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[Darkgran]

Yes, it did, it involved something about a boss and the echoes visor.

Found it.

There actually is a glitch that will make it impossible for you to continue.

Once you get the Echo Visor, in a certain room there are locks you need to destroy to open a door. If you destroy one or two and then leave the room and come back, you will not be able to destroy the last one and open the door. You will need to start the game over if you have saved.

 

[Supervlieg]

Seems effed up. A free download via the shop makes most sense

 

[Osuwari]

Didn't Metroid Prime Echoes have a similar bug that fucked over your save because of an unopenable door or something?

it was some echo visor locks, but with a sequence break you could get past that area.

funny how a glitch worked to bypass another glitch.

 

[Osuwari]

By that point in the game, you're a good 2 hours in.

looks like mailing your SD card and getting the fix takes more than 2 hours...

 

[Boney]

Are they too lazy?

Not sure if serious.

I'd imagine I'd require less efforts than shipping and stuff..

Especially if you're enjoying yourself with the game.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

looks like mailing your SD card and getting the fix takes more than 2 hours...

Well, if mailing in for a fix is what they resort to, then yes, you are correct. However, even then, I don't know why you would deride this as laziness, as even while waiting for the SD card to come back via snail mail, they could be do doing any of a number of other things that aren't replaying the same two hours of a game again. Therefore, I don't see it as absurd.

 

[poppabk]

Quickly now, what year was that game released?

Good. Now, what year is it currently?

Patching has been around since 1984 http://www.gnomeslair.com/2007/12/first-video-game-patch-in-history-well.html. It was pretty commonplace on PC's by the early 90's. All the consoles are about a decade late getting the ability for patches.

 

[Maztorre]

There was a time when a red door in a Metroid game could be opened with 5 red missiles and we weren't relying on a linear (and now bug-prone) narrative to carry us through each section of the game. Now backtracking literally breaks the game.

See what you have wrought, Adam!!!

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

I'm sure that the 3DS will have the ability to accept patches for cartridge based games. Nintendo have had to learn the importance of patches the hard way with the Twilight Hack and I'm sure that they won't want to see a repeat of that again!

 

[HK-47]

That's pretty insulting for 1990s games, I think.

Especially to the Ultima series, if we are talking really earlier 90s. If we are talking the 90s as whole...:lol

 

[dallow_bg]

are people that lazy to simply restart the file and avoid that one backtrack instance?

:rubs forehead:

 

[Htown]

My guess would be that the Wii simply doesn't allow for internet patches to retail game discs in the way that the other consoles do. Unfortunately, Nintendo is ridiculously behind the times as far as it comes to anything regarding online. Fortunately, it sounds like a relatively easy bug to avoid.

 

[Dash Kappei]

So why can't people just download one of the many savegames that are around and just replace their one with that?

It's not like there's stats and everything in this game, just download one with all the items grabbed to that point or one with the bare minimum of items grabbed.

Done, problem solved.

This is one fixed save, for example
http://www.mediafire.com/?t60brqac763lqqz

 

[MechaX]

I'd imagine I'd require less efforts than shipping and stuff..

Especially if you're enjoying yourself with the game.

Dude, not everyone enjoyed Other M nearly as much as you did. Plus, I wouldn't be alone in the notion that running into a game-ending glitch and being forced to re-do everything (unless you're like 15-30 minutes into the game) is the best way to kill incentives for playing through the game for the near future.

So why can't people just download one of the many savegames that are around and just replace their one with that?

If it was that easy, do you think Nintendo would be requiring people to mail in their SD cards? That's an option for homebrew, brah.

 

[Forkball]

Also if you send in three Metroid Other M UPCs you can get a free hat! Warning: hat does not fit.

 

[Dash Kappei]

So why can't people just download one of the many savegames that are around and just replace their one with that?

It's not like there's stats and everything in this game, just download one with all the items grabbed to that point or one with the bare minimum of items grabbed.

Done, problem solved.

This is a fixed save, for example
http://www.mediafire.com/?t60brqac763lqqz

This is a clean GOOD save, after the boss
http://www.mediafire.com/?hc49n4b18fhs9ih

 

[Dash Kappei]

If it was that easy, do you think Nintendo would be requiring people to mail in their SD cards? That's an option for homebrew, brah.

Nope, because Nintendo gives back YOUR savefile (missile exp, e-tanks, accell) fixed, not a generic one.
Is the Other:M file encrypted? Only wifi-enabled games are, usually.

