Nintendo: 'Very small percentage' of SSBB discs having issues

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been released in the US, but some users are finding that their Wii won't play along; Nintendo promises free fix.

Nintendo fans in North America were likely very happy this weekend, given that Super Smash Bros. Brawl finally came out swinging in the region at the end of last week. The game has been out in Japan since January 31, and has already broken the 1 million sales barrier.

However, a few of those fans saw their joy turn to pain when they took their prized copy of the game home to find that, instead of Mario-versus-Princess Peach brawling, they had the video gaming equivalent of an out-of-skew crossbeam: a "disc read" error.

According to Nintendo, this is because SSBB uses a high-capacity double-layer disc. In a statement on its official US Web site, the company explains, "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."

Those suffering from such issues are asked to fill out a form online and then send their console off to Nintendo, which will clean the laser with its "specialized cleaning equipment" for free.

Gamers are not advised to attempt cleaning the lens themselves, or to return the game to the shop to get another copy of the game. The former is likely to simply cause damage to the system, and the latter will not solve the problem.

327 Comments

  • N790

    Posted Mar 28, 2008 6:55 am PT

    I started with Ike and unlocked Marth and my friend started with Marth and had to unlock Ike...pretty weird....

  • fetusfart18

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    My game disc worked fine last night, and now today there is a scratch circling around the entire diameter of the disc. T_T.

  • GlobalHazard

    Posted Mar 17, 2008 12:59 am PT

    Haha, my friends didn't work. He was so pissed about that. His Wii goes in tomorrow, and I get mine... I bought one, and that was a pain to get a hold of.

  • nestea_king

    Posted Mar 16, 2008 12:27 pm PT

    Mine worked, and it's freakin awesome!!! Well worth the delays thats for sure! But I haven't even HEARD of this problem before, and ALL my friends who have a Wii already own this game.

  • Leon_

    Posted Mar 15, 2008 11:15 pm PT

    My copy worked fine, but i feel bad for the people whose copy didn't work!

  • rockerode

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 3:30 pm PT

    ok for those of u who dont know, it is the very first "batch" of wiis that came out. I no this b/c i sent in my Wii, all it is is the optical lens cannot read it and it will come in in a matter of 5 days. i have gotten it back already and now i have NO PROBLEM and i have every character finally!

  • Inphure

    Posted Mar 14, 2008 8:30 am PT

    Well, mine works fine, but my Wii just makes a funny disc-reading sound. Almost sounds like a very quiet printer. =P

  • fstrunr89

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 3:07 pm PT

    Mine is good. Its nice to see that Nintendo is actually doing something to fix the problem.

  • Nintendo-MSTR

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 3:15 pm PT

    It got delayed 3 months and there's still problems?

  • shotcage

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 2:07 am PT

    send them to psychiatrist

  • rayray345

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:14 pm PT

    That sucks! I freakin love Super Smash Bros. man!

  • SonicX18

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:06 pm PT

    HELL NO!!! i turned my GH3 in and waited 3 weeks...i am not sending this to nintendo and wait 3 weeks without brawl!...they took 2 weeks to process my GH3.

  • RazielTakwan05

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 6:52 pm PT

    'Very small percentage' of SSBB discs having issues'

    Funny, didn't we hear this about a certain console?

  • ace426

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:19 pm PT

    very interesting. ive not had any problems with my wii yet. as a matter of fact, none of my friends who have SSBB have complained about any casualties yet.

  • ghost867

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:14 pm PT

    @nintendog66

    Even if my grammer had a mistake, which I don't believe it did, you would easily be able to read it perfectly fine if you didn't flip and were so quick to type a response. And now he gets all defensive. *Sigh*

  • ddos-attacker

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:05 pm PT

    my friend has ssbb and it works. Just hope if i get it, it will do the same.....

  • luis_aek

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 3:58 pm PT

    My godness, how didn't Nintendo think about that..? If my copy gets error I probably couldn't do anything about it..

  • Yyin9564

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 2:52 pm PT

    my friend's Wii won't play SSBB... but mine does... so i took the high road... and laughed at him until i fell into a coma... infact i'm only typing this thru the powers of astral projection

  • lamprey263

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 2:28 pm PT

    I thought my copy suddenly stopped working 'cause my Wii couldn't read my disc, and freaked out, then I discovered that I loaded the disc in upside down

    say no to drugs

  • Rukario_XD

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 2:07 pm PT

    so glad mine works aswell. as i was coming back home after my purchase with my friend, he told me of this, and it made me woryry

  • legend26

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:14 pm PT

    happy mines works fine

  • evrdayblues

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:53 pm PT

    So... basically in the long term we will not be able to play SSBB...
    since in a few years all our Wii's will be dusty to some degree...
    This is sad

  • hannify

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:02 pm PT

    @ Hvac0120:

    I have all the big 3: 360 elie, ps3 40gb and wii. Never had any problem with 360 and wii. IT is only the PS3 that always crashes and fair enough if it crashed whilst actually doing some intensive work like erm... well anyway - it crashes when i try to add a friend sometimes and stupid stuff lioke that. I mean cmon

  • Sevey13

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 11:54 am PT

    I don't know why you guys keep refering to an "inevitable SSB:4." It's not like Mario Party or the sports game that come out every year. It's been 7 freakin' years since Melee. It will probably be a while.

    @Hvac - most likely the dirty laser was not a manufacturer problem. If the disk (any disk) is dusty going into the system, it will leave residue. That's why you are advised to keep games in their cases and make sure they are muck-free before putting them into the system. I've heard that leaving the game in the system can cause some grime as well, but I don't how that could happen.

