Dr. Mario problem

[sszd]

My wife and I have been playing Dr. Mario for quite a number of years now. Recently, we've been having a problem that I'm not sure what to do about. It seems when you go to drop a pill with the fast drop (using the up arrow), the pill will shift either left or right (usually to the left) and completely miss the intended drop point. I've also seen this happen with the down arrow (a fast drop but not the instant drop like the up arrow), and sometimes I can correct the pill with the left or right arrows (in time), but not always. When this first started happening I thought maybe the batteries were simply low. I've tried replacing them and it still happens. Then I thought the controller was bad. I've tried every controller I have (4 of them), and they all do the same thing. Some worse than others, but nevertheless, they all still do it. I even went out (out of frustration) and bought a brand new controller. It also experiences the same problem (even worse than some of my original controllers). Sometimes, when I first load up the game, I can play a few games before the problem begins happening, but it will eventually start.

We've been playing for years with no problem like this at all. Then, a few months ago, I believe, is when it started. It happens to both my wife and I, so I'm fairly certain we're not fat fingering the controller. Besides, I've tried everything I could think of to fix this. It is extremely annoying and makes it virtually impossible to play a game. Have other people seen problems like this? I think I've even noticed it on rare occasions happening to my online opponents, but I can't talk to them obviously, so I can't claim it definitely happened to them when I've seen a pill go where it certainly didn't seem like it was intended. Anyway, one thought that occurred to me... has Nintendo made modifications to the game in any way that is causing some software bug to rear its ugly head? Or maybe the servers are having problems? Maybe its a WIFI or router problem? I just don't know. I've been experiencing this for a while now and have gotten to the point that it just doesn't seem worth playing anymore. Which is unfortunate because this is one of the few games we both really enjoy. If anyone has any thoughts on this, or have experienced this themselves and have a possible solution, please left me know. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[Splash_King]

I've always felt that the Wii Remote's directional pad can be a tad inaccurate when quickly changing what you're pressing. What I mean by this is that, for example, if you quickly slide your finger from left or right to press down, it'l often think you're still holding the previous button for a split second. I've also noticed the occasional inaccurate input which is indeed not caused simply by fat fingering the D-pad. It can seem like the buttons don't always yield what you're pressing on rare occasions in my opinion.

I'm led to believe it's the controllers' design faults overall, sadly. Not something easily fixed, if fixable at all. If a Classic controller can be used to play Dr. Mario perhaps said controllers would be more accurate, though I can imagine buying yet another two controllers would be a rather irksome waste of money... Particularly if the problem still persists even in this different controller.

 

[sszd]

Thanks for the input. It does seem odd though that we didn't seem affect by this "design flaw" for several years. Like I said, it just started happening sometime earlier this year.

 

[Splash_King]

I played my Wii heavily for quite a few years, and I don't recall ever noticing this issue early on in my gaming days. Though the Wiimote itself is quite study, perhaps the D-pad is not...

 

[sszd]

I don't know what a D-pad is. All my joy sticks are standard wii remotes (except the one I just purchased, which has the built-in motion sensor.

 

[Splash_King]

Abbreviation for "Directional Pad"; the directional buttons most-every controller has.

 

[sszd]

Now I feel stupid. I guess I should have figured that out. Anyway, I still think something changed with their online connectivity, servers, or something. I tried a little experiment and played against the computer for a while and didn't seem to experience this issue. For now, it only seems to be affected by online play. Is it possible someone has found some kind of hack that will mess up their opponents by messing around with their pills?

 

[Splash_King]

There're hacks for every game and likewise, every game has a hack capable of almost every cheating effect you can think of. However, I can assure you that isn't the cause. There's simply no way every single opponent you play against would be using hacks, none the less the very same hack each time.

If it's only affecting online play, it's possible that lag might simply be the problem. No matter how great your own connection is, it will always have to play at the same speed as the other person's. Due to lag, the game might think you're pressing a button more times than normal/holding it down longer than you really did.