Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

WarioWare DS Touched in the Head

Posted by Zonk on from the that-means-it's-crazy dept.

The erm....unique style of the WarioWare games has always led to odd experiences, but Gamespot is reporting a strange bug that essentially means certain Warioware DS mini-games are uncompletable if you attempt to play the game on a DS from a specific batch of handhelds. Most DSs are unaffected. From the article: "Ma-me Denkyuu (Miniature Light Bulb) - The player is supposed to draw cords to connect a light bulb to a battery, but the cords can't be drawn. Douka-sen (Fuse) - The player is supposed to draw a fuse between a bomb to a fire source, but the fuse can't be drawn. Kurai Heya (Dark Room) - The player is supposed to find a man hiding in a dark room by shining him with a flashlight for a certain amount of time, but the flashlight keeps blinking and the game can't be completed. "

29 comments

  1. Lacking in technical details by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

    It's hard to tell if it's a problem with those certain DSes or it's a problem with the game. If it's a problem with the DSes, why does it appear only in that game? And of course, Nintendo is only replacing the game, not the system. If it's a software problem, what makes the DSes that it affects different from all the other ones? I need details!

    --
    Monstar L
    1. Re:Lacking in technical details by jackbird · · Score: 3, Funny

      In 6 months it will be discovered that this cartridge/handheld combination is needed to run Linux on the DS.

    2. Re:Lacking in technical details by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 1

      I never had any issues with any of the games mentioned, or any of the other games for that matter.

      I got the Wario game like 2 days after it was released in a store in chinatown, and I got my DS the day it came out.

      I have actually heard of this issue before, but not the details. I've only read about "problems where certain games can't be completed"

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
  2. Technical explanation? by LordOfYourPants · · Score: 1

    Anyone have a technical explanation for why this is not the case? An alignment issue between the screen and the touchpad on top of it? A clock timing issue? A stylus issue in manufacturing? The software may be buggy but I'm wondering what kind of small margin of error in hardware exposed it.

    Would have been nice if the article explained a bit more.

  3. No problem on mine. by Mozillabird · · Score: 1

    Is it just a bug in certain cartridges? I've played that minigame on WarioWare Touched and I didn't have any trouble with it, so it can't be on all of them.

    --
    Back in my day, we watched T.V. by candlelight.
    1. Re:No problem on mine. by Fred+Or+Alive · · Score: 1

      Did you even read the Slashdot post, let alone the article? The problem is with certain DS consoles themselves, not the game.

      --
      10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
      20 GOTO 10
  4. Clock timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If the flashlight keeps blinking in the "search in the dark" game, that means that the game is polling the touchpad more frequently than the pad refreshes its information. It polls the pad, finds no data for the stylus position, and turns off the light.

    It's a little odd that the pad doesn't keep the information regarding the last touch until the next charge cycle, but I suppose that's why it's only a small portion of the DSs. Must be a difference between suppliers.

  5. IMO by Grayskies · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This sounds like a case of last-minute firmware revisions to the touchscreens. I wonder why its not that widespread. Maybe those DSes that are affected are of a slightly older generation?

    1. Re:IMO by Babbster · · Score: 1

      "Slightly older generation"? I would certainly hope not for a device that's been out, what, a month? Ouch!

    2. Re:IMO by Firehawke · · Score: 1

      There's some talk on the DS hacking forums about the touchscreen having been changed between two revisions of the hardware already.

      Details here

      I personally plan to check my hardware very carefully when I get mine and be ready to return it if I get one of the bad units.

  6. And your sources would be? by billybob · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I like how you state this as if it's absolute fact and there could be no other explanation. It's a reasonable theory but unless you worked on the hardware for the DS or have a source that did, I have a hard time accepting it. :P

    --
    Joseph?
  7. What the summary fails to mention... by Bagels · · Score: 5, Informative

    is that Nintendo is doing free replacements of the game, starting today, for all those affected. Not good that this bug wormed its way in, but still, they've got the right response to it...

