Three things. All having to do with April. I’ll try to keep them short.

1) Mario Kart Wii comes out later this month. Yes, I happen to love Mario Kart… Nintendo and it’s rehashes. Oh well. Only thing I’m NOT looking forward to is apparently it has the same DRE problem that Smash Brothers Brawl had. So there’s a good chance I will be sending my Wii off to get repaired at that time. Specially since I’m sick of dealing with it on Brawl.

2) Yes 4/20 is coming up. Undoubtedly I will be getting a flood of “virtual joints” from my pot head friends. Tell ya what, save your self the trouble. I don’t care. Also no one knows what the hell 4/20 has to do with pot anyhow. Let it go. Otherwise I’m going to remind you it’s also Hitlers birthday.

3) Introduction to Linux. You see one of my friends did something that I personally don’t consider all to bright. He lifted content. However it is easier to read than the source blog. Sorry I’m not a big fan of them stupid contextual ad things. I am however a fan of the Linux operating system. So please, hit the read more link and follow the rest of the post. (more…)

Ok, just so that I don’t have the comment run and mess in the other post here is more on what I’ve gathered. As I said before a Google shows up that this is a fairly common error. Now while I don’t have my browser history to find the exactly link I had came across last night, I do have a fair bit of memory, and found a few of them again.

Kotaku had a little blurb about it and points you to the Nintendo Repair Form to get the forms. Now keep in mind that Nintendos official stance on this is “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.”

Let us ponder this for a moment. At one time the slot loading drive of the system was a selling point as a method of keeping the discs and internals clean. I for a fact know my discs are clean and scratch free, I really do tend to take care of my games. Also I have a launch system, so it’s old. I have no problems with any other discs…. but I’m drifting here. IF it is as they say caused by a dirty lens, then ALL Nintendo Wii systems will at some point develop the problem of not being able to read dual layer dvd discs. Sooo either they need to develop and sell some little Wii cleaner disc, or let us know what is really wrong.

My own personal idea for the source of this problem is simple. The potentiometer isn’t adjusted right or a focal motor isn’t set right. When you send it in, they fix this and send it back. Or as some have stated, they replace the machine. Now I’m not really to keen on the idea of shipping my Wii back to Nintendo for a fix (yet). However if getting the disc to read is causing more ware on my Wii than it should, perhaps I should send it in.

[UPDATE] Here is the link I couldn’t find earlier @ Destructoid

After having the pre-order slip sitting in my wallet for oh so damn long, Super Smash Brother Brawl released. For some reason I’ve been looking forward to this game and awaiting it’s launch. After a few delays… I has it. Get home toss it in my Wii and “Disc Read Error”. First thought, call Gamestop and ask if anyone else has had issues and about swapping discs. This really is out of the question for a few reasons. One being that I always give them crap for trying to sell me a disc warranty. I don’t like the pre-order crap they push and let them know that I’ll pre-order when and what I want. Lastly I think the strategy guides are retarded and have no issues tell them that.

Anyhow a quick Google later and SURPRISE! Turns out that the Japan release had the same issue. Sometimes the game just don’t work. The solution, send it back to Nintendo and get it fixed. There are a mess of guesses as to what causes this issue, but they seem to center around it being the first dual layer dvd disc game. Well given the abuse my Wii has taken… I admit I giggled there… I’m surprised it plays any discs. I have occasionally had disc read errors. But Brawl has given me more than any other disc has.

Didn’t stop me from playing the game with a few buddies for about 8 hours though.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl is finally a week away. I checked the little preorder slip I have and it’s dated August of last year. The delays have been horrid on this game. Really hoping that they do a midnight launch of the game on Saturday, means my Sunday will be very well spent. Do have to get my Wii back sometime this week though so that I’ll be ready for the game.

Also turns out that in our fair little town we have decided to enact the whole “Smoking Ban” idea. Seems that we’re late on it since the state passed one already, however it means we go smoke free a year earlier. On the plus side they did get rid of the 10 foot from any door rule. I should be a little upset about the whole thing given that I am an addicted smoker and do enjoy my smokie treats while at the bar. But I’m not, I just don’t care about it. Here’s to the non smokers that have gotten rid of the smell that covers up all the other smells that flood a bar. Enjoy the smells that used to be hidden.