WiiConnect 24 rendering consoles useless

Wii News | And a few Wiis won't work with it either...

The Wii has received a massive reception upon its US release just a couple of days ago, and the online download service WiiConnect 24 was good to go right out of the box. Unfortunately it appears some reports have surfaced concerning a recent update to the service which can (at least temporarily) 'brick' the online features of the Wii console. It has only affected a few console so far, and many still play games, but the online modes will no longer work.

Like the Xbox 360 having various red lights to indicate specifics problems, the Wii gives error codes to describe what an issue may be. Error codes 110213 and 32002 seem to be the bearers of bad news, so any current Wii users need to look out for them.

Nintendo is addressing the problem through two avenues. Customers can either approach Nintendo for a brand new console, or send it in for repair, if any emotional attachment is too strong to break. Hey, it's sure to have happened.

The fundamental flaw with the resolution is that Nintendo may take up to two weeks to send a replacement unit, given the current US Wii shortage. This may cause some frustration in customers who have already waited for months - but it's at least good news to see Nintendo is already on the case. We will ensure any future hardware issues are reported as soon as they are known, so stick around for protection of your own Wii, come December 7th!

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18 Comments

Spanca

5 years ago

heh, so not even the Wii is immune.

Ellegarden

5 years ago

Guess profitability comes over quality

rodvcpetrie

5 years ago

I'm glad this was pointed out. I think I'll wait until well after launch day in Australia before getting a Wii until this gets sorted out.

Sin Ogaris

5 years ago

No wonder Nintendo never got into online, they can't get it right. Heh, it is pretty bloody funny though.

Jaws

5 years ago

Dont worry. By the time the Wii reaches our sunny shores, the problem should most certainly be all but fixed. I have no doubt in my mind that this is priority number one for Nintendo right now.

Sometimes it's worth being in PAL territories (about 3.5% of the time).

celerystalksme

5 years ago

I still prefer reading about wiimotes rendering houses literally. I have seen about 6 or 7 different images of what happens when you get too excited with your wii (yes i wrote that on purpose) and the damage those little wiimotes can make. Funniest one was launched at a nice new plasma...ouch! Or the guy the cut his hand on a light fixture trying to do a super serve in wii tennis.

I have way too many things that could get broken...might need to insure everything.

Sin Ogaris

5 years ago

It's only a couple of weeks for us, don't you think you're being a bit optimistic? If we were talking about the PS3 yeah I can imagine the wait would work in our favour (as will the list of launch titles when that eventuallity occurs) however, and I could be wrong, I can't see Nintendo remedying this before December 7th.

Edit for the post above me:

Pretty soon we'll be seeing on insurance forms "Please note: damage as a result of flailing arms wildly due to video game use is not a viable claim for your television being destroyed... try investing in a less dangerous hobby, like homemade bombs".

The Brett

5 years ago

Every console launch has screw-ups. However, it's actually in some ways positive to drive a dagger into the Nintendo fanbase and show them that Sony and Microsoft aren't the only ones who can't get everything perfect from the start. I just hope my Wii won't be getting as much of a warranty work-out as my 360, though.

Rush152

5 years ago

errr so what do these errors do? they don't let you update the Wii but are you still able to play games?

Klawrence

5 years ago

Rush152 wrote

errr so what do these errors do? they don't let you update the Wii but are you still able to play games?

They brick the console and Nintendo sends you a new one in 3-5 working days.

Remember the Wii startup disk? Apparently Nintendo diddnt want to provide the startup disk(firmware update) and so they descided to quikly install it on all consoles, as a result of the speed of this descision they think that the errors when updating occured as a result of this process in early manufactured consoles.

I would imagine that since we aren't getting the console untill after both America and Japan, that the early manufactured consoles without the firmware immediately installed would not be heading here and that instead we would be geting consoles that have been manufacted closer to our release date, and thus not have the same problem.

however that is only an assumption, i dont know how shipments to Australia work for video game consoles. Regadless of the problem it can be avoided by not updating your Wii when you get it, I wont be online untill late December so even if we get the console update problems i can rest assured that hopefully it will be fixed by then.

Andronicus

5 years ago

OK, so I have a question now...

If you are not able to connect your Wii to an online network because you don't have a wireless network set up, will you still be able to play games on the Wii offline?

I do have a wireless network, but the signal is very weak (practically non-existent) in the room where the Wii will have to be set up - can I still play games on the Wii without the use of the whole online feature and all those channels?

Klawrence

5 years ago

Andronicus wrote

Yes, you can. The update only improved SD to Wii funtionality and creates a file browser, allows GC save transfer to SD cards aswell as the ability to transfer the VC games to SD card.

ADiscoMassacre

5 years ago

Andronicus wrote

Yes, It only needs to connect to a network, for use of some of the channels (weather and news) and the for use of the virutal console. You don't need to connect to a network to play standard games.

Andronicus

5 years ago

Thank you to both responses.

I was worried for a minute there - I am currently weighing up whether to purchase the Wii in 2 weeks solely for the sake of playing the new Zelda game with the new control format, or whether to just get the GCN version and get a Wii later when Smash Bros. comes out.

The online thing is no longer a concern though.

I think I'll have to try out a Wii unit in a store or something...

magrat

5 years ago

Given that all of this new generation of consoles are connected, the temptation must be there for developers and publishers to push out game releases and system software knowing they haven't been fully tested, but relying on the ability to patch them over the network to compensate. Old news in PC gaming, but I wonder if it'll become more common on the new consoles?

ugh the boot

5 years ago

i have a feeling it already has magrat! Nearly ALL of my xbox 360 games so far (except for Dead Rising I think)....require patches to actually improve the experience in someway or fix up glitches etc that should've otherwise already have been done before the product hits retail. Imagine how horrible it must be for the people without broadband or xbox live etc?!

David

5 years ago

Dunno what you're talking about Klawrence, it says right there in the article that these 'bricked' consoles can still play games fine. I've personally spoken to someone who this happened to (on a forum, that is), and it's mererly rendered the online features useless.

Also, the firmware disc thing is a different issue. That was about retailers selling what were supposed to be demo units which were produced earlier and were supposed to have a start-up disc. Official retail units didn't need a start-up disc in the end, but a few large retailers sold their 'demo' units but didn't supply the disc, so the customer couldn't start the machine.

Jellyfish

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

Some of those updates were to fix issues you couldn't test without putting them out in real world. ie, playing multiplayer over an internal gigabit network is a lot different to playing from different countries. I think this is why Halo 3 is getting a public multiplayer beta, so they can iron out all of these kind of bugs before release. No all studios are Microsoft's golden child so don't have the access to these kind of resources.

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