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Nintendo Offering To Fix Broken Metroid: Other M Saves

Who's ready for a trip to Japan?!

Depending on which message board or review you read, Nintendo and Team Ninja's Metroid: Other M is either the worst or the best game ever made. And while we could quarrel over its quality until the end of time, there's at least one thing about Other M that cannot be called into dispute: the presence of its game-breaking bug. Once you grab the Ice Beam, do not go backwards and kill the spiked enemy rather than proceeding forward through the nearest door. If you do, your save will be broken and you'll be unable to keep going in the story.
 
Nintendo has acknowledged this bug and is now offering a fix, according to MTV. Just don't expect that fix to be convenient.
 

No Caption Provided

== TEASER ==For the price of free, Nintendo is offering to fix all glitched save game files in the most ridiculous way possible: by asking you to send your SD card to Japan. Yeah, that Japan, and specifically this address:


Nintendo Service Center "Metroid Other M" Dept
56 Kaguraden Ogura-cho
Uji, Kyoto 611-0042
Japan  



Now, I know what you're thinking. "They can't be serious," you say. Trust me, I thought this was an April Fools joke at first, but then I looked at my calendar and realized that it's nearly October. (I also need to take my cat to the vet at 4pm.) This, unfortunately, is an actual solution for a bug on a console that does not support traditional means of fixes via fancy things like "patches" and "title updates."  
 
It goes almost without saying, but if you're stuck with a borked save, think real long and hard about how much that lost time means to you, because, and I'm guessing here, you're not going to see that SD card for a while. I suppose, though, that you could pass that extra time writing angry messages about Other M on the Internet. I heard that's all the rage these days.

86 Comments

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boylie

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Edited By boylie
@qraham said:
" Hope your cat's ok! "
I find this to be hilarious for reasons that I don't quite understand
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CaptainCody

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Edited By CaptainCody
@LordAndrew:
Will do, should get better when they PATCH some stuff though.
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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew
@CaptainCody said:
" HURR NINTENDO FANBOYISM, go back to playing JRPG's Halinel. "
This comment is very helpful. Go back to playing Gaylo, good sir.
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agentboolen

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Edited By agentboolen

This is really the main reason this system needs to support patches.  At this point I would probably just start over.  You figure the price of buying a extra SD, then the shipping to Japan and then the wait, its just going to be to much to deal with for a fix to a save file.  Its odd that something like this would happen to a Nintendo game but lets face it code is very easy to have a tiny tiny little bug that will go unnoticed during testing stages.

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WrathOfBanja

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Edited By WrathOfBanja

Will they fix the *insert thing you hate about this game here*, too?
 
Its been said already.  You're not clever.

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CaptainCody

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Edited By CaptainCody
@Hailinel:
HURR NINTENDO FANBOYISM, go back to playing JRPG's Halinel.
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MC_Izawa

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Edited By MC_Izawa

Heh, reminds me of the first TF2 update. Remember that? You had to send in your UPC cutout from the game manual, five General Mills cereal box tops, $2.37 for shipping and handling, and a signed permission slip from your parents. All that for the five CD set that contained the Medic weapons. Good times, man, good times.

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wonderhare

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Edited By wonderhare

Seriously, Nintendo?

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Reverseface

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Edited By Reverseface

I think Nintendo must now realize they need to have online patches available on there next console. Thye really have got to get with the times over there.

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KingBroly

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Edited By KingBroly

They're probably going to wait closer to the release of the system to roll that information out.

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MrKlorox

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Edited By MrKlorox

Sadly no announcement of game patching or title updates in the 3DS conference. I'm betting they still haven't tried to develop their online backend.

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Hailinel

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Edited By Hailinel
@LordAndrew said:
" @Hailinel: Ah, that's good. It still seems like an odd way of doing it though. It's not as if the save files are on some proprietary device that only Nintendo hardware can read or write, it's Secure Digital. "
Which actually isn't so secure, if all you're doing is slapping a save file on an SD card.  They're asking people to send in SD cards with their personal save files already on them.  For all we know, they have a tool capable of editing the save file directly.
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grhmhmltn

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Edited By grhmhmltn

Hope your cat's ok!