 

[Hot Coldman]

This is a clean GOOD save, after the boss
http://www.mediafire.com/?hc49n4b18fhs9ih

Awesome. Cool thing about SD card saves, it means you can skip straight to the good parts of Twilight Princess.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

There is a good chance I would have fallen for this bug if I had actually bought the game.
Not cool.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

1) Super Paper Mario EU release; game breaking bug
2) Mario Party 8 EU release; recall due to offensive language
3) Fatal Frame 4; bad bugs, not game breaking
4) Endless Ocean JPN; recall due to game breaking bugs
5) Metroid: Other M; save in wrong place, game breaking bug
6) Zelda: TP; save in wrong place, game breaking bug, also homebrew bug
7) Smash Bros; bug that allows homebrew in level editor
8) Wii Sports Resort; bug that required a firmware update to patch because of stupid-ass mandatory 3 minute video
9) Mario Kart Wii; hacked to high heaven online mode

Don't really see how 2) has anything to do with the rest, but yeah other than that, that's quite a long list indeed.

Anyway, regarding the issue at hand, I expected the hacking scene to solve it rather than Nintendo themselves making a move.

 

[BikoBiko]

It's a pretty well known bug by now. Avoiding it or even starting over is way easier than sending an SD card in the mail :lol

 

[MechaX]

Nope, because Nintendo gives back YOUR savefile (missile exp, e-tanks, accell) fixed, not a generic one.
Is the Other:M file encrypted? Only wifi-enabled games are, usually.

When a couple of GFaqs posters tried to fix the save via messing with the hex editor, one of the posters made a remark that Other M's saves were encrypted.

 

[Keavy_Rain]

RE: Physically mailing an SD card to Nintendo

I just mailed out two resume's with cover letters for job offers I found online. Yes, the Internet exists and yes, it makes shit way easier but that doesn't change the fact that shit's still old school with a lotta companies.

 

[etiolate]

looks like mailing your SD card and getting the fix takes more than 2 hours...

And run the chance of having it happen again?

Why should I have to point out the obvious

WHY

 

[AndyMoogle]

Think about this for one second: you think Microsoft and Sony will abandon all the millions and millions they have devoted into building the libraries of digital content (hundreds of games and possibly near 1000 counting indie/Minis, thousands of pieces of DLC, and other misc digital content) working through so many deals and negotiations with companies, all to throw it away because they have a new console?

It's pretty much 95% surely known they will be migrating the marketplaces to the next console. Retail disc game backward compatibility is still arguable, but I can't see them throwing that library away as well, there's just too much they've built up and especially now with online communities they can't be leaving them in the dust on the previous console. Who would buy their new console then?

Online connectivity and marketplaces have changed everything. We will be approaching a whole new kind of generation gap of consoles, one we have never seen before, because beforehand there was almost nothing tied to the consoles and people could leave them behind with no losses. Here on the other hand, migration is primary.

I really hope they do, but I'm not going to be surprised if one or both of them don't.

 

[leng jai]

Boggles the mind that there are people actually defending this.

 

[bernardobri]

Boggles the mind that there are people actually defending this.

Pretty much this.

 

[Mudkips]

Fatal Frame has a fan translation patch that was simply a download to an SD card.

You may not be able to patch the main boot.dol, but surely Nintendo could fucking write an on-the-fly save file checker/fixer for known issues, and fix them.

This bullshit about "the Wii can't do patches" is retarded.
It absolutely can, Nintendo just fucking won't do it.

 

[Futureman]

Boggles the mind that there are people actually defending this.

Defending what? That they shipped a game with a bug? No one is defending that.

With Nintendo's current hardware implementation, there really isn't much else they could have done besides requiring people to mail their SD cards.

 

[Novella]

That's just kuh-razy.

 

[poppabk]

Fatal Frame has a fan translation patch that was simply a download to an SD card.

You may not be able to patch the main boot.dol, but surely Nintendo could fucking write an on-the-fly save file checker/fixer for known issues, and fix them.

This bullshit about "the Wii can't do patches" is retarded.
It absolutely can, Nintendo just fucking won't do it.

You think they would rather have people send them SD cards and have someone manually run a fix and then send them back?

 

[Mejilan]

I'm actually kind of impressed that they'd offer a fix at all.
Shit execution is still better than nothing, I suppose.

 

[StevePharma]

Awesome. Cool thing about SD card saves, it means you can skip straight to the good parts of Twilight Princess.

Another thing Nintendo needs to address in their future games....

I want cinematic modes and "chapter" selects in my Zelda after beating it, to experience the good stuff again. Youtube doesn't always cut it. Other M is a step in the right direction though.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Just restart the game. It's like two hours into it.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I'll use Final Fantasy 6 as an example, as that's the best one I can think of. Relm's special attack is glitched to high FUCK. It could erase all of your save files, and do other crazy things.

The response was to not use her special attack. They fixed it in later releases of the game. But none of the solutions you proposed were ever used to my knowledge.

And the game was never declared defective.

No one's denying that Nintendo's standards have been the same for the past 20 years.

 

[SmokyDave]

Nintendo do things like this because their core userbase either A; don't care or B; are quite happy to put up with it. Why should they make any further effort?

