Flickering Screen. Looks like repair time for me.

[rockman_x_2002]

Well, I've been dreading the day but it looks like fate, or at best time, has finally caught up to me and my poor launch-day Wii.

 

So I've been playing a great deal of Zelda: Skyward Sword since I got it (Christmas gift), and I'm loving it. But tonight offered me no joy. Fired up the system, booted the game, and I'm greeted with a sky full of clouds and little red, green, and blue dots flickering everywhere.

 

I've known that some of the launch Wiis have occasionally had an issue with their GPU slowly giving up the ghost, and it usually manifests itself in this fashion. So I guess that means giving Nintendo a ring and sending her off to get fixed, or else put out to pasture and having them send me a replacement.

 

So I thought I'd pop on here before I initiate that wonderful tech support call and see what others' experience has been if you've had to send a Wii off to the Big N for a quick tune-up.

 

Specifically, I've got a few Virtual Console and Wii Ware titles I've downloaded over time, as well as a few game saves that I cannot transfer (the games go online, and thus the ability to copy or move to an SD card has been disabled). So I'm hoping that if a replacement is necessary that Nintendo will be able to transfer all my stuff over to the replacement console for me so I won't have to worry with all that stuff once it comes back. Can anyone confirm they will do this before I call, just so I'll know what to expect?

[thegamezmaster]

Not sure if it's possible. When I got my second Wii, I couldn't transfer anything to the "new" Wii. Called Nintendo about it and was told when I bought the VC games on my first Wii, they were sold to that serial numbered Wii and weren't tranferable and would need to buy again. Told them I didn't have a problem transfering from my old ps3 to my new slim and they just said that was company policy. Bummer.

[cool110]

If nintendo need to send a replacement your shop account will be reassigned to the new serial number so you can redownload VC games and WiiWare. Save data should normaly be transfared but might be lost if your unluckly.

 

In the UK out of warranty repairs cost £29.00 for minor repairs or £68.50 for physical damage and will be returned within 7 days.

[KrazyKaiju]

If you send it to Nintendo for replacement, they will switch over your purchased games to the refurb unit without any problems. Just make sure you ask them to do so when you call so there is a notation for it on the work order. I had to send my Mom's unit in for repair several years ago and they had her account and games already set up on the new unit when it arrived.

 

I think the confusion comes in because Nintendo won't allow shared content between multiple Wiis, so you can't just go out and buy a new one and then transfer your stuff over yourself. At least, not if you wanted to so legitimately.

[rockman_x_2002]

Well as an update to this I haven't called or sent in the Wii yet. I turned the machine off and, like the last time, after leaving it off for a few hours, turned it back on and the graphical defects have seemingly vanished.

 

This is twice it's happened, and I know there's a fault in the GPU. I'm hoping to make the Wii hold out until the Wii U is out, as I imagine there will be a transfer system put in place at that point, as it was with the DSi when the 3DS came out. In the meantime, it would be pointless probably to send in the Wii if the graphical artifacts aren't showing. I figure they would take a look at it, deem it in working condition, and send it back. The end result would be I'm without a Wii for a week and it cost me a repair charge for the trouble.

 

So I guess I'll be hanging onto the old thing for a little longer yet, and trying to coax functionality out of it until this fall maybe, or such time that the Wii U may be available. That, or until the GPU just completely gives up the ghost and the Wii is, without any doubt, broken. At that point, I suppose I could send it in.

[cool110]

This looks like the overheating issue with launch Wiis. turning WiiConnect24 off (red power light) should hopefully prevent this as the ARM processor in the GPU will have less work.

[cloudmann]

If you do homebrew, there are alot of utilities at Wiibrew to transfer from one homebrewed Wii to another, including legit titles you purchased. If the ole boy doesn't hold up until the Wii U debuts, this might be worth considering. Meanwhile, I'd use the data transfer utility in the Wii menus to copy all your channels to an SD card. Hopefully the Wii U is as homebrew friendly... if so, transferring everything will be a snap... if not, getting another Wii right now (just for homebrew) might be a good idea, especially since a NEW wii is under a hundred bucks.