Disc read error w/ Metroid: Other M USA after playing Japanese version

[oc_jcs_fan]

Hello. I've owned the USA version of Metroid: Other M on Wii for years and finished it ages ago and never had any problem with it. Recently I purchased the Japanese version of the game in order to play it with Japanese voices (which are missing from the USA version) and English subtitles on my USA Wii system. I was successfully able to play the Japanese version without issue using Riivolution to launch it, which is my go-to method (I don't use The Homebrew Channel or any other mods). It even made it's own separate save file, probably because the one USA is titled R3OE and the Japanese one R3OJ.

Thinking this was a good sign that I'd be able to swap back and forth playing both versions of the game (and launching the USA version normally, outside of Riivolution) I gave the USA version a try and the drive made a lot of noises and ended up displaying a black screen with white text saying, "An error has occurred. Press the eject button, remove the game disk, and turn off the power to the console. Please read the Wii operations manual for further instructions." This happened each time after a few attempts. I tried the Japanese version again via Riivolution and it played fine and read the recently created save file it made.

I tried a few things to no avail:

• I tried launching the USA version with Riivolution and it gave a disc error as well.
• I deleted the Japanese save file and relaunched the USA version via the Wii menu and got the same error.
• Thinking maybe there was a conflict with the Wii Message Board and what was played "Today", I checked and saw play entries for both USA and Japanese versions. I then bumped the Wii system calendar up 1 day in case there was a conflict of seeing two versions of the game on the same day, but that did nothing.
• Then I thought maybe my system is having problems reading any disc, or dual-layered discs (like Other M), but I tried Smash Bros Brawl/The Last Story/Metroid Prime Trilogy, all dual-layer discs, and they ran fine. I also tried Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy 2, both normal discs, and they ran fine.
• I next tried my USA Other M disc in vWii mode on my Wii U, thinking maybe my USA Other M disc went bad, but it worked fine there too.

So, something strange is going on. Is it possible that maybe the Japanese disc wrote something to the Wii internals and now there is a conflict when the USA version tries to launch? I don't think Riivolution itself writes anything to the Wii that is related to the region, but instead just bypasses the check (I could be wrong though). Any thoughts?

 

[oc_jcs_fan]

Update: I tried a few other things, to no avail:

• I tested all the other games I own that are said to come with System Updates, and they all worked fine.
• I deleted all my Metroid: Other M saves files from my Wii (both USA and Japanese) and tried playing the USA version again, but got the same error.

I forgot to mention the USA version's graphics DO show up in the disc channel, like before you click "Start", but yeah, after that it just makes a bunch of disc access noise and the error screen with white text on a black background comes up.

I'm curious if there's anything in the Wii system files that sets a region code on a per-game basis, and maybe Riivolution sets something, and now it can't be set back? Just brainstorming here... I don't know much about how the Wii works, and have only used Smash Stack and Letterbomb to install the Riivolution channel to play a few import games/translation patches. I would hope running the "Format WIi System Memory" could fix such a thing if I were to ever part with my Wii, but it bugs me that this is an issue in the first place

 

[ScaryHobbit]

Doesn't the Japanese version have both the Japanese and English VA's though? If so, you could maybe get away with sticking with that version if it continues to work over the USA version.