Mostly, the exterior shell is in place to protect the interior from getting dusty or dirty, and cleaning it off is a question of aesthetic. The level of soiling should determine your course of action. You can get the Official Nintendo Wii Lens Cleaning kit at Amazon for about $16. Follow the directions on the packaging, and you’re on your way to a better performing machine. You can pick one of these up from most retailers, as well as the Internet. Fortunately, just as there are CD lens cleaners, there is a Wii lens cleaning kit. This is an internal component, and as I mentioned above, you should never ever open up your Wii console. If it gets dirty or smudged, it can affect how well, or even if, your Wii will read the disc. For those of you who don’t know, the lens is the component that the laser shoots out of in order to read the Wii disc.

It is imperative that you do not attempt to fix it yourself, unless you plan on buying a new console. If it still does not work, contact Nintendo customer support. If your Wii ceases to function, and refuses to work even after the cleaning discussion below, you should first check the Nintendo website for step-by-step troubleshooting. Both of these actions will cause irreparable damage to your Wii, and ARE NOT covered by any warranties that Nintendo or retailers offer. Do not use compressed air to clean the disc slot or its other nooks and crannies.

Do not ever, under any circumstances, open your Wii to clean it. A word of warning about cleaning a Wii.Bearing all that in mind, I want to extend the life of my Wii for as long as I can. Coupled with the fact that it also plays my old Nintendo GameCube games, the Wii becomes a one-stop shop of awesome. It’s as if someone probed the suggestion box in my mind, and put everything I ever wanted into one neat, little package. It boasts a wireless point-and-click interface, connectivity to WiFi, and even streams Netflix instantly to your TV. It didn’t take me long to get on board with the Wii, though. I still don’t know why it worked, but it always did. MAYBE using a q-tip if the game still won’t operate. My idea of cleaning a video game system was always blowing into the cartridge receptacle, and then blowing in the cartridge itself. When it comes to video games, I still dig the old school, original Super Mario Bros.

I resisted the lure of the Nintendo Wii when it first came out.

Wii disc reader cleaner