In recent weeks, more and more reports about The XBox360's Red Ring of Death have been circulating on the Internet. Now Nintendo's famous Wii console might also be suffering from a similar problem.

Computer and Video Games Magazine is reporting that the Wii's WiiConnect24 feature, which allows the Wii to go into standby mode while connected to a wireless network, is causing Wiis to develop overheating problems similar to the 360. Many gamers have complained about their consoles being broken after being left on standby with WiiConnect24 enabled for longer periods of time.

While Nintendo says their console uses very little power during standby mode, the console overheats because the internal fans are deactivated in WC24 mode.

"It is suggested that this heat is cooking the CPU, causing it to become faulty"

Nintendo advises Wii owners to contact Nintendo Service Centre for further advice if a fault occurs.

"In the meantime, if you're worried about your Wii burning up, just deactivate WC24 - it's proved to be a non-essestial feature so far anyway."

Tags : Nintendo : Wii : WiiConnect24

Comments

By: Dragonfly On: 04:43 Jul 20th, 2007 Offline	Two words. Oh dear. Although I'm sure these are pretty select cases (or else this would have caught people's attention a lot sooner), it's still a little worrisome. Guess I won't be using WiiConnect24 too much with my machine once I get it.

By: Magus On: 04:49 Jul 20th, 2007 Offline	I've never found a use for it anyway. My router is just outside the Wii's pickup range (10 metres), so it's got some difficulties connecting to the internet. The Weather and News channels on my Wii doesn't work. But for some reason, I am able to access the Shop Channel.

By: Black Convoy On: 02:01 Jul 20th, 2007 Offline	Mine is guilty of overheating. However, just turn it off and it's A-OK. I'm surprised people actually do the WiiConnect24. I knew right off the bat it would probably be harmful.

By: Dragonfly On: 08:52 Jul 21st, 2007 Offline	Just a curiosity? Is that hardware based, or would a software update allow the fan to run while it is in standby mode? Seems like a rather simple solution to what is a rather dumb problem.

By: Pedro The Hutt On: 08:55 Jul 21st, 2007 Offline	I haven't really had much trouble with it. In a few cases I did find my Wii to be quite hot so I turned it off. But most of the time it's "pleasantly warm" comparable to the temperature after playing with it for a few hours.

By: fsck! On: 09:04 Jul 21st, 2007 Offline	why not just invest an extra $15 and buy an external cooling system? I've seen them at EB games and gamestop, and they run all the time, I think.

By: FXgamer On: 05:25 Jul 22nd, 2007 Offline	Hi Guys, I have my Wii since launch and I haven't had much problem with it, until recently I had the black screen error from time to time. I Google a little and I found a great tech support site that have lots of problems and solutions. I am sure you will find some answers there. here is the page for http://www.fixya.com/support/p618512-nintendo_wii_console"]Wii problems & solutions[/URL]

By: Dragonfly On: 11:05 Jul 22nd, 2007 Offline	The link seems legit, so I'll leave it. Funny... the PS3 seems to be the most reliable machine on the market right now. That's a little sad, when you think about it. laughs

By: Magus On: 05:36 Jul 24th, 2007 Offline	The PS3 probably isn't being used to its full potential yet. Once it does, it'll probably blow too.

By: Corrine On: 03:20 Jul 24th, 2007 Offline	Ummm.... why would you leave your machine on standby 'for extended periods of time'? Why not just turn it off? O_o