@thetonestarr
dont but me on blast. acting like there is some simple PAM spray you can put on it and fix and the problems. and acting like i am dumb for not mentioning it. wth? if its so common and simple, why didnt nintendo do this from the beginining? because its a design flaw, which they missed, which is exactly what i said in my first post.

why would smoke only effect launch machines but not more recent models??????? its a design flaw in launch machines on reading the dvd-9 discs. nintendo is doing some PR spin in calling it a simple cleaning of the lens

you fan boi's who act like nintendo can do no wrong make me sick.

No Naz, it's a problem with electronics period.  Optical sensors be damned, any sort of dust at all (and smoke is really just light dust, when you think about it, just that it's made of ash rather than the more typical skin) is just plain bad for electronics.

And that's really what the people who think smoking has nothing to do with this need to understand.  Small particles of any kind + electronics = bad.  Smoking puts extra small particles, stickier ones to boot, into the air.  I smoke (weed) near my computer though, because the fact of the matter is that you can't stop dust so a little extra isn't going to make a large enough difference to matter.  If dust is going to get the best of the machine, then not smoking by it may only extend its life by a few weeks (or in my case, since weed isn't as heavy of a smoke and I don't use it as much, days) at most anyway.

So smoke around your electronics all you want, just don't get snappy when someone points out that you are damaging them ever so slightly by doing so.

dgm, I think you need to clear your head really quickly and start the thread over from the beginning. Nintendo never once said anything about smoking being the cause of the problem. They cited "contamination," which means it can be any sort of dust. The Boston Herald, however, pointed at smoking.

And are you really asking, in essence, why older machines would be more likely to be harmfully effected by a condition that builds up over time? I mean, think that one over carefully... do you think dust just decides to launch a suprise attack on an optical lens one day and that's that? The stuff builds up, over time, and therefore it would follow that older machines are more prone to problems. Like ALL electronics. You have owned electronic devices before, right? Haven't they all had more problems the older they got simply because they were getting older?

So yeah, this problem shouldn't exist, and steps could have been taken to lessen (but certainly not eliminate) this problem. But, as always, Nintendo is being Nintendo and is both honest and up front about there being a problem and they are doing everything to fix it for people with the least amount of trouble possible. Please, tell me when either MS or Sony follow suit, because they've never treated their customers with the respect Nintendo does. Hell, tell me when they make their hardware as good as Nintendo does, because I haven't had an issue with a Nintendo system since my NES and that had a simple enough work around, unlike RRoD and DRE.

I've never once had to have a Nintendo system repaired, never even met someone in real life that has, and from the occasional stories I hear from people who have it's been said that Nintendo's service one of the best experiences you can have when it comes to getting something important to you fixed. Nintendo has done a fantastic job, and if you can point to someone who has a better record in both making quality consonles and handhelds AND the customer service track record that Nintendo has, I'll be sufficiently amazed.

Chichi
"And are you really asking, in essence, why older machines would be more likely to be harmfully effected by a condition that builds up over time? I mean, think that one over carefully... do you think dust just decides to launch a suprise attack on an optical lens one day and that's that? The stuff builds up, over time, and therefore it would follow that older machines are more prone to problems. Like ALL electronics. You have owned electronic devices before, right? Haven't they all had more problems the older they got simply because they were getting older?"

no, i am saying that the problem is NOT dust, that its a design flaw that they have since fixed in the Wii's on shelves now. i dont think nintendo is being honest or upfront about the situation at all. if it was dust accumulation, why would it only effect SSMB and not all games?

this could also explain why after 1.5 years the wii is still supply constrained - at some point there was a redesign/fix that required changes on the assembly line level

good job i don't smoke

Did I once say it wasn't a design flaw? I'll say it again.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE THREAD BEFORE YOU POST.

You said, "What's to say it won't happen again?" I said that they can add a non-stick, dust-repelling, defogging agent to the lense that prevents these sorts of things from being able to happen. Nintendo didn't put that on their systems because it isn't such a "common and simple" thing. It's a concept that's been around for years that EVERYBODY is familiar with (except you, apparently), but just because it's been around doesn't mean it's been practical. The technology to have cars be able to drive you to your destination ON THEIR OWN (without you controlling it at all) has been around since the early 1990s. But, we haven't seen a single one of those cars in production because it's simply not plausible right now.

 It's a similar situation with the Wii and the dust-repelling lenses. It appears that, at first, Nintendo didn't think there was a necessity for that. And, for the most part, they were right. They were able to cut costs a bit by skipping a step that, for the most part, was entirely unnecessary (or by going with a lower-quality, but much cheaper, repellant instead). However, in some particularly dusty homes and houses where people smoke, they've discovered that the high-quality repellant was a lot more necessary than they'd anticipated.

The reason it only affects launch machines and no others, again, should be entirely obvious and it's really sad that people can't get a clue about that. EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY is going to be more likely to have issues in the initial launch batches. It's a known fact. Go back in history to every single new piece of technology that's been released, and they'll have the most hardware issues in their first batches. Obviously, after the launch batch was manufactured, they'd switched to a different type of lense protectant - one that apparently is of higher quality and does a superior job at protecting the lense from dust and smoke buildup.

And the reason it only affects SSBB, again, is because that's the only game that's dual-layer, and dual-layer discs require a clearer reading than single-layer. A little dust or smoke most likely won't prevent users from being able to play single-layer discs, as a single-layer disc is easy to read. A dual-layer disc, however, is much more difficult to read, so the Wii will naturally have more difficulty reading those, and when the lense is dirty, it's simply that much harder.

Seriously. It's the exact same reason why flip-up CD and DVD players have a label saying DO NOT TOUCH LENSE. You touch it and that CONTAMINATES the lense's surface, making it harder for the laser to read the disc.

Again, freaking pay attention before you spout idiocy. It'll save you from a lot of trouble.