backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 136 comment(s) - last by Wererat.. on Mar 21 at 2:23 PM
Blame smoking for Super Smash Bros. Brawl issues

It’s undisputable that smoking is hazardous to one’s health, but who could have expected that the smoke from cigarettes could also be harmful to a videogame system?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released last Sunday, and will likely be one of Nintendo’s biggest Wii titles for 2008. Several of those who purchased the game found that their Wii consoles had issues reading the disc, preventing it from running.

According to the Boston Herald, second-hand cigarette smoke could be one of the culprits for giving the Wii trouble in reading the disc. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the biggest Wii game yet, and requires dual-layer DVD media in order to contain all the data. The slightest bit of smoke residue on the optical pickup inside the Wii could be enough to stop the console from reading the dual-layer disc.

Although Nintendo would not comment on what the precise causes could be for a Wii to be unable to read Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it did erect a support page that read, “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.”

Wii owners not willing to part with their consoles for cleaning have attempted to take matters into their own hands. Some have reported that using compressed air to blow into the disc drive has helped their consoles run the software, though Nintendo advises against any user-performed maintenance.

The Nintendo support note continued, “Nintendo has specialized cleaning equipment that can resolve this problem. (Please do NOT attempt to clean the lens yourself, as you may damage the system.)”

The idea of preventing smoke inhalation by a console’s cooling system may not be entirely crazy. Japanese peripherals maker has developed a dust and smoke filter accessory for the PlayStation 3 – though no accessory exists yet for the Wii.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Hardly surprising
By MrTeal on 3/14/2008 7:24:12 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
but who could have expected that the fumes from cigarettes could also be harmful to a videogame system?


I think anyone who's had to open up a piece of consumer electronics equipment that's been in a smoker's house for a few years would expect just that.




RE: Hardly surprising
By m1ldslide1 on 3/14/2008 7:44:40 PM , Rating: 5
Agree. I don't know that the word "fumes" is accurate, as it's more about the particles that build up on components. I would imagine an optical lense on the Wii would be far more susceptible than even most other electronic internals.


RE: Hardly surprising
By Wererat on 3/21/2008 2:23:43 PM , Rating: 2
Consider the root word for 'fume' and you will find it derived from words meaning 'smoke' which is of course the particulate remains of burning.


RE: Hardly surprising
By danz32 on 3/14/2008 7:48:14 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed. I've seen white computer cases covered in a layer of yellowish-brown (on the inside and outside). It obviosuly not good for it


RE: Hardly surprising
By eye smite on 3/14/08, Rating: 0
RE: Hardly surprising
By Belard on 3/14/2008 9:01:58 PM , Rating: 3
Nope... smoke leaves residue. Heavy smokers cause the inside of electronics to turn yellow from the pollution. The walls are yellowish-brown, rather than white... just like the lungs of smokers.

It gets in clothes, cars and stink. Unfortunetly, I have the "hots" for a smoker, but everytime I leave - my clothes are stinky and I smell it all the way home. I've put them in a plastic bag to severely reduce how smokey they get... ;)

Now... if you want to smoke, go for it... it should be your right.


RE: Hardly surprising
By mindless1 on 3/15/2008 12:17:37 AM , Rating: 4
You two are comparing different things. Smoke in a static system won't tend to do much harm at all but on an optical lense needing more clarity because of DL disc it can become quite significant.

Then there's the dust level, smoke by itself isn't nearly as problematic as when the sticky tar deposits have a dusty environment making that dust stick to things more, then that dust also accumulates more tar at an elevated rate due to being a larger surface area.

The proper engineering solution to the problem is that the optical drive be heatsunk to the casing and the exterior of the casing be the cooling mechanism, without unused holes and the front door sealed with a foam strip. This substantially reduces the amount of smoke, dust or other particles that get into the drive even if the system has active airflow to cool it. Even then, nothing in a typical consumer device is quite airtight and it will be opened periodically, a really smoky environment and precision optics just don't mix well.


RE: Hardly surprising
By eye smite on 3/15/2008 7:42:45 AM , Rating: 1
Oh thank you Captian Obvious, my point was said residue has never affected any of my equipment and it's all working just fine. You idiots jump to the wrong conclusion everytime though.


RE: Hardly surprising
By chick0n on 3/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: Hardly surprising
By Brigandier on 3/15/2008 2:25:28 PM , Rating: 1
Welcome to DT, immortal, what was it like when the first telephone was released? That must have been pretty ground-breaking. It's so refreshing to meet some one that lives forever, I have so many questions to ask you!

