As I sit here and wait for my tri-wing screwdriver to arrive, I get some time to stew over the fact that my Wii still isn’t working, and facing the real possibility that I may not be able to fix it. If I decide to get a new one, I have to move over all my game saves to the new system with the SD card functionality. These game saves represent HOURS of gameplay spent unlocking characters, levels, and other goodies that have me where I currently sit in those games. Same goes for Oldest Son with his LEGO games.

Oh, wait, sorry, Jeff, you don’t get to bring over ALL of your saves. No sir. Mario Kart Wii? Say goodbye to your tracks, cars, and characters. Guitar Hero 3? All that “work” that the brother-in-law put in to unlock all the songs goes down the toilet. Super Smash Freaking Bros. Brawl? You know, the one you have to play through dozens of matches and/or that Subspace Emissary thing so you can unlock all the characters, stages, and other goodness? ALL GONE! Lovely!

See, Nintendo, in their wisdom, have copy-protected saves. SAVES! Yes, we kinda knew about this before, but it’s really hitting home now. Apparently games you play online are typically subjected to this. Because of the bloody Friend Codes. Yes, the scourge of online gaming also means you can’t copy your game saves to another system. That’s just great. 25+ hours in Brawl? Never happened. 25+ hours racing through all those Cups and whatnot in Kart? Nope.

C’mon Nintendo. You need to have a workaround so that legitimate players with broken consoles can transfer ALL their game saves to a new console so that all this time invested in playing and unlocking these games doesn’t get wiped out when their console bricks. It’s another example of little issues with the Wii that are causing it to lose its luster.

Oh, and from a parent’s perspective? Words can’t begin to express how much I’m looking forward to trying to explain to Oldest Son why half the characters, tracks, and cars aren’t in Mario Kart Wii anymore next time he goes to play it. Thanks, Nintendo.