Wii Remote Problem...Please help

So everytime I try to play a 2 or more player game only one of my wii remotes will work. When on the menu screen all the remotes will be lit but as soon as I go into a game, it boots the other remotes off and they will not respond. I have tried syncing them repeatedly and calling Nintendo directly did absolutely nothing. Has anyone else run into this and if so what can I do to make the remotes work on 2 player games again?

I know with new super mario bros wii, you have to go into the multiplayer mode (where you pick your characters) for the other wii motes to turn on, otherwise they will turn off right after you sync them. Hope this helps