I know there are quite a few Wii enthusiasts out there, so thought I would see if anyone can 'lend a hand' with this issue:

My son rec'd Guitar Hero III, the Nerf game and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader for Christmas. For a few days all three worked, then we started getting an "error reading the disc" message. It was periodic at first, then they wouldn't play altogether.

I connected my console to the Internet via my wireless router and performed a system update, however that didn't fix the problem. Funny thing about this, all of my son's old games still play (Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Wii Carnival & others). I now have to send it in for repair, however all levels reached, records, etc. will be lost. If it can't be fixed they will replace the console.

Has this happened to anyone? If so, any suggestions before I pack up the console and ship it to Nintendo?

Thanks,

Tom

Wish I could help, but I haven't heard anyone having problems with them.

Have you checked the individual disks that you're having problems with for scratches?  I know you said they were just received by your son, but this is the first place I would start.

If they are scratched, and the scratches are in a circular pattern, you possibly could have a bad unit that is damaging them as it spins them.  Usually Nintendo consoles are built pretty well, but there are always exceptions.

Most of our Wii troubles are from fingerprints on the discs. Even if they look small, they can still give you fits.

I would try exchanging the discs for new ones. I have done this before with playstation games, I just told them they didn't work and wanted to exchange them for a new and they usually don't have any problem with this. Also if you can try to bring the discs that don't work and try it on someone elses game console or if you can't access someone elses console try going to a gamestop or some place like and see if they can play the disc on one of their consoles.

Has happened occasionally here.  I cleaned the discs and they worked fine.

Just like everybody else, every time I wiped down the discs they work fine. This may not be your case, but sometimes I put it in wrong. We have ours standing up, so its a little confusing as to how it goes.

wipe the discs with a damp cloth then dry em off with a soft cloth. If that isn't it, try to take the games off and if that doesn't work, call Nintendo support.

Thanks all for the input. I ensured that all three new discs are clean and without scratches. It's odd, though, that the older discs play fine... you would think older discs are in worse condition (relatively speaking) than newer ones, although I stress to the kids that they always handle them with care.

CFFF 1.5, I like your suggestion about seeing if they play on other consoles. I'll give that a shot. If all else fails, I'll do what Ninteno Support advised and return it for repair.

Thanks again everyone!

Tom