Everyone knows smoking's bad for you, but, until now, we didn’t know if it was also detrimental to the health of games consoles. Nintendo’s claiming that a build-up of tobacco is partly to blame for recent complaints about the quality of gameplay in Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Smokers to blame for SSBB gameplay problems?

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The Japanese company announced today that an accumlation of nicotine deposits and dust on the console’s optical disc drive lens is to blame for the poor performance. Complaints from punters range from choppy video playback to instances where the Wii can’t play the video game at all.

SSBB comes on a dual-layer DVD and is thought to be more sensitive to an ash-obscured lens. However, Nintendo did at least offer to clean Wiis free of charge for users returning their console, warranty card and SSBB disc to its service centre.

The offer’s only good for Japanese gamers, because SSBB hasn’t been released in Europe yet. But when it hits UK shelves on 30 April, at least you know where to stick a no-smoking sign.

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