May I ask a really dumb question right now?

Too much trouble to turn it off after playing Wii for 2~3 hours.

The blue LED will light up letting you know you have Wii-mail. Also, the various channels can download updates while your Wii sleeps, so that you don't have to wait for them when you turn the system on. The Mii channel is probably the best example, where your Miis will "travel" to your friends' Wiis, and their Miis will travel to yours. The Miis that show up in your Mii Parade then show up in games like Wii Sports and Wii Play.

I expect this feature will be used more in the future.  A few games already use it, with more planned.  More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiiconnect24

Hey Leo, I wouldn't consider the wii unreliable.  Unless there are way more cases of this floating around than anectodal evidence suggests, the failure rate is well within the standards for electronics.  You can just never make millions of these guys without a few that don't work properly.

edit:  Actually, the only console in recent history I'd say was unreliable is the xbox360 and Microsoft ponied up about the problems.  Even the legendary PS2 problems weren't really that much a problem compared to the number of consoles produced and sold.  They might not have lasted as long as a trusty NES, but then they were more complex electronic devices as well.

Agreed. I regularly have daily messages waiting for me in the morning/after work now.

I think its actually part of Nintendo's attempt to reduce server costs. Instead of everyone hitting the server for updates when THEY want, the server can timeslice - and send updates/Miis/messages out to people when the server is ready (i.e. at a regular pace). Makes a lot of sense really.

Its unlikely, but they could also do a lot more with this in the future. They could setup peer-2-peer connections between Wiis (when in WiiConnect mode) either for some form of BitTorrent/data sharing system, or just generally use the Wiis as part of a larger server cluster (when not running).

I think the P2P thing is actually fairly likely to happen in the future.  I wonder if anyone is packet-sniffing their Wii to see what it does while it's in standby?

I do not believe, for one second, that this is caused by WiiConnect24. I just cannot understand how the two can be related. I always have my WiiConnect24 on and nothing has ever happened. My best friend turns his system completely off and yet he got this "green dot" effect. We both have Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition and yet, mine is ok while his is not ok. We both got ours at launch (camped out together) so I am not sure how WiiConnect24 is being blamed as the main problem. Amazing how we are herded.

"It is well known that the reliability of electronic components decreases significantly if they are subjected to high temperature extremes or to large temperature swings, especially if these swings or cycles are frequent. These temperature cycles can be due for example to electronic loading (e.g. peak telephone traffic times) or seasonal day-night temperature differences."
source: http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6104611-description.html

"Ventilation of all electronics a serious issue. Buy A/V furniture with CAUTION, so as not to shorten the life-span of your costly components."
source: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7596_102-0.html?forumID=60&threadID=256055&messageID=2538803

"Excessive heat can shorten the lifespan of a drive, reduce the performance of the system, and ultimately damage its electronic components."
source: http://www.adrc.com.my/tips.html

"And yes, all electronics are affected by heat. Maybe they wont show right away but I very well may shorten the components lifespan significantly compared to a system in a cooler enviroment."
source: http://www.animenation.net/forums/showthread.php?t=196007

Just googled this right now.

It doesn't burn your chip right away, but it increases the chances of a problem happening. So the lifespan of your system decreases. I configured mine to not leave the wiiconnect24 when it is turned off.

rubido, we all know that excessive heat can damage electronics, but how hot does your Wii get when left on standby? Mine gets warm to the touch -- that's all. Furthermore, the fact that people who have experienced the green dots did not leave their Wiis in WiiConnect24 mode, and the lack of evidence suggesting that WiiConnect24 is related to this problem suggests that it's probably not causing this problem.