  • HavQ-san

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:08 am PT

    Hmm, I imported this about 4 days ago without knowing this.
    I wonder.. I live in Europe, if the 'Disc Read Error' shows up, I can send it to Nintendo, can't I?
    Oh well, hope it works. PS. You know it'll be the same with EU and UK releases, since it's on a DL disc everywhere.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:51 am PT

    I am on my 4th 360. I am on my second Wii. Both consoles have been returned to the manufactures for repairs and all repairs were free because of the malfunctions. Now I have to worry about another possible repair because of a...dirty laser? Wow this generation has some of the best games, but it also has some of the worst hardware. What is going on here? I hear that the PS3 has a 1% failure rate. I hope that's true.

  • jdmb13

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:40 am PT

    5 broken 360's and a freezing wii and a perfect ps3 . what am i doing??!?!

  • sandsharq

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:29 am PT

    This happened to me. I've sent my Wii off to Noa. I should get it back in a week or so.

  • Fridge-Raider posted Mar 11, 2008 8:18 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Fridge-Raider

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:18 am PT (hide)

    My game works like a charm. I pity the people who have the problem cuz that means they lose their wii for as long as nintendo has it and they cant play brawl until they get it back and then can play it a month after they got it. Sucks to be them doesn't it?

  • ThickFreak

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 7:04 am PT

    I'm so happy my copy works. It's a great game.

  • CUDCUD posted Mar 11, 2008 5:46 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    CUDCUD

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:46 am PT (hide)

    Meh

  • raverrozza

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:39 am PT

    thanks guys. its nice to read an entertaining comment rather than thousands of people trying to justify the vast amount of money theyve spent on their console and just sounding like a ten year old.

    plus id never chance taking apart my room mates wii. for gods sake my screwdrivers are all bigger than the bloomin console. the last time we took apart a gamecube controller we ended up with shattered plastic exploding round room like shrapnel from a grenade and bleeding fingers (the inside edges are filed to razor sharp for some sadistic reason). that said the result is a rather unique controller which has some buttons changing what they do mid game. good fun. especially in mario kart when u wanna shoot and you skid into a wall.LOL

  • PelekotansDream

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:20 am PT

    @raverrozza

    XD That was funny.

  • Sonicgod

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:14 am PT

    Ya it's real hard to perfect that 11 year old DVD tech and keep it clean with a sealed case and slot DVD drive.

  • raverrozza

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 3:49 am PT

    WOW a "high-capacity double-layer disc" thats amazing!!! man up nintendo the wii should never experience this sort of problem this early in its life surely!

    "specialized cleaning equipment" in other words wire wool, dettol, a rag and cillit bang!

    BANG AND THE DIRT IS GONE!!!

  • Skuad_Knight

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 3:47 am PT

    Stop being idiots please... It happens in EVERY DVD drive on the planet. If the lens is dirty it will not read double-layered discs. I have a launch day Wii that works flawlessly... And yes, PS3 fanboys, if your drive lens ever get dirty the same thing WILL happen to you...

  • ntnimara

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 3:00 am PT

    a minor setback, this won't bring the Nintendo Machine Crashing Down

  • sun_spirit

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 2:56 am PT

    Late and bugged!?
    Better not happen to the UK, wait forever just to find out I hate to wait another month or two to get my Wii back!

  • kavadias1981 posted Mar 11, 2008 1:19 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    kavadias1981

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:19 am PT (hide)

    My Wii has recently had a disc read error with all of my games, despite the fact that the games are in mint condition and the Wii has never been dropped, hit, left in a dusty place and is in a smoke free house. I am starting to think that Ninty are using the games as a scapegoat for the fact that the Wii seems to be going down the same route as the 360 with error after error after error after error after error.

  • fgjnfgh

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:45 am PT

    So the problem is form the corrupted wii's not the discs. This is new to me

  • Destroyeron13 posted Mar 11, 2008 12:44 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Destroyeron13

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:44 am PT (hide)

    Could this be because the Wii is a POS?

  • PS_Family posted Mar 11, 2008 12:11 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    PS_Family

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:11 am PT (hide)

    Another reason why I'm glad of owning a PLAYSTATION®3 console instead.

  • blackace

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 11:54 pm PT

    I haven't tried mine yet, but I will in the morning. It better work. I have no desire to send my Wii out to anyone. Are there are other Wii games that are dual-sides besides SSBB?

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 11:05 pm PT

    mine works fine

  • Kbs64

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 11:04 pm PT

    I haven't had any problems

  • alexwii

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 10:32 pm PT

    hey people do you think my wii is going to work with my smash tomorrow im going to get my copy, I bought my Wii in April 2007

  • xcollector

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 10:30 pm PT

    Why can't they release games that don't mess up anymore? There's guitar hero 3 in mono, my bully for 360 that likes to freeze (not system fault), and now there is a bad batch of SSBB?

    I like that bit about the high-capacity double-layer disc. They make it sound advance or something even though DVD videos have been using high-capacity double-layer discs since the millennium without any problems .

  • sacatash

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 9:29 pm PT

    I feel sorry for the Wii gamers out there who have this issue. I remembered getting anxious and scared at the same time on my launch Wii console in 2006. Back then, there was an issue with the Wii needing to update the system software and some machines ended up crashing and making the console to brick. I was holding my breath when my system took literally 30 minutes to update and then cross my fingers when it reboots. The good news is that the first update and SSBM works flawlessly on my system. Again, this is just a small percentage of consoles out of 20 million owners out there so dont despair...you can send it for repair(cleaning) at Nintendo's expense

  • SonicTheMonkey

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 9:26 pm PT

    That would be awful

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