    --
    --- Bwah?
    1. Re:What the summary fails to mention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like the Nintentroll in charge missed this one, maybe this means we wont see the fraudulent UMD flying article a third time.

    2. Re:What the summary fails to mention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, I think we'll be seeing a lot more articles about Nintendo's active responses to minor issues and Sony's nonexistent responses to justifiable and major defects in the future. After all, what else should we talk about other than the way things really are?

      Does that make you angry, troll? Well then, Merry Christmas!

    3. Re:What the summary fails to mention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Sony's nonexistant responses? Sony replaces DRE affected PS2's for free, and fives you a free game if you used the memory card wiping bug affected demo disc. Nintendo DOES NOT do anything if you use japanese game on your american system and it formats your memory card.

      Does that make you angry (that Sony does actually repair/replace things like this and that you're a lying troll), troll? Well then, Merry Christmas!

    4. Re:What the summary fails to mention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Sony's nonexistant responses? Sony replaces DRE affected PS2's for free, and fives you a free game if you used the memory card wiping bug affected demo disc."

      They damn well better. That's their fault.

      Now what will they do about their PSPs that don't power up, have dead pixels, and eject discs with a flick of the wrist. We'll have to wait and see.

      "Nintendo DOES NOT do anything if you use japanese game on your american system and it formats your memory card."

      They damn well better not. That's not their fault.

      Meanwhile, Nintendo has preemptively announced that they will not tolerate any dead pixels on the DS, and will replace any affected systems using their loaner program (which has been in place for almost as long as Sony has even been in the console industry).

      The facts don't make me angry. I'm not trolling with lies like you, I post the truth as it is relevant. As for Christmas, you are a day late. Looks like you, troll, are the one who is "touched in the head."

  8. Like Sony/PS2/DRE by TechniMyoko · · Score: 1

    Nintendo replaces cards affected by this for free. I'd say let us never speak of this again, but the DRE debate rages on...

    1. Re:Like Sony/PS2/DRE by Cymoro · · Score: 1

      I'm sure we'll still be talking about the problem towards the end of the DS's lifespan when Nintendo finally releases the DSone, a smaller, more compact version of the DS, which will have problems all of its own, like faulty screens.

    2. Re:Like Sony/PS2/DRE by karnal · · Score: 1

      Yea, and they'll leave out the headphone jack (ala GBA SP) too.

      --
      Karnal
    3. Re:Like Sony/PS2/DRE by Cymoro · · Score: 1

      Oh, don't wory about that, they'll sell something for that a week after launch.

    4. Re:Like Sony/PS2/DRE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes you think so?

      There was no widespread screen problem with either the GBA or the SP.

  9. Fix! by B00yah · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you go get yourself one of those stick on screen protectors (ala fellows-style for the ipaq/palm), it makes those games completable. I've also found it adds to the accuracy of the touch screen.

    --

    How Jaded Are You?
  10. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by cowscows · · Score: 1

    Does it get the wireless multiplayer games job done? Yeah, mine doesn't either.

    --

    One time I threw a brick at a duck.

  11. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 1

    Yeah actually it does. You just need to buy the GBA SP wireless adaptor.

    --
    Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
  12. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Too bad it only appears to work for certain games.

  13. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by Jagasian · · Score: 1

    Why don't you also quote the bit-width of the DS CPU, so that you can justify to yourself how the DS is superior to the GBA.

  14. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are third-party wireless adapters for the GBA that are compatible with all multiplayer games.

    Still, it's good that the Nintendo DS comes with built-in wireless multiplayer for DS games.

  15. Re:PSP and DS? I will wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The last thing a DS owner needs to justify the superiority of the DS over the GBA is consideration of the bit-width of the CPU.

    I can play all my GBA games on my DS, in addition to my DS games. For my older GB/GBC games, I have a GBA and an SP. Who needs to consider superiority when all the worthwhile options are at my disposal?