Topic: Bad News for Nintendo's WiiConnect24 in UK?

[Kairon]

Apparently, the UK has enforced an energy conservation law that outlaws standby features and encourages more energy efficiency. ... Is this Nintendo's version of Sony's bad news?

Say it ain't so!

Quote
The British Government is enforcing a new law which requires standby features of appliances to be slashed from product designs.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It's not a multi-funktion entertainment appliance, it's a game machine!

It's only bad news for the "wannabe" media boxes!

[Flames_of_chaos]

Nintendo stated when the Wii is in sleep mode it stays online and while it sleep mode it uses less power than a lightbulb does to keep it powered on .


Edit: If this law also applies to fridges and freezers how the hell are people going to have their food properly refridgerated.

[ThePerm]

the uk has all the power it needs..i mean 1 nuclear plan should keep it powered FOREVER

[Ceric]

That is until the Jacobs Ladder craze.

[Smash_Brother]

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Some mentioned products by the Government include set-top boxes, chargers, televisions, lighting, freezers, fridges, washing machines, and computers. These must be created in a more energy-efficent manner, and standby features will no longer be tolerated.

Doesn't anyone in England realize that there are no televisions, freezers, fridges, washing machines, or computers being manufactured in England? How do they plan to alter how these devices function when they're made primarily in Asia?

[IceCold]

What is it with Kairon and the UK all of a sudden?

[wandering]

...Indeed! First attacking Doctor Who, and now this? What would Judi Dench think?

Anyway, Kairon's anti-UK propaganda to the contrary, the Wii should be in the clear:

Quote
Fortunately, it's not going to happen. The source for these claims, a new Energy Review (large PDF) produced by Her Majesty's Government, does point out the need to reduce Britain's thirst for standby juice, which consumes nearly 8 percent of all electricity in UK homes. As the report notes, though, all the government wants to do is "limit stand-by power consumption."
...
To reduce their electric draw, the UK is helping to push the International Energy Agency's One-watt Plan (PDF), which (as the name implies) wants such devices to use no more than a watt of power while in standby.

[Kairon]

Wait! No! It isn't like that! I love Judi Dench! I love the British! I love Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf and the Spoony Bard!

I want to see Mr. Darcy in a wet T-shirt! I DO!

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Renny]

Sound like Energy Star. Most of the electronics I buy are Energy Star compliant, using around 1 watt in standby. I don't think the Wii could meet that kind of requirement with an active network connection.

[Ceric]

It could.  You wouldn't be getting blazing speeds but it could just keep a lifeline.  I'm fairly sure that even it was downloading something it would be finding the appropriate speed to energy use ratio.  You might only be downloading at 20 kb (I was originally going to use 1 Mb) but considering there isn't a demand for it until some future date it doesn't matter about the speed.  When the Wii is fully on then it probably turn the throttle up.  You wouldn't want it sapping to much of a persons connection anyway because the complain.  Though anyone else here think that when you get a Wii 2.4 Ghz is going to be really crowded?  Wii, Router, Wiimotes.  Not to mention Phones, other 802.11 bg compliant devices.

[Plugabugz]

Things like WiiConnect24 may be a problem here in the UK. As speeds get ever faster, (ADSL Max now allows up to 8mb) we're seeing usage limits as well as the introduction of "free" broadband. Both of which come with limits, and in some cases as low as 2gb per month.

Gaming online wont be a problem, but an "off" console nipping online to do it's laundry isn't helpful for those who may have monthly bandwidth quotas.

[Ceric]

Here in the States and I think it fairly safe to say in Japan as well speed is the only thing you pay for.  Caps are only placed on what I'm going to call "Novelty Internet", think cellphones.   Back in the day you use to pay by the hour.  There were some good text based games then but, after it went to a monthly rate no one wanted to go back.  Everyone is always talking about toasters and the like connected to the Internet as the next big thing.  Nintendo probably didn't think about people with caps because they seem to be a small part of their core demographic and developers, no offense.  I'm sure that by know Nintendo has been informed by there Europe division and are thinking of ways to stop WiiConnect24 if the user so desires.  But theres always pulling the plug .

[wandering]

I'm sure WiiConnect24 is optional...

edit:

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But theres always pulling the plug .

Not with the Wii's internal battery! There's no escape! Nintendo's taking over the world, living room by living room!

[Ceric]

Please we all know that the "We" in Wii is really talking about the Wii-human integration that will occur upon purchasing.  It then no longer needs an "Internal Battery" or the wall plug it has it's human component to provide Energy for it.  Project H.A.M.M.E.R. is really a training manual on your new life as a human-Wii hybrid in service to your Nintendo masters.  Reggie was an early test subject hence we haven't seem him of late.  It will make yours and everyones life better and its a win-win for Nintendo.  They will no doubt make a small profit off each Wii and since it can only be 1 Wii per person.  They get a slave and a small profit.  In Europe wanting to stay connected to there masters the Wiites will link there minds together in an adhoc matrix of connection.  Pooling there bandwidth resources together.  Once the cap is used on one connection they will focus on another.  We will also become the most energy star compliant appliance.  We take no power from the grid and run off of green energy sources.  All Hail the Wiites and there Nintendo Masters and Entertainer Providers! *slaps chest and clicks heels*

[Infernal Monkey]

What a crisis! I guess NoE's just gonna have to try their best to make the Wii a complete and utter failure like GameCube and GBA then! (DS coming soon!)  

[Ceric]

I have complete and utter faith in NoE in there ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  Only the Wiites of the world can save Europe but it will take time.  (On a serious note.  Europe did get the black DSLite.)

[thejeek]

I really wouldn't worry about this. The UK government are forever coming up with pointless unenforceable schemes like this, only to backtrack later when it turns out that nobody takes a blind bit of notice of anything they say.