 

[Holy Order Sol]

And run the chance of having it happen again?

Why should I have to point out the obvious

WHY

Downloading one of the proper save files instead of relying on Nintendo seems the better option.

 

[Night_Trekker]

This is ridiculous. There's no way they could offer a downloadable fix?

 

[zigg]

This is ridiculous. There's no way they could offer a downloadable fix?

You know, I almost said "best they could do, given their architecture, is a WiiWare download that fixed the save file"—but that's actually not true, given further thought. Anything that's fixable via patching the save file should also be fixable by a Wii Menu update adding perhaps some sort of system menu to let you patch any save from a broken game. It still counts as a workaround, and you could, on a replay, find yourself in exactly the same pickle—but it's better than mailing a save file.

 

[mclem]

As an aside, has homebrew come up with a fix? Sounds like this is something a decent homebrew app could repair if they can figure out how.

 

[Vagabundo]

You know, I almost said "best they could do, given their architecture, is a WiiWare download that fixed the save file"—but that's actually not true, given further thought. Anything that's fixable via patching the save file should also be fixable by a Wii Menu update adding perhaps some sort of system menu to let you patch any save from a broken game. It still counts as a workaround, and you could, on a replay, find yourself in exactly the same pickle—but it's better than mailing a save file.

Yeah, that would be a pretty good fix and would work for other save file issues.

 

[DonMigs85]

Is it possible to send Wii save files as email attachments? If so then why not just do that?

 

[Night_Trekker]

Is it possible to send Wii save files as email attachments? If so then why not just do that?

Because Nintendo.

You know, I almost said "best they could do, given their architecture, is a WiiWare download that fixed the save file"—but that's actually not true, given further thought. Anything that's fixable via patching the save file should also be fixable by a Wii Menu update adding perhaps some sort of system menu to let you patch any save from a broken game. It still counts as a workaround, and you could, on a replay, find yourself in exactly the same pickle—but it's better than mailing a save file.

This is a good idea and I don't see why it would be difficult or problematic to implement.

 

[BigBadShamoo]

Well that's embarrassing. I bet so many devs wish they could patch games on the wii.

 

[BGBW]

This reminds me that I still have the buggy version of SPM since I had already passed that point when the bug was announced. Wonder if they would still swap the discs if I fancy playing through the game again.

 

[Osuwari]

And run the chance of having it happen again?

Why should I have to point out the obvious

WHY

how can you have it happen again if the article states clearly the cause of the glitch and you know it beforehand?

that's like falling into a hole after you get the warning and have seen it clearly.

this isn't that big of a bug. if it was something that permanently stopped you from going forward even after deleting your save or prevented 100% or something, i'd agree that a recall would be necessary but this one glitch is pretty minor. the cannon room glitch in TP was far worse since it happens really late into the game and that game is like 3-4 times longer than Other M and it was never recalled or something (fun fact: you can actually escape from that glitch if you try to warp the cannon by going to the map and then activating portals. this is how the speed runs do it because they skip some stuff and that causes the game-breaking glitch)

 

[iamaustrian]

wow, it seems that only one person can read probably ITT.

I'm amazed

 

[Jackano]

1) Super Paper Mario EU release; game breaking bug
2) Mario Party 8 EU release; recall due to offensive language
3) Fatal Frame 4; bad bugs, not game breaking
4) Endless Ocean JPN; recall due to game breaking bugs
5) Metroid: Other M; save in wrong place, game breaking bug
6) Zelda: TP; save in wrong place, game breaking bug, also homebrew bug
7) Smash Bros; bug that allows homebrew in level editor
8) Wii Sports Resort; bug that required a firmware update to patch because of stupid-ass mandatory 3 minute video
9) Mario Kart Wii; hacked to high heaven online mode

That's just Nintendo published stuff and just the Wii. Good thing Nintendo takes a firm stand against patches so that low quality shitware developers don't release broken products on their systems!

If you expand from Nintendo to all companies, some of the biggest games on the Wii (Tales of Graces) and the DS (Taiko Drum Master) both have game-breaking bugs. Two DS games actually have bugs so bad that they literally brick your card from booting!

I agree, this is a big list. As a developer, I think it's incompetence. Those bugs are very serious. As a Nintenfo fan, I think that's the Nintendo quality that is lowering down here. I hope they will do something internally to avoid it in the near future.

 

[Prisen]

It took me a few posts to realize they actually meant real mail :lol

 

[DangerousDave]

I remember other threads with all people complaining about debbuging in HD games and how DLC became an excuse to launch untested games.

That's another example about why DLC and patches are great.

With a patch, most of the people won't even find the bug, because it should be patched soon enough.

Yeah, there is people with the wii offline (but probably not playing Metroid Other M). The mail solution is good for those few people. But allowing most of the users to simply download a patch and skip the bug.