Rumor: Mario Kart Wii may also be plagued by disc read errors
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Apr 13th 2008 at 5:30PM }
Did your nearly two years of anticipation come to an anticlimactic conclusion last month when your stubborn, soiled Nintendo Wii refused to play the pristine copy of Smash Bros. Brawl you'd just purchased? If you were one of the unlucky owners of an unkempt Wii whose dust-covered laser couldn't read the dual-layer Brawl disc, we've got bad news -- there's a chance your bedraggled home console will refuse to read Mario Kart Wii as well.
GoNintendo cited German gaming news site GameFront with reporting numerous complaints from owners of the Japanese version of the game, saying it often refuses to load and is plagued by frequent crashes -- likely due to the same dual-layered woes suffered by Brawl. Thing is, we can't find any reports of Mario Kart Wii being a dual-layered game -- on the contrary, some early purchasers (and those who obtained the game through more ... dubious channels) are certain it's single-layered. We doubt it's cause for widespread panic -- but keep a wary eye out for further complaints.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr Khan @ Apr 13th 2008 5:36PM
May have to do with the update that it comes with, i don't really know. It doesn't have anywhere near the kind of media content that Brawl did
ViagraFiend @ Apr 14th 2008 11:41AM
Bought Brawl. Didnt play. Found a Wii at a local store. (Yeah, I know, lucky.) Took both Wii's apart. Switched drive from new Wii to old one. Put Wii's back together. Took new Wii with old drive back to store.
Commenced Brawling.
upz @ Apr 14th 2008 5:39PM
That is as bad as swapping in a bricked PSP for a new one and returning it back to the store. I definitely don't condone what you did, but out of curiosity, why did you even bother switching just the drives? Why not the Wiis altogether?
...Jan... @ Apr 13th 2008 5:42PM
You know...I have a launch day Wii that sits pretty close to a fire place and I have yet to get a disk read error or overheating problem. Makes me wonder how dusty and/or hot these peoples' homes are.
playwhutyalike @ Apr 13th 2008 5:46PM
I have one 2 months after launch with no problems at all. Our local Bustbuy offered a return on Smash Bros if you experienced the error. They said they have not seen a return out of the 500 they sold.
Alex @ Apr 13th 2008 5:58PM
from what I've heard what gets the laser dusty and stuff is tobacco smoke, so fireplaces and stuff don't do anything, it's just if you smoke cigarettes near your Wii, though I'm not sure how accurate this is.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:04PM
@Alex
If that turns out to be true, that would be the single greatest argument against smoking ever. Nobody cares about lung cancer anymore, right? (and even less about AIDS, according to Southpark) xD
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 13th 2008 8:05PM
You know, I really hate this arguement. It's tragic and pathetic. Personally, the only issue I had with Wii was I had one of the bad wifi components at launch. It's been running flawlessly since being repaired so I don't really see any complaints about the system. But here is the deal, obviously SOME people are having the issue with SSBM. And it was widespread enough for Nintendo to make a statement on and offer console cleanings, so it's not in some fictional land. But that's neither here nor there.
Because, you have not had any problems. Obviously you represent the world and it's huge population so anything that will go wrong, we'll trust you since it will fall solely upon your shoulders and any products you do have issues with will OBVIOUSLY have a 100% defect rate. We're lucky to have you, really, we are.
Or, we could quit this "doesn't happen to me so it ain't an issue" bullshit and acknowledge when problems arise. I mean, seriously, Nintendo themselves have acknowledged this issue. The "I'm free of this so called defect" no longer holds and ounce of water.
Yourself @ Apr 13th 2008 8:43PM
The argument isn't "it hasn't happened to me so it isn't real," the argument is "if this happens to you you were probably asking for trouble."
Just like at the Wii's launch, when there were reports of remote straps breaking. It wasn't necessarily shoddy workmanship, it was people being careless and reckless with their Wii-remotes. Did Nintendo still offer to replace any and all of the original straps? And did it make national news? Yeah. But both times, it's not a case of: "OH NO! This could happen to anyone, anywhere!" it's: "You know who you are if this is going to affect you."
playwhutyalike @ Apr 13th 2008 8:50PM
Calm down Sheppy. We aren't saying the problem is real, we are saying it hasn't happened to us.
Dipshit.
ViagraFiend @ Apr 14th 2008 12:09PM
You people are misinformed. This was caused by a certain run of Wii's that included a drive that was not of a high quality. There was nothing people could do to make sure that this did not happen to them. I spoke with a Nintendo representative for awhile after my drive failed and finally got them to admit that they had to change out the disc drive.
So I took matters into my own hands. See 2nd comment.
Once again, THIS IS NOT CAUSED BY A DIRTY DRIVE CAUSED BY SMOKE OR DUST. Confirmed by Nintendo representative.