Oh, and BTW, @whoever said one nuclear power plant would do us FOREVER - we already have 23 and they provide less than a fifth of our power...

[Ceric]

Dang.  I'm fairly sure that's more then hear in the States.  Are you sure you government isn't selling a lot of the power to the rest of Europer.  Dang.

Edit: Take that back.  I found this.  Ok so we have over a hundred.  Where I live most of power comes from Hydroelectric dams, some coal, I think 1 nuclear is in there jurisdication, and we have a Wind Power Plant, Solar arrrays (Some on top of the busses to an amusement park that feed to the grid.  How weird is that?) and 1 plant that uses sewage to produce electricity.  

[Ian Sane]

"If this law also applies to fridges and freezers how the hell are people going to have their food properly refridgerated."

I wouldn't really consider a fridge to ever be in "standby" mode.  It's pretty much "on" and doing its function all the time.  I assume the idea is for devices that are functionally "off" but are still sucking juice.  Personally I hate "always on" stuff so I really don't care if they put a law in preventing them.  Electronics that never really turn off have never provided me with any advantage but a higher electric bill.

I think the WiiConnect24 idea is dumb anyway so if this will make Nintendo reconsider it that's good.  I'd like the ability to turn the 24 thing on or off so if I choose to download things while I'm sleeping I can but I can turn the whole thing off too if I want.  If they put something like that in they can just disable the ability to turn it on for units shipped to the UK.

[Requiem]

Ian:

Nintendo is giving you the oppurtunity, through WiiConnect24, to have content readily available, even while you sleep. Wanted to try out the next new Wii/DS game? Hell, just turn on your Wii and it's there. Want to send your buddy, who lives thousands of miles away, a message? Have at it. And don't worry, even if he isn't presently there, the next time he boots up his Wii he'll see that you sent him something.

How is that a "dumb idea"? I think it's brilliant!

Nintendo, as a company, is trying to give us incentives to actively participate with our Wii's (har har) everyday. The only way to acheive that goal is if there is a reason to turn on the damn thing everyday.

What would you propose? How else could you acheive the same goal?

[Ian Sane]

"What would you propose? How else could you acheive the same goal?"

Same thing only I can turn the damn thing off if I want to save energy or bandwidth without having to unplug the thing.  It's as simple as that.  Just put a setting in the menu that says WiiConnect24 On/Off.  If you turn it off it's only online when you have the console turned on.  Plus I want the ability to pick and choose what I download.  I don't want Nintendo deciding that for me.  I f*cking hate it when any company decides things for me.  What if Nintendo decides to change a game and I like it the way it is?  If I don't have the choice then I can't stop them from doing that.  All of the functionality of the WiiConnect24 would still be available if it was optional (ie: I want to download a demo overnight so I just temporarily turn the function on for a night) and most of it is usable even without it (ie: you don't need to keep your PC on 24/7 to receive email or get automatic updates).  There really is no reason to FORCE a 24 hour standby mode on everybody.

[Requiem]

Oh, I think it's definitely going to have an option asking you if you want to download "Demo X" or not. Nintendo would be stupid to force that upon you. Especailly when talking about patches. How is Nintendo going to know you own the game in the first place?

Instead, I think once you turn on your console (which boots up really quick btw), it'll go to a menu showing you that you have this many (#) downloads available, this many (#) messages unread, someone left you a gift in AC etc. etc.

Basically, it'll become your little hub world for all things gaming (especially with the inclusion of Opera). And if you want to download something, I'm sure it will have an option to this effect "Download next time I power off the console." So you can check off a bunch then pass out only to wake up to new games and such.

But, I see your point. There really is no major reason to have your console on 24 hours a day. Unless........... unless there is something like that AC example Nintendo always mentions. Where I can roam your village while your asleep. Something like that would NEED your console on in order to work.

However, that idea isn't even that intriguing (unless of course, AC is dope as sh!t). Still, the possibilities are out there, we just aren't creative enough to see them.

/rant  

[Smash_Brother]

First of all, Ian, you don't have to worry about downloading things you don't want. Why? Because it costs Nintendo money in bandwidth every time a user downloads ANYTHING. They're not going to literally throw money away via spending bandwidth on something the user didn't want in the first place.

In AC, you can tell the system whether or not you want it to receive bulletin board updates. I expect Wii24 to be no different: the only content it'll download automatically is content you've told it to download beforehand. I'm sure you can check the "give me everything" box or you can choose to go in and download it manually.

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Originally posted by: Requiem However, that idea isn't even that intriguing (unless of course, AC is dope as sh!t). Still, the possibilities are out there, we just aren't creative enough to see them.

Second, my guess would be that this is indeed the case.

Nintendo wouldn't go out of its way to put money into a feature and a service which they themselves didn't have some big plans for. I can't think of what they'd do with it, beyond an AC town (which would still be pretty damn neat, as currently, you need to schedule the arrival of others in your town because you can't just leave your DS on all day), but I'm sure they have some ideas which we haven't considered.

It's just not like them to go the distance on something which will require additional money even AFTER it's created unless they planned on using it to offer some features which will make games more salable as a result.

[Ian Sane]

"unless there is something like that AC example Nintendo always mentions. Where I can roam your village while your asleep. Something like that would NEED your console on in order to work."

People can screw that up by just unplugging their console anyway.  Whether Nintendo likes it or not we CAN still turn off our Wii's.  I'm merely arguing that there should be a more official way of doing it than just yanking the cord from the wall.

"First of all, Ian, you don't have to worry about downloading things you don't want. Why? Because it costs Nintendo money in bandwidth every time a user downloads ANYTHING. They're not going to literally throw money away via spending bandwidth on something the user didn't want in the first place."

I was thinking more of patches or upgrades like when Windows automatically downloads updates.