It’s tough enough for Game Guy to play a game through to the end, perhaps master it, before discussing it in this space. He doesn’t have a huge staff to rely on for constant, rigorous testing; it’s all done on his own. So he picks games carefully, sifting through a lot of … well, crap … to find ones that are worth his time.

The ones that don’t work at all, he doesn’t bother reviewing. In Game Guy’s small world, time is money — and he’s in no mood to waste either.

But that’s what happened with “Super Smash Bros Brawl,” the much-anticipated, highly marketed crossover fighting game published by Nintendo for its Wii console. It was released this past weekend, but Game Guy acquired a copy several days earlier, hoping to have a review completed by this time.

Instead, all he got was the on-screen message “Unable to read disc.”

The reason? Dust, says Nintendo.

Yes, dust.

You see, the way Nintendo explains it, dust that collects on a Wii’s disc drive lens might interfere with the system’s ability to read SSBB’s content. The game comes aboard a double-layered disc, and any dust on the lens would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Wii to read the disc’s content properly.

Which is fine; life can be dusty at times. But solving the problem takes much more than spraying a little Endust on a rag and wiping things down (Which Nintendo expressly urges you do not do).

No, Nintendo asks that you pack up the entire Wii and ship it back to the factory for cleaning. The company insists on its customer service Web page that it has the proper tools for the job. Simply returning SSBB to the retailer and exchanging it for another copy won’t solve the problem.

The cost: free, including shipping. Just fill out this form at Nintendo’s website.

Estimated time until the Wii’s return: That depends on what kind of shipping is available to you, according to the website.

Game Guy insists, though, that maybe dust isn’t the only problem. That’s because he tried playing SSBB on two systems — one older and probably somewhat dusty, and another that was pulled right out of the box. Both gave him the same “Unable to read disc” message.

Game Guy called Nintendo for an opinion on this. He’s still waiting for an answer.

So, folks, before you box up that Wii and send it away, set “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” aside, play your other games and wait to see whether there might be another less goofy reason for the game’s failure to load. Because if mere dust is the real reason, Game Guy suspects all heavy Wii users might have to ship their Wiis out for cleaning two or three times during the lifetime of the systems.

And Game Guy doubts Nintendo is inclined to acknowledge — certainly not pay for — something like that.