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ Apr 13th 2008 5:42PM
I guess I'll consider myself lucky - no major Brawl issues yet. Just to be sure, I better test it out again... for validity, of course.
nick @ Apr 13th 2008 5:45PM
Yeah mario kart wii is only a single layer disc.
nxtiak @ Apr 13th 2008 5:55PM
Yep, it's only single-layered.
This rumor is stupid.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Apr 13th 2008 7:31PM
well if it's a single layer disc, then why are they starting rumors about it not playing? the problem isnt with the games, its with the dust on the laser of the Wii. the problem is that the laser cant see through the dust to the second layer of the disc.
nick @ Apr 13th 2008 7:38PM
Its not a dual layer disc, i know for a fact that it isn't.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 13th 2008 8:08PM
Gee, KillKornBread, who ever heard of a RUMOR having no grounding in reality? Such things never happen.
Grey Acumen @ Apr 14th 2008 1:02AM
It may be a single layered disc, but there was a whole deal about the game being incompatible with Modded Wii's. Is it possible that the game itself is on a single layer, but the security changes that make it impossible to play on a chipped Wii (or rather, that let it play on a non-chipped Wii) are on a second layer?
If that were the case, then it would make perfect sense why that would also be affected by the dual layer issue.
I'm just tossing out ideas though.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Apr 14th 2008 9:39AM
ok Wong. i see what you did there.
that was also my point, but it's whatever. the rumor is baseless but most are these days.
playwhutyalike @ Apr 13th 2008 5:47PM
Mmmm. Delicious flamebait!
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ Apr 13th 2008 5:52PM
nah, it's Sunday.
samfish @ Apr 13th 2008 6:52PM
Flamebait comes with a free side of Maalox on the weekends.
Kodros @ Apr 13th 2008 9:57PM
I think everybody is worn out from that Resistance 2 thread to start flaming.
AnonymousTipster @ Apr 13th 2008 5:47PM
I've been waiting for this post - means I'm not the only one.
The game runs fine, most of the game is OK, but when playing online, somewhere during the 4th race of a session, I get a disc read error. Very consistently the 4th race online.
Very odd.
mr mobius @ Apr 13th 2008 6:42PM
Completely forgot this was out already in UK. If wasn't for the stupidly high amount of uni work I'd have cried at missing out on valuable practice time.
Demolition Elmo @ Apr 13th 2008 5:50PM
When i first popped it in on my new wii i got an error but I reset and since then (touch wood) i havn't had a problem since.
MarkHawk @ Apr 13th 2008 5:56PM
why is the other car flying?
If you look at the shadow, the other car is floating.
AnonymousTipster @ Apr 13th 2008 5:58PM
Right trigger 'hops' the car into a drift, so it can validly be 'floating'.
MechaDEVO @ Apr 13th 2008 6:19PM
flying cars are unlockable
MarkHawk @ Apr 13th 2008 6:57PM
Cool thanks, haven't played Mario Cart since SNES... back when my father would play games with me and I would smile and gaze out the window dreaming about the future... but I do recall hopping.
JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:00PM
Red Laser of Death? Up yours,RROD laughing Nintendo Fanboys.
lol j/k
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Apr 13th 2008 6:01PM
I guess my friends and I should stop blazing in the Wii room.
Jake11 @ Apr 13th 2008 7:48PM
the disciples do that?
Liquid Ocelot (call me Liquid) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:02PM
Where's all the Sony fanboys making fun of Nintendo morons? Oh wait, it's the other way around. I guess that's what happens when you're not exprerienced with broekn consoles, seeing as 99.9% of PS3's don't break.
Ah well.
playwhutyalike @ Apr 13th 2008 6:04PM
Yet. I wouldn't really call a cleaning issue "breaking". But, I feel for anyone with any console having to send it in for work when all you wanna do is play a damn video game.
Liquid Ocelot (call me Liquid) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:17PM
Bad word choice. If i have to send in my game console for any reason, something's wrong. They had an "Excuse" with SSSBB for double-layed disks (though didn't Nintendo realize they were going to have to make dual-layered?), and since this is one layered, there's no excuse.
Just as there's no excuse of the 360's RROD, disk reading errors, screen errors,.......
playwhutyalike @ Apr 13th 2008 6:44PM
My reply was not posted so I got this instead:
Liquid, quit being such a trolling piece of shit. Yes, this is pretty shitty like I stated in my reply. But, my point is we haven't seen any major hardware problems with the PS3, YET. If we don't, good job Sony.
Keep your shit clean, that's all you have to do.
Don't act like Sony is all problem free either. Every company has some sort of issue. From banks to cars, it happens.