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew
@Hailinel: Ah, that's good. It still seems like an odd way of doing it though. It's not as if the save files are on some proprietary device that only Nintendo hardware can read or write, it's Secure Digital.
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Hailinel

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Edited By Hailinel
@LordAndrew said:
" Couldn't they distribute a computer program that fixes this issue without having to send your memory card to Japan? I'm pretty sure Secure Digital cards work on computers as well as the Wii... "
You don't need to send it to Japan if you live in the U.S.  NOA is running the same program.
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Shivy

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Edited By Shivy
@MrKlorox said:
" Oh Japan. How Japan of you. "
One of my favorite comments ever.
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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew

Couldn't they distribute a computer program that fixes this issue without having to send your memory card to Japan? I'm pretty sure Secure Digital cards work on computers as well as the Wii...

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KingBroly

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Edited By KingBroly

Not to mention a handheld that almost everyone on these boards is dying to buy.

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Hailinel

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Edited By Hailinel
@Kayrack said:
" time to reship a fixed version "
The bug will likely be removed for future shipments.
 
Also, bravo reporting this the day after it was discussed on the forums, Brad. :P
 
@AndyPhifer said:
" Jesus Christ, how pathetic can Nintendo get? "

I dunno.  First place in console sales, first place in handheld sales, a library of well-reviewed, high-selling games...  Oh yeah, that is a recipe for pathetic, isn't it?
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Kayrack

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Edited By Kayrack

time to reship a fixed version

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AndyPhifer

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Edited By AndyPhifer

Jesus Christ, how pathetic can Nintendo get?

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steelknight2000

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Edited By steelknight2000

Well FUCK that's just hilarious.
 
NOW you're playing with power!

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chacho89

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Edited By chacho89

Okay this is just ridiculous!

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WhytePanther

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Edited By WhytePanther

Hmm, I can already put my save on an SD card....  and I can put an SD card in my PC...  can't I e-mail them the file or something?  Mailing the card is such nonsense.

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zombie_bigdaddy

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Edited By zombie_bigdaddy
@Halberdierv2 said:
" didnt realize about that bug. cmon, nintendo, why are you so scared of giving us proper consoles withe actual Hard Drives! "
b/c then they wouldn't have been able to sell their leftover gamecubes bundled with a motion controler
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zombie_bigdaddy

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Edited By zombie_bigdaddy
@takua108 said:
" Well maaaaaaaybe if their console had a little bit better support for online connectivity and patching and so forth just like every other major gaming platform out there then maaaaaaaaaaaaybe this wouldn't''ve been an issue. "
this
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nintendoeats

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Edited By nintendoeats

Why can't they just let you plug it into your computer and run some file repair program? Would that be too simple?

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Raven10

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Edited By Raven10

I'm pretty sure that it would be quicker to just replay the game then it would be to ship something to Japan and back. That would take at least two weeks. I haven't played it, but surely the game can be beaten in less than two weeks...

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Modoversus

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Edited By Modoversus

So why can't Nintendo just release the fix as a stand-alone channel that could be downloaded from the Internet Store? The program could just read the file, see if it's bugged and fix it from there.

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Aut0n

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Edited By Aut0n

I knew this would be the solution they came up with before I even clicked this story.

Way to go, Nintendo.

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fox01313

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Edited By fox01313

Wow this has to be the most backwards way of fixing a broken save game I've seen in a while, then again their console is so much anti-internet the idea of just patching it would be crazy.   
 
Most important of all is how they obviously didn't test this issue in the game (or it just didn't get enough time/funding to fix) but it seems that with the enemy causing the save screwing glitch isn't that far behind where you were so I'm surprised they let it go. Makes you wonder if it was Nintendo that let this slip past or Team Ninja.

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shotodrag

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Edited By shotodrag

Will they fix the broken voice acting, as well?

