I really should have checked to make sure that my Wii was working properly before I purchased Xenoblade Chronicles. It's been forever since I actually turned the system on and while I made sure that it would actually turn on and that my wii-motes were still working, I neglected to check the disc drive.

Yep, Wii drive is no longer wanting to read discs.

Now I have before me a really, really crap dilemma. I've opened Xenoblade, so I doubt I'll be able to get a refund for it, and I'll probably have to take advantage of trading it in ASAP. I have two choices here:

1. Trade some of the extra controllers I have lying around (I never play games with other people and this generation will be ending relatively soon) along with a couple games I don't want and are still worth something and buy a refurbished Wii. Out of pocket, I figure this will cost me about 30 or 40 dollars.

2. Trade Xenoblade (since I doubt the EB I bought it from will give me a refund) along with the games and hardware I intended to trade for a Wii and get a 3DS. Out of pocket, I figure this will cost me about 50 dollars.

I don't want to send my system to Nintendo since I've heard this repair generally costs about $85 and I would like to keep my original Wii due to the virtual console games I have on it (one of which is Ocarina of Time, which I intend to play some time this year). Getting a 3DS would be the least wasteful of these transactions since I'm fairly certain that aside from a few virtual console games, I will not be playing anything on my Wii aside from Xenoblade any time soon.

Yes, I know I could play the game with Dolphin, but I'm pretty anti game piracy.

I am also working on borrowing a Wii from someone, but I don't have a lot of options on that front since very few of my friends play video games.

EDIT: I found Wii Fit Plus and Harry Potter 5 discs. Tried both and they work. Wondering if Xenoblade is the problem. Will call EB in the morning. Sooooooo frustrating. I heard there were problems with the European launch as well, I wonder if that'll happen here.

Ugh, there's nothing worse than getting a game you've been looking forward to and it ends up not working. :( I hope you manage to solve the problem somehow.

@AdzPearson: For sure, it's totally frustrating. I went to EB today to exchange my game in the hopes that maybe I got a bad disc, but it looks like my system is one of those ones that has trouble with dual layered DVDs. I've decided I'm just going to try to get a refund or, barring that, just trade the game in for store credit. People on the Nintendo forum suggested i get a lens cleaning kit, but you can only buy them from the Nintendo store and it's all a lot of hassle for just one game. I've heard if you wind up having to send your system in to Nintendo, you pay about 85 bucks and they just send you a new system, then you lose all your virtual console purchases, which I still plan on playing (and that work just fine on my current system). Fuck it, I'm just going to skip Xenoblade. Won't be the first time I missed a great game and certainly won't be the last.

Ooof that sucks :(

But why would you even consider trading in the game you just bought and was the sole reason you even dusted your wii off in the first place, for? @.@ That's crazy! Hang on to it and play it through Dolphin if you have to (and have a computer that can handle it). Playing a game you own using an emulator isn't piracy at all -- you own the game, you own a Wii, so what exactly wouldja be pirating? o.O

Are those other discs you found dual layered? It might be an issue with your Wii reading dual-layered discs (they have a gold tint to them, iirc).

@PixelPrinny: No, the other discs I tried are not dual layered -- I only have 3 Wii games in my house right now, I've never bought many in the first place and those I did have I've either given away when I was done with them, or I've traded them in. If my console really is one of those systems that won't read dual layered discs, though, which it probably is, I'm assuming the only real solution to the problem is me getting a new system either by just buying one myself or through Nintendo. I'm not willing to do that for just one game -- too fussy and too expensive.

I know that trading the game in sounds extreme, but I have a number of reasons. Even to play the game on Dolphin, I'd need to buy some kind of dongle to hook up a controller (either a 360 controller dongle or a USB bluetooth dongle) and I'm not confident that my PC can handle it. Right now, money is pretty tight for me, so spending even more money on a game I already bought a new controller and component cables for just drives me fucking nuts, especially when Nintendo is knowingly printing discs that some percentage of their systems can't even read properly. I'd spring for the lens cleaning kit if it was guaranteed to solve the problem, but I've done some research and found that a lot of people just wind up having to get their systems repaired by Nintendo. Having your system repaired by Nintendo costs 85 dollars (last I could find) and you generally lose all your VC purchases because they just send you a new system.

The thing is, any way I go, I wind up spending more money. I know that even if I trade the game in, I'm technically spending money, but it's the easiest way out of this situation. And to be honest, after all the fuss, I'd prefer to just put the game at arm's length, forget this ever happened, and move on to other things. I also haven't talked to the store manager of my local EB either. I am a fairly regular customer there and he may make an exception for me and give me a full refund. I'm not super confident about that, but it's still a possibility.

Sounds like a defective disk, they should replace that at least!
 
And if not, come talk to me and I can guide you to the legal grey area of playing backup games on the wii.

@Xeiphyer: Unfortunately, it's not a defective disc -- I already exchanged my first copy and have had the same problems with both discs. It's just my old Wii system and the dual layered DVDs.

Normally I'd totally take you up on your offer, and I'm grateful for it, but I am just so pissed about this that I'm pretty determined to not jump through any more hoops to play this game. I've got my mind made up to skip it at this point and just whine until I can get a refund.