Non-smoker immortality complex is quite bothersome. A smoker could die in a car accident(at any time), get hit by a bus, catch ebola, whatever. The statistical chances of dying for anyone is 100%. Lots of smokers don't get lung cancer, and by the time they do 70's-80's, would be a time where people start dying anyway. Sure, some get it earlier, but what's to say they didn't have a genetic predisposition to dying? Sure, cigarettes aren't healthy, but what life is?


RE: Hardly surprising
By lexluthermiester on 3/15/2008 2:41:20 PM , Rating: 1
Yet another ignorant statement...

Both of my mothers parents died of smoking related cancers, my grandmother at 56 and grandfather at 61. Now I'm no rocket scientist but from a national average of nonsmokers dying at 81, lets see 81 minus 56 equals 25, and 81 minus 61 equals 20. 25 and 20 years difference. That seems significant to me, but then I'm not the shiniest apple on the tree either...

Things that make you go HMMMMM...


RE: Hardly surprising
By Brigandier on 3/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: Hardly surprising
By lexluthermiester on 3/15/2008 3:02:17 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Well, sucks to be you, my friend. But not all smokers smoke fifteen packs a day, and a lot of other factors. Maybe your grandparents loved huffing gasoline.


You're not my friend. I don't associate with such cold and callous people such as yourself, let alone call them friend.

Any smoking is damaging to the health of the person lighting up and others around them. So really, get a clue...


RE: Hardly surprising
By eye smite on 3/15/2008 4:37:54 PM , Rating: 1
You know, everyone dies, that's just the way it is. I smoke. Do I care, no. Reason being, if smoking doesn't kill me the multiple sclerosis will. So all you nambi pambi's can just suck my smoke. You're all retards anyway.


RE: Hardly surprising
By snowbro on 3/15/2008 9:28:25 PM , Rating: 4
LOL

You are rather uneducated...

I am a practicing physician, a radiation oncologist, and I spend a good amount of my time treating lung cancer patients with radiation therapy...

But it is NOT just lung cancer, soooooooooooo many other cancers are caused by smoking... head and neck tumors (including mouth, tongue, tonsil, voice-box, etc), bladder cancers, cervix cancers, etc, etc...

Not only that, all the adverse affects to your arteries, including your coronaries results in hypertension, increased risk of heart attack, etc...

Finally, you are DESTROYING your lungs... emphysema, chronic bronchitis, do you know what it is like to be unable to breath because your lungs keep producing too many secretions, and you are at the point of almost suffocating, on a regular basis?

Most people who smoke do not die quickly, it is a long drawn-out and painful process...

But it keeps me in business ;) So keep on puffing away and throwing away your OWN life... I'm telling you, 10 years of smoking goes by like nothing, another 10 years, and you're a 20 years smoker... serious irreversible damage...

BEST THING you can do for your body is quit, IMMEDIATELY...

Nothing, and I mean nothing - no fitness program, no diet program, no new-age shit is gonna come close to how much you are doing to help your body with that single act...


RE: Hardly surprising
By Regs on 3/21/2008 1:42:56 PM , Rating: 2
You're right on two main points. The years go through fast. I smoked for 4 years and it felt like I've only been smoking for a week after I quit. The sooner you quit, the better as it takes a long time ,if ever, for the lungs to heal from years of smoking.

Second point is that it's ludicrous to intentionally poison ourselves with something that could lead to a long and miserable death. So many sad stories as well. Take for instance a man who never thought in a million years would be a grandfather, will likely not survive to see his grand children. He regrets not quitting sooner the last days of his life.

This is my 9th straight week without smoking tobacco. Every week I become ever more thankful I did quit. To be able smell, think clearly, wake up with more energy, and be able to just plain breath - far out weights the enjoyment of breathing tar, un natural chemicals, and carcinogens for a little "buzz". Even that buzz does not last long because our body grows a defense to it. A true chemical addiction accures.

In short, after smoking for so long, the calmness and comfort associated with being the “real you” faded into distant or even forgotten memory. It took me about 2 months to bring the real me back without the need for nicotine. I would estimate for someone who's been smoking for 15-20 years, at least 3-12 months of recovery time. Just all depends on how badly you want to quit.


RE: Hardly surprising
By Flunk on 3/16/2008 2:13:14 AM , Rating: 2
So, because you like something you have the right to inflict it upon other people? What if I liked burning down houses, does that mean I can burn down yours? Also, everyone else is a retard because they don't want to:

1. Poison themselves
2. Smell terrible
3. Destroy their homes with tar
4. Pay large sums money for something they don't need

I see you subscribe to the L. Ron Hubbard school of logic.


RE: Hardly surprising
By jtemplin on 3/16/2008 6:35:50 PM , Rating: 1
Apparently this guy is on disability too... Maybe stopping smoking would be a good start on turning things around.