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Scooper

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Edited By Scooper

It's October...... TWO THOUSAND AND TEN!!!!! AND THEY'RE ASKING ME TO SEND A MEMORY CARD THROUGH THE POST ACROSS THE PLANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE MIGHT AS WELL BE PLAYING THE N64 VERSION!!!!

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MrKlorox

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Edited By MrKlorox

Oh Japan. How Japan of you.

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lasafrog

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Edited By lasafrog

As for the downloadable save file just mentioned, that was my very first thought as well. Snail mail to freaking Japan, are you out of your minds?? How has my favorite game company treated us this way, with one of their most loved characters at stake? 
 
I highly doubt this bug is rare at all,considering it was Metroid in the first place that taught us to always look around before entering any new doors, to find those extra power ups just tucked away. 
 
This whole thing has really impacted my aready waning view of Nintendo. At least they got Galaxy 2 right.
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lasafrog

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Edited By lasafrog


I realized as I read about this glitch a couple days ago that I had just saved my game right after getting the ice beam.... and not going through the referenced door. 
 
Sure enough the "rare" bug is exactly where I left off, and I can't fathom listening to Samus whine like a 5 year old throughout the first few hours again. 
 
I am horrified that I just wrote that about a Metroid game. Thanks for really fucking up my Metroid, Team Ninja; shame on you Nintendo for not paying the needed attention to this game, bug and all.

For what little I can impact this fiasco, I will not be including "other M" in my personal list of proper Metroid games. Maybe as a gaming community we can banish this thing from existance.

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dougbrit2

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Edited By dougbrit2

Agreed, just offer the save file up on your website, may not be a great solution but sending your sd card off to japan?

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jonnyboy

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Edited By jonnyboy

Somebody needs to send Japan the Haynes guide for the internet.

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apathylad

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Edited By apathylad

Someone should upload and distribute the patched save file on a website. 

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Pop

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Edited By Pop
@CannibalFerox said:
" Why don't they just make a save file available for download? Have it include all the items up to that point that a player could/should have, even if they weren't found by the player. I know this opens up an exploit. But, we didn't screw up the game either. "
but that would be too easy, it should be like this, to download the file you have to send a letter to japan with your user name and password and include a picture of your saved game with a clock next to it and the wii.
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Moonshadow101

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Edited By Moonshadow101

Wonderful. If it had been anyone but Nintendo, they'd have the patch out by now and this'd be a non-issue. But Nintendo doesn't need to live in the modern age, right? Right?

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raikoh05

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Edited By raikoh05

so many better ways of handling this. how about patching the game? how about asking users to upload the save file to a server? how about just hosting the fixed file? what the fuck is this shit?

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Junpei

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Edited By Junpei

really seems like a problem that'd be non-existent if the system had some capable online interactions. Oh how we have become jaded by patches. Sure starting a game to fins it needs to download an update can be irritating, but situations like this are why they are done.

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rNilla

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Edited By rNilla

I remember back in the mid to late 90s I had an issue with a PC save game (Sam & Max, maybe?). Even then I was able to get help by emailing the save game to a support person who promptly replied back to me with a fixed save file.
 
I guess it's better than nothing but this an archaic solution to say the least.

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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews
Rage has been all the rage for a lot longer than there has been an internet. :)
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nick_verissimo

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Edited By nick_verissimo

Jeez, even my iPhone games have title updates. Get with the times Nintendo.

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Kjellm87

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Edited By Kjellm87

Game breaking bug?
Guess I was lucky then.

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Eribuster

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Edited By Eribuster  Online
@Vaancor said:
" Just gotta Love how Nintendo treats there fans, Love it! "
It could be worse. There could be no fix offered. 
 
I haven't run in to the bug and I think there isn't any particular need to backtrack after getting the Ice Beam. At least, I'm pretty sure there was no expansion tank that could be opened up with the Ice Beam. Still, it sucks that a bug got through and sucks even more that Nintendo refuses to save themselves the trouble and offer an online solution to the problem. There is storage in the Wii and I can't imagine the fix is some super megabyte behemoth.
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Vaancor

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Edited By Vaancor

Just gotta Love how Nintendo treats there fans, Love it!