Liquid Ocelot (call me Liquid) @ Apr 13th 2008 9:55PM
Not sure what you mean in the beginning, post not working...w/e
Anyway, i agree. However, that's all guna change. When i start my own business, it's going to be flawless, and i'm going to buy out Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, EA, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and someone else who will be really big by the time this all comes together. Then i will destroy all the companies, and start my own. I'll call it....Kojima Stuidos, 2!
playwhutyalike @ Apr 14th 2008 6:36AM
Sweet. Just make a super Hi-def system that doesn't take a shit on us. Oh, and awesome AAA titles on every release please, thanks.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:05PM
If this turns out to be true, Nintendo's going to get a shitload of crap like Microsoft did at the peak of RROD and disc-scratching.
heckthor @ Apr 13th 2008 6:10PM
They said the same BS about SSBB but i haven't heard anything from anybody about any errors... BS...
John McPoop @ Apr 13th 2008 6:12PM
I never had any problems with SSBB so I do not think I will see any problems with this game when I eventually get it ... Electronics are dust magnets in general so this is nothing exclusive to the Wii ... However, the reports of disc read errors due to dust is a bit troubling ... Still no bother to me as I have yet to see any problems with my Wii ...
GoldenS1104 @ Apr 13th 2008 6:12PM
These types of reports don't even bother me anymore. These types of problems always seem worse than they actually are. For example, I have tons of gamer friends, but I don't know anyone who has ever had RRoD, a problem with Smash Bros, or anything like that. The only problem that I've ever known to actually be a widespread problem is the breaking of Rock Band instruments cause I don't know anyone who didn't have one of the instruments break on them. These articles come so often that I'm numb to them at this point.
JohnnyW @ Apr 13th 2008 6:16PM
Of course, this type of report in particular shouldn't bother you; seeing as IT DOESN'T EXIST. Unless there's like some uber Dual Layer Japanese version of the game floating around with like 100 extra tracks to even make it fir on a dual layer disc.
GoldenS1104 @ Apr 13th 2008 6:19PM
Well, there might be a real problem, but maybe it got twisted into something it wasn't like things tend to do when they are spread by wotd of mouth. Even if there is actually some problem unrelated to dust and dual layer discs, I'm sure it'll be so uncommon it won't even matter.
Vidikron (FU) @ Apr 13th 2008 6:25PM
@JohnnyW
Hah... wishful thinking. Even if the issue is being overblown on the internet, we already know that the Wii's DVD drive likely has a weak laser from the SSBB reports. There's no reason at all to think that a poor DVD drive won't exhibit disc read error at some point on single layer discs. It's just that the dual layer discs are more likely to reveal the problem.
T @ Apr 13th 2008 6:42PM
The reason these things can get blown out of proportion is because there's no news in "My copy of Mario Kart works fine."
I think it was Kotaku (forgive me for referencing what's likely a rival) had an article about how these kinds of issues get "blown up" when a big title launches.
Think of it this way, some people rarely ever use their Wii. So a big name title (Brawl, Mario Kart) comes out that everybody goes and buys. Suddenly those Wiis that were rarely getting used are all booting up frequently.
The liklihood that some existing issue gets noticed increases. Perhaps the laser was faulty. But due to a lack of playt time the owner never noticed. Now they're playing Brawl and Mario Kart an hour a day or so and suddenly the laser issue that's always been there shows itself.
The problem may have always been there, but it's only with the excessive use in the past few weeks (Brawl and Kart almost a month apart) that's finally forcing it forward.
flameofdoom666 @ Apr 13th 2008 8:50PM
T,
I do not think you are right. I own 16 Wii games, and have used my console for 350+ hours or so. It is not that people don't use their console- it is the disc.
The Wii has amazing games, don't kid yourself into thinking it doesnt.
heckthor @ Apr 13th 2008 10:28PM
While i do understand your point about the media exaggerating about disc erros and the like, i beg to differ when it comes to RRoD, cuz i 4 out of 5 of my friends suffered it, im not saying that it happens to everyone, im just saying that is lot more common than the ones on the Wii...
T @ Apr 14th 2008 8:57AM
flameofdoom666m,
I'm not saying it's the case for ALL Wiis. My launch day Wii crapped out after only a week. What I'm saying is that the rate of failures may spike during a AAA release because everybody's rushing to play the new game.
And since it's a AAA title (and not Carnival Games 2) the release is already widely covered and thus it's more likely that issues will be noticed/reported.
360's had the same issue around Halo 3's release. There were tons of RRoD reports, and everybody thought that MS had broken the release of their biggest game.
It turned out the issue wasn't Halo 3, but rather a number of faulty systems that just hadn't been used that much finally giving out. It just so happened that everybody was playing Halo 3 at the time.
I didn't mean to imply that was definately the case here, just saying that its one possibility.