Topic: Wii newbie. Are flickering vertical lines normal?

I just recently purchased a used Wii from an Amazon seller. This is my first Wii so please bear with me as I am a total newbie. (I only got it because I wanted something cheap for getting into the Just Dance series. I realize the console is old but I'm not a big gamer so I don't care.)

There are some thin flickering lines running vertical, evenly spaced across the screen. I only see them on the Wii menu screens, I can't see them on game screens (such as my Just Dance games). I'm using the standard AV cables. Do these lines on the menu screens mean something bad? I need to know so I can contact the seller if this is a problem. Would the lines possibly go away if I get some component cables?

Here is a picture of what it looks like on my tv. (hdtv, about 47 inch)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/gilmoregirlz/IMG_3273.jpg

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

It doesn't look like a composite/component issue, rather it looks like some sort of digital encoding error (either the way your console is converting the video to analogue, or the way your TV is converting it back to digital).

If it were me, I'd try testing it with another TV (either a friend or relative's).
Best of luck and I hope you get to the bottom of this!

@shinesprite: Thank you for the suggestion! I tried the Wii console on the tv in the bedroom (another hdtv, different brand) and it had the same exact lines. So I'm thinking this means it is probably something to do with the console itself.

Is this bad? Does it mean it will fail soon, or it has a video card problem or something like that? Again, it seems to only be on the Wii menu screens. The lines aren't there on games.

It can't hurt to try component cables to see if that helps. They are cheap and easy to find online for only a few bucks, especially on Ebay. The good thing is that the lines don't appear on the games, so the system is probably ok. Plus the games will look a bit sharper with the component cables anyway, so give it a try! Good luck!

I've realized the lines are also showing on things like MiiChannel and Netflix, though it's a slightly lesser degree than it is on the system menus. I can also see hints of the lines during games, but they hide themselves well during games due to all the different colors and on-screen movement. I'm getting more concerned so I went ahead and emailed the seller to see if it was doing this when they had it.

I suspect its more likely an issue with the cable rather than the system. It may also be worth blowing into the socket you plug it into on your TV!

I used an air puffer to blow into the sockets today and that didn't help. I'm going to borrow one of my cousin's Wii cables and try that to see if it is a cable issue. At this point I'd be thrilled if it's the cable because I can easily replace that.

if that doesn't work, call Nintendo see if they can replace whatever causing that.
Good Luck on figuring out how to get the console to work.