03/10/2008 - Michael Morotta - news.bostonherald.com

Not even the U.S. Surgeon General could have predicted this. Apparently, second-hand cigarette smoke can be harmful to your Nintendo Wii.

Gamers who puff ’n’ play the uber-popular video game console could be unknowingly damaging the laser that reads Wii discs. And now that a hotly anticipated new game has exposed the problem, Nintendo is offering to clean the consoles at no charge.

Several tech and gaming Web sites are buzzing this week about the problem, which surfaced after the game “Super Smash Brothers Brawl” was released in Japan last month.

The latest mega-hit in the Mario Brothers franchise was released in the United States on Sunday. “Smash Brothers” is produced on a double-layer DVD because it requires so much data - and that demands more accuracy than some smoke-screened lasers can deliver.

Talk about ruining your Mario Party.

“A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large-capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive,” reads a statement on the Nintendo Web site.

When asked for comment, Nintendo’s media relations firm Golin Harris referred inquiries to the Web statement and could not make anyone available for an interview.

Worldwide sales of the Wii have exceeded 20 million since it debuted in late 2006, with almost 9 million units shipped in the United States.

Gamers with Wii problems have to send their consoles back to the company for a cleaning - Nintendo warns customers not to try it at home. Shipping is free.

No word on whether the cleaned consoles are returned with a nicotine patch.

More information is available at nintendo.com.