Nintendo Wii Fanboy

People who bought the Wii version of Guitar Hero III have been (justifiably) annoyed by the lack of stereo and surround sound in Activision's popular music game. However, Wii owners can at least take some comfort in knowing that the problem will soon be fixed.

Activision's customer support has replied to many irate users with an email stating that re-mastered discs should be available by early 2008. This means that customers who buy the game after the re-mastered version is available should get the fixed copies, while those who already own the game can get replacement discs at no charge.

The last time we announced a disc swap for a glitched Wii game, many of you expressed your desires to have a simple downloadable patch instead. While we agree that a patch would be more convenient, we're still glad that there will be a fix available in the near future.

[Thanks, Langst!]

One neat feature in the Wii's Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is that you can import a save file from the game's GameCube prequel, Path of Radiance. This will give some of your characters stat boosts, not to mention a few other nice perks.

For anyone who just rolled through PoR on easy mode in order to beat the game quickly and pump their characters full of bonus experience, however, Radiant Dawn will laugh at you and then slap you in the face for good measure. See, easy mode files don't transfer over to Radiant Dawn because (as you'll know if you've played the game), the word "easy" isn't in its vocabulary. Even if you try to transfer a normal or hard mode file while having any easy mode PoR files saved somewhere else on your card, Radiant Dawn will have none of that.

Christian from The Tanooki decided to contact Nintendo on the issue, and it seems that Nintendo will have a fix ready by mid-December. In order to get your disc repaired (or possibly get a completely new disc), you have to contact Nintendo about the issue, give them your name, address, and phone number, and then send your disc to them when prompted.

So, what lesson have we learned from all this? Well, that Fire Emblem is for badasses only, of course.

TG-16 Virtual Console game Military Madness, though a bit of a cult-favorite, has been plagued with numerous bugs since release. Scrolling glitches galore have caused many a gamer many a problem, but Hudson has taken advantage of this crazy new idea that's been rolling around these days: updates.

Yes, a wonderful "update" button will greet any owners of the game who journey to its page in the Wii Shop Channel, and a glorious button it is. This technically opens up the possibilities of adding new functionality to games already released on the VC ... Wi-Fi enabled Mario Kart 64, anyone? We can dream, right?

All the news about Wii safety got you freaking out about possible damage to your television? Even if you're not, that thin cord that gets sawed through plastic every time you remove the nunchuk might be starting to look a little frayed. Whatever your worries, thanks to the power of the 'net, there are solutions! This helpful Flickr set shows you, step by step, how to reinforce the strap-connecting-the-strap so that you can avoid all sorts of mishaps -- real or imagined. Ain't Wii fans grand?

Certainly, the Wii isn't having the technical issues that the Xbox 360 had at launch. Still, no batch of hardware is without defect, and scattered reports from around the country bring several issues into the harsh light of reality.

The first issue, and perhaps most prevalent, is a recent WiiConnect24 update causing recurrent error codes for any and all online functionality. It only happens to a few, causing error codes 110213 and 32002 (how many errors can this thing have?). The solution? If you don't mind losing saved data (and most importantly, Virtual Console games, which are tied to a specific system), you can contact Nintendo and they'll send you a new unit within 3 to 4 business days. The other is a bit trickier; you'll have to contact Nintendo and have them send you a shipping label, with which you may send your Wii off to repair-land. This option will take at least two weeks, so it's best avoided.

Another problem seems to stem not from the Wii, but from the power supply and adapter. If you have a voltmeter handy (and you should!) you can check if the adapter if properly outputting power. If you believe this is the problem, there's a handy fix-it-yourself solution: while the Gamecube power supply doesn't quite fit into the Wii, you can make it fit. Here's some advice from reader Jay:

"I took a knife and bent out the plastic sides in order to get it to fit into the Wii. Make sure to put positive w/ positive and negative w/ negative, which is listed on the the back of the brick. But, if you're lazy, the flat (read: not round/circular) side goes in to side which has like and angled cut off piece. Well lo and behold, the red standby light turned on and the Wii worked! [By the way], the modded adapter sill works in the Gamecube, but you may have to tape it in to make sure it doesn't fall out."

Rock on, Jay. Are you guys having any other problems, and if so, do you have some possible solutions?

[Image courtesy of smashmywii.com, which, by the way, has their official video available for download.]

[Oh, and thanks Jay!]