Wii's Black Lines of Death
Written by Marc DeAngelis   
Wednesday, 15 July 2009 16:02

The Xbox 360 has the infamous "Red Ring of Death."  When the PS3 first came out, it was overheating like it had menopause.  Now I'm discovering that the Wii's graphics processor is a piece of shit - a piece of shit that I have to pay for.

It all happened when my friend and I were playing one game or another.  He pointed out the black vertical lines that kept flickering in and out and told me that the same thing happened to his Wii before he hand to send it to get its GPU replaced.  I had noticed the lines before, but figured they were just a glitch.  But after checking some forums, it looks like this problem does indeed precede a GPU meltdown.  Lovely.  And best of all, my Wii is out of warranty, which means Nintendo gets another 75 of my dollars after already paying $250 for the system.

After scouring the Internet, I'm starting to think that this is a common occurrence.  So why isn't this as big of a deal as the Red Ring of Death, or the PS3's hot flashes?  Do we have to wait for enough GPUs to flicker out before Nintendo is forced to extend their warranty like Microsoft?  This problem is obviously no fault of system owners; it's a hardware defect.  Am I being greedy, or should our Wiis be fixed for free?  Can I get an "amen?"


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Comments (13)Add Comment
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written by Jody, July 16, 2009
I think there's probably a big difference between the failure rate of 360s and that of wiis. and this is coming from someone that had their wii die, but their ps3 and 360 run like champs.
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written by Dr. Cossack, July 16, 2009
Huh, this is the first time that I've heard about such a problem. While a friend of mine had her Xbox 360 die once or twice, none of the people I know encoutered anything like this... or any other hardware problem with the Wii, really.
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written by Jim Squires, July 16, 2009
I've had an issue with my Wii for the past year or so, but it's not GPU related (thank god). Anytime i put a disc in the thing whirrs like a small aircraft Still works though, so I'm not complaining.
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written by Josh Miller, July 16, 2009
What's with these consoles these days. It's like they realized people will keep them forever and be less likely to upgrade if they don't build in a default shelf life.
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, July 16, 2009
All electronics are like that now. Take the durability of the average ipod for example. They NEED you to buy one every few years.
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written by linkreincarnate, July 16, 2009
Simple coincidence. I've had 4 wii's (many were stolen) and none of them had issues. Nintendo makes durable consoles if nothing else. I remember dropping my GC down a flight of stairs and having a tv land on to of it. The handle broke but the console played fine.
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written by Marc DeAngelis, July 16, 2009
Nah, I've never had a problem with an iPod. They get you to buy a new ones by making ones with new features and colors.
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written by Kalessian, July 16, 2009
I've had the black lines on my Wii since the beginning, they are getting more annoying now though, I just looked this up today after I've been having some trouble with my Wii overheating.

Now I have to pay to get my Wii fixed for a problem that was always there. I thought it was a glitch, too, it's not like any artifacting I've ever seen (and I've killed a few volt-modded graphics cards in my day). I wish I had found out about this before it got this bad.

I agree that Nintendo's warranty isn't enough. Most hardware I buy comes with a 3 year warranty, some with 5 (hard drives) and a few are lifetime (ram, graphics cards). My roommate has had his xbox360 die twice but he hasn't had to pay anything.
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written by Legendbyname, July 17, 2009
The PS3 epidemic is better known as the "YLOD" (Yellow Light of Death). It stems from the same issues as the RROD, but at a far smaller rate I'd assume.
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written by Marc DeAngelis, July 17, 2009
Hmm. But they were able to fix the problem (for the most part) with a firmware update. I remember a Sony rep came to my store and plugged in a USB drive and updated the system. After that, the thing rarely crashed. Since MS couldn't figure out a similar fix, I wonder how close the YLOD is to the RROD.
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written by Ryan, July 17, 2009
Not even remotely close.
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written by vouchercodes.ca, July 17, 2009
My PS3 died twice, my wii is fine at the moment, but now you have me worried, I have 3 months left on my warranty
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written by enderx, July 18, 2009
I play the wii every single day.
Every single day, and I was one of those who waited several days in line on release date to get his, so I've had it almost 3 years now. I play smash bros on it, literally every day. (with mah loved one.) (we play on fast-speed, low items. Ill take any of you. with any conditions!)
anyways. - It's not a problem. Sure, it sucks for you, but really? After scouring the internet, I see maybe 4 people with the issue. not an issue. (okay so I like hyperbole)

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