Oh man this is really gonna piss off some folks. :x

And I thought the weird bug in Japan was bad.

So the game gets delayed an extra month in the US and this occurs?

Whew, this is nice to know just in case something does go wrong with mine. So i won't be freaking out if it does happen...well not that much

Damn, that has gotta suck for anyone who has to experience this. Sounds like this might be an issue that would effect older Wiis. Seem like companies are really dropping the ball lately with their releases.

I really hope this doesn't affect me, as I just got my wii back from repairs this january. If I have to send it back again, after they replaced my damn console and made me get all my friend codes back, I will be angry.

Didn't the same problem happen in japan as well and the solution was to quit smoking and maybe get your mom to clean your room more often?

Works on my Wii, I feel special.

See you shoudln't smoke around your Wii. :p

i waited and waited and waited and my wii's laser is dirty? everything else plays!!! i want my smash. i bought it at midnight last night and came home and it didnt work and then i went on nintendo's web site and the post was already there under support. THEY KNEW ABOUT THIS! I WANT MY SMASH!

Well.. I'm aware that some modded Wii's, with a specific chip are not able to play the game (yeah, the original copy)..

Yeah, I was just about to tell you guys and after I logged on I saw this. Good timing. :(

@relax_guy: Yeah, that's what I thought. It's Ninty's way of discouraging underage smoking!

This happened to me as well, and was a tad bit frustrating. On the other hand, it's not like not being able to play Brawl for a week or two will kill me.

That said, for the record, my Wii is not a launch console, so this could affect anyone.

... Just what type of low-grade lasers are in Wii's in the first place?

Big time ouch. why is it that most major releases ALWAYS have problems? you'd think theyd cover ALL bases...

I figured we'd see a repeat performance of this issue in the non-japan territories.

For once I'm glad I've never played SSB, because my Wii probably has lung cancer already.

My nephew did not heed the warning. He let a friend insert a folded paper towel. It worked, and the game now boots, but it could have been disastrous! Paper has fibers can create microscopic scratches on the lens. Compounded with imperfections that will inevitably appear on the disc, it could be a problem.

I have a launch console - and it worked fine on mine.

@Witzbold: This "occurred" in Japan too. Older Wii's are more sensitive to dust on the laser. A dual-layer disc compounds this. Nintendo is doing the free cleaning service in Japan also.

Internaut sensationalism at its finest.

oh-oh..... now I'm slightly worried.

Oh well.... SSBB's still a little down on the games that I want to get, so I probably won't be picking it up until at least Summer regardless. Don't like the idea of not knowing till then, though....

@SnakeCL: ...... Its not the laser. Its the lens. Also, its not really a problem with the lens, its the lens being dirty ("contaminated" as they put it) and not being able to read the disk properly. Thats actually a user problem that Nintendo is willing to fix for FREE. So shut up and be happy. They could be like Microsoft and make you wait a month+ to get your system back.

PS I had a similar problem last night reading the disk, but it seemed to have been caused by dust on the disk. Think, at least for me, that the cloth/felt/whatever around the disk tray is just dusty. Blew on it (yes, old school NES style) and it seems to have "fixed" the problem.

Well, I don't smoke but my room is pretty dusty. Hope things work out. I have to wait another week or so anyway, damn Amazon.

GA. Lost my earlier comment. Anyway people just need to stop whining. Its not the game, its your console and technically fault falls on the user. Safest way to "fix" it yourself is to use canned air. If that doesn't work, send it to Nintendo. It won't kill you not to play SSBB for a week or so. Just think: It could be like the 360 and you could be without it for months.

@GumbyX: The canned air idea is a good one. I didn't think of that myself. The only worry would be the pressurized air causing moisture in the air to frost inside the console.

But regardless, I don't have my copy yet as my father ordered it for me for my birthday, but with some reading over the past month, I was well aware of the issue and the fact that Nintendo set up a free of charge cleaning to solve the matter. Sure, it's inconvinient, but admit it people, Nintendo has done an excellent job in customer service and continue to do so.

Hell I smoke like a frigging freight train, and mine work fine... well sort of, been waiting 30 minutes for an online game, and still have only had one person join, still waiting for the other two spots. What the hell, is up with the long ass wait times, are we not able to play with people in other markets? I wouldn't mind playing against Japanese players to have my @$$ handed to me. CRAP... the second player just dropped out. Anyone else having problems with online?

@GumbyX: I smoke, like a pack to a pack and a half a day, inside and out, and my wii read s the disc just fine. I think Nintendo's new cleaning machine is one that replaces a corrupted laser lens, hence the no charge, they just don't want to let the cat out of the bag.

no issues here. i'm just glad to have the damn game.

I should have mentioned, my nephew's console was from *just* before Christmas, 2006. In other words, it was more than a month after launch. I suspect that *all* Wii's sporting a D2B drive are sensitive to particles settling on the lens.

is Wii really the plural of Wii? Like... sheep?

This is interesting because I had trouble with Wii Sports on like Day One of my Wii back in November 2006. I sold that Wii a month later though so doesn't really matter, but disc read errors are nothing new.

