men just kind of hope that everything gets done, and if it doesn’t than it’s not the end of the world. If my wife forgets to do one thing, though, she is uptight for days wondering how she can fix it. Oh well- I guess that’s why they say men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, right?
