The new service from Nintendo will allow the Wii to communicate with the Internet even while powered down.

Allowing gamers to keep their Wii on standby (and thus apparently using only the power of a tiny lightbulb), the console can communicate via the Wi-Fi Connection allowing new content to be downloaded onto the machine, or for other players to interact with you while you sleep.

One example given was that of an Animal Crossing game - where players can visit the town of another player while they are using WiiConnect24 and leave them messages even though they aren't there. This new level of gaming reality wasn't talked about in depth, but is one of the last pieces of the Wii puzzle that Nintendo is putting into place.