I've noticed that my late 2008 MacBook fans run a bit more recently. Often I can track it to various programs or...

What exactly is blinking? There's a couple of things you can reset. 1- The red reset button in the front hidden panel. 2- Try reseting the power brick, by unplugging it from the Wii and the wall power for 5 minutes. Also double check your wires and output settings (especially if you recently changed TVs).

It's a 2.5 ATA drive. Here's a guide on opening the unit and replacing the drive. Apple TV 1st Generation Hard Drive Replacement