Wahhh artifacts. Actually, the standby mode being the cause makes sense, but the strange part is that if you put your hand on the left of your Wii (being in upside position), right below the GC controller ports... that's the place that gets hot.

But that's NOT where the CPU, GPU or memory are located. They are closer to the connection ports (below the memory card slots). Fortunately I haven't had this issue, but what I do is this: I keep the covers of the GC controllers and memory cards open, that way the heat has slightly better dissipiation.

ok, so I finished RE4 bonus material last night and decided, I wanted to check out MP3. MP3 didn't have any video issues at all. [side note: MP3 is awesome] I still am positive its the Wii and not the RE4 disc since I can see the artifacts on the Wii menu. But, strange none the less.

 Yeah, you can absolutely backup saves onto the SD card and move them to another Wii.  There was one game I had that specifically didn't allow the saves to be backed up, but I forget which one.  I think Ishy must be thinking of the VC game channels.  Those can be backed up, but you cannot load them onto any other Wii than the one they were originally on.

There is also no evidence that these problems are NOT caused by WiiConnect24.

WiiConnect24 is designed to run without use of the fans, so people don't think the Wii is still on. And, theoretically, if you enclose your Wii into your entertainment center with no ventilation, it can lead to issues.

erm, there is evidence. Leave your Wii on standby connection. The fan turns off. After a while, touch the console. It's toasty warm. Toasty warm console + no air flow = overheating.

It's not solid proof, but it's evidence ;) and it's the most likely cause. 

Actually, since some have reported this problem without having used WiiConnect24, there is evidence that the problem is not caused by WiiConnect24.

The most likely cause is memory chips that don't meet the required spec.

I have touched the case when it's been in WiiConnect24 for over a week, it's warm.  Warm + no air flow = warm.  It's as warm as it's going to get after a week.  If it was hot enough to cause damage, you wouldn't want to touch it.

Look, I know this sounds like a good argument.  The fan is off, but the system is still running, therefore it must be overheating, but the Wii isn't like a PC.  It was designed on purpose with lower specifications, and it uses only a fraction of those in standby mode.  A typical CPU draws 100W of power all by itself, the entire Wii only draws 10W in standby.

If it really makes you feel better, go ahead and disable the WiiConnect24 feature.

Do you have your console standing up or lying down? I had it lying down, and when I touched it, it wasn't warm, it was hot. Now I have it standing up and it's only slightly warm.

With no fan, the heating up of the Wii will depend on many different factors. 10W is enough to create a decent amount of heat. The ventilation in the Wii is not fantastic, especially with the fan not on, so the whole thing heats up. It's actually radiating heat from the case of the Wii itself, rather than out the vent at the back. Then things such as where you place the Wii, is it in a small space? Is it on its side? is it lying down? These things all become important because it's not losing heat in the usual way (heatsink draws heat into air, which is then pushed out by the fan). The heatsink is drawing heat into already hot air which then radiates that heat away through the case of the Wii.

Eventually it gets to the point where the heatsink does very little as the temperature of the air inside the Wii approaches the temperature of the chip itself. If the case is hot to touch, you can bet the insides are cooking.

 strange, i'm getting the same thing. It started when I was about to fight Krauser, and since I didn't get it on the menu or even the typewriter savepoints in RE4 i thought it was the game not the wii x_X. I hope mine isn't breaking aswell

^ I get it also on the main menu near the 'am' or 'pm' in the clock and about a little further to the left of the clock. Basically series of dots in vertical lines. It's only more apparent in dark games like RE4.

On a side note I finally called Nintendo today, they are shipping me a label to mail it to them. They said the only way to keep all of your data is to send it to them and it will take about 2 weeks total time.