@CapnSpank: No. My nephew's Wii + Paper Towel confirms conclusively that a sensitve / dusty laser *is* the issue. His is from just before Christmas, 2006. It was more than a month after launch. Mine came from the second shipment on launch week, but mine reads it. His household is dirtier than mine and he carried the console to his friends' houses every weekend in a bag that has a pile of dirt in the bottom! (Kids...what can you do?)

@Witzbold: I wouldn't say this is a bug, as any slight misalignment of the lens would cause the laser to not properly penetrate the first data layer and hit the second one with perfect focus.

@soap_box: More like "deer". ;)

@GumbyX:

My point still stands. Why is the wii all of a sudden susceptible to reading dual-layer discs, when I have a plethora of DVD-playing devices that have never required a cleaning to read a dual-layer disc. Foreign particles settle on lesnses QUITE often, but usually have little ill effect unless they get insanely dirty.

Furthermore, a dirty lens isn't something you should need to send your system off to get fixed. Its something that should have been addressed when the system was designed and the components were used.

There's something rotten in Denmark.

IF mine doesn't work I would like overnight shipping of the box and return of the system ASAP!

That's Nintendos way of saying, "Yeah, we put a shitty lens in your Wii, let us 'clean' it."

I suppose this can't really be fixed as it's technically a bug with the system and disk and not the code...

Mine works fine. It just sounds like a damn motor chugging along when it reads the disc though.

*rolls eyes* I really hope this works. Otherwise I'll have an import and a Freeloader without a Brawl game to play. Can't get it repaired either.

@NoBullet: No console has ever had a self-cleaning lens.

I do not get why everyone is making a big deal about SSBB anyways, really SSB is a fun game, but is it that big of a deal, and now we have to hear the whines...
get a life, you have gone this far without the game, how is one month longer going to hurt

I have a launch day Wii and Brawl is running fine.

I have a hard time believing that it's a dirty lens and not a manufacturing defect. If you say it's dirty lens, then it's the customers fault; if you say it has a problem focusing, it's Nintendo's fault ... which makes me think -- conspiracy!

@Jamaces: For all I know, I have just 27 days to live. And I want to spend my last days playing SSBB, dammit!

I don't plan on getting Brawl right away but am now curious to see if my launch unit is affected. As quick as that Nintendo response is, it sounds like they knew about already but let it pass b/c only a small # of people are affected.

launch console + I smoke = my smash doesn't work

I got the game, working fine. I even smoke, however, I tend to blow the smoke in the opposite direction of the Wii and hit my 360 instead because it's red ringing anyways.

Mine is golden. Online lag? The biggest issue. Haven't had one playable match.

ENCOURAGING CLEAN ROOMS AND DISCOURAGING SMOKING FOR SSBB CONFIRMED!

@Ichinisan: Yes, because your one console proves without a shadow of a doubt that that is the only cause of the problem. -_-

this was unexpected LOL

@SnakeCL: think about it a little harder and the power is yours.

Dang, I hope I'm not part of that smal percentage of people.

I actually had some stuttering on the very first video in Adventure mode but thankfully that was the only time it happened.

I think I might be able to offer some help, as I spent about 45 minutes trying to get mine to work. If the issue is that when you insert the disk you don't hear that sound of it booting up and spinning the disk then simply turn off your Wii, turn it back on and insert the disk. If that still doesn't work then hit reset on the Wii console. Still doesn't work? Hit reset again. This reset method worked for me after spending those 45 minutes ejecting and re-inserting the disk, hopefully it will work for others as well.

A little off topic here:

Did anyone else's Wii say "Initiating Update" when you put in the Brawl disc? Cause I was wondering what that update was for.

well im about to find out if mine werks in about an hour -gulp-

So I pop in my Smash Bros Disc, and it comes up with an error message. Then I put in another different disc that I was playing with earlier, still not working. I turned my system on its side instead of standing it upright and voila, Smash Bros works.

I got my Wii on the Black Friday after launch, and it plays fine.

The loading times are kind of annoying compared to Melee. *Sadface*

Excellent! They're cleaning them for their 1st party title the first one on a dual-layer disc, now what happens if we have this problem but DON'T buy SSBS ever, but we buy a 3rd party title that has dual layers, will nintendo be so helpful? Its hard to say, and how many times will they do this for you for free?

This is FUCKING BULL SHIT!

How old is this disc drive in the Wii that it can't apperently handle DVD-9 technology? The PS2 could handle it with a breeze, with games like Xenosaga I, MGS2:S, etc. HOW CAN'T THE WII a console that is 7 years older then the PS2 not handle DVD-9s? The only reason I can think of is Nintendo is using first gen DVD disc drives on it.

Nontheless I'll get Brawl, but if my copy doesn't work I'm sending Brawl back, not my Wii.

I got mine last night, and it would not read the disc even to start the game up. I restarted and took the disc in and out a few times, and finally it came up saying that I needed an "update", so I went through that and the logo for the game appeared in the menu. I clicked play, and it restarted the Wii, only to find that it would no longer read the disc again. I haven't gotten it any further since then. So this is the problem everyone is talking about, right? Because, I thought that I may simply need another update, and my Wii's internet connection hasn't been working lately.