Nintendo recently released Metroid: Other M to mixed reviews, in spite of it being a much-hyped and somewhat eagerly anticipated game. Some have complained that the game strays too far from the roots of the series, with Samus coming off as more of a weakened, watered-down version of her usual bad-assed self. However, the biggest complaint of all surrounds an apparent glitch with the game, a glitch that causes players' progress and save files to be erased.

Nintendo has finally confirmed the glitch, which takes place after obtaining the Ice Beam. If you get the Ice Beam, and then travel backwards to defeated the two-legged enemy behind you, rather than exiting through the nearby door, you will lose all of your progress. It's a pain in the ass, especially since Nintendo doesn't offer software patches for individual games, opting for what many see as a more vigorous QA process, which normally means games don't end up on shelves with these kinds of bugs.The good news is that there is now an official, Nintendo-sanctioned remedy for the problem. The bad news: you have to physically mail your save game to Kyoto, Japan. That's right, in order to work around this issue, you'll have to pony up the dough to save your game to an external device, and then pay to have it sent to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Of course, these kinds of problems, when they occur on PS3 or 360, can be fixed with a downloadable update. But, as with many other things in this console generation, the company seems set in their ways of doing business in their backwards fashion.

If you're interested in sending your save file back to Nintendo, the address is:

Nintendo Service Center "Metroid Other M" Dept
56 Kaguraden Ogura-cho
Uji, Kyoto 611-0042
Japan

[Source]