- Personalize your Wii Menu by making one of your favorite digital images from an SD memory card as the Photo Channel icon.
- The Wii console will replace MP3 compatibility with the ability to play AAC files, which provide a greater sound quality than an MP3 of the same size. This new compatibility will work with MP4 audio files in the .m4a format. Additionally, you can now choose to have the songs play back in a random order.
*Wii consoles sold in retail stores starting in December 2007 should include AAC file support.
*For Wii Console owners without the AAC file compatibility, you can download the updated version of the Photo Channel from the Wii Shop Channel starting in early December 2007. Please note that once you download the updated Photo Channel (ver 1.1), you will no longer be able to play MP3 format music files.
Additionally, consumers who purchase a Wii console with the updated Photo Channel (ver. 1.1) already installed will not be able to install the previous version to support MP3 playback.
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I got so happy for a moment because I read the post too fast and I thought it said you can use any picture for your background on your Wii home screen. Just only on the channel picture though.
Haha thats what i thought right away too and got all excited, then i slowed down and read it and was like awwww crap!
i didnt know that we could play MP3's right now already, how is that? threw the photo channel, and now we can watch MP4's? i guess its better then nothing
They aren't replacing MP3's, just adding the ability to read mp4, correct?
Now they need to have the ability to play mp3's while doing general menu stuff (anything online, creating miis, etc.) instead of the default sound of the wii.
According to that they're getting rid of mp3 functionality..... that sucks!
AAC is the default for iTunes but I changed it to MP3 192Kbps so that it would be more versatile. Screw this
So what happens to the MP3's we have set up for games like Excite Truck...they just won't work anymore?
Wow, what's the deal with being unable to play MP3s?
That's a weird thing to do, Maybe MP3s are truly dying out in favour of MP4-Audio. Tbh, it doesn't affect me because nearly all my music is already in iTunes M4A.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to plug in my iPod and access the songs on it from the Wii? probably wishful thinking.
Very odd that they had to remove MP3 playback to put in what I thought was a less popular format.
According to that they're getting rid of mp3 functionality..... that sucks!
AAC is the default for iTunes but I changed it to MP3 192Kbps so that it would be more versatile. Screw this
My EXACT situation... this sucks balls
isn't AAC have better protection on it and that is what apple is using. Maybe we're seeing better apple integration with the Wii, which doesn't really help those of us who use MP3's...I mean we can convert them, but it just seems like another situation where Nintendo is out of touch with it's consumers.
Wow, what's the deal with being unable to play MP3s?
That's a weird thing to do, Maybe MP3s are truly dying out in favour of MP4-Audio. Tbh, it doesn't affect me because nearly all my music is already in iTunes M4A.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to plug in my iPod and access the songs on it from the Wii? probably wishful thinking.
Very odd that they had to remove MP3 playback to put in what I thought was a less popular format.
Yeah originally all my stuff on iTunes was m4a AAC 128Kbps, but then I realised that if I ever got another media playing device which didn't support AAC (e.g. Wii) that my music would be useless, so I converted a lot of them. Also it meant that I could play some iTunes stuff on WMP
I use AAC primarily because AAC-192 is comparable to MP3-320
And since 2004 I've been an iPod fanboy :3
So what happens to the MP3's we have set up for games like Excite Truck...they just won't work anymore?
i never even found out how to play music on Excite Truck
I guess I'm not concerned TOO much about this "update" (read: downgrade) to the channel until there's actually some USE for the music on our SD cards beyond one racing game I don't have and viewing pictures... but when there is, I guess I get to RE convert everything again
I just don't understand why they wouldn't leave MP3 playback in and ADD additional format support... seems stupid...
while they're making this worse, could they update flash on the opera browser?!?! PLEASE?
WTF Nintendo. To clarify, MP3 and MP4 are not really related. MP3 is really MPEG 1-Layer3 audio while MP4 is MPEG-4 video codec. I think they want a format that is copy protected, maybe so they do not support the downloading of mp3 files, which is really stupid.
Well, I'm sure they have their reasons. But not to keep MP3....?
it stupid but i dont ever play mp3's on it so im not too bothered.
perhaps to play the acc stuff whoever owns the rights to the file format said they had to remove support for mp3. i.e. trying to push there format..
This really doesn't affect me.
If I want to listen to music I have my I-pod and computer.
I never really took notice of this funtionality because it just seems cheap playing music through a photo channel...
Im just fussy.

I'm sure a Music Channel will launch at some stage. And NO, this is not fanboy dreaming. Anyone who knows me will know that I take a pessimistic approach to Nintendo in general. But perhaps now with the launch of AAC support they have an excuse.
What I was really thinking though, is that they could mimic Wii Fit. As in, launch a channel to go along with it i.e. when Wii Music launches later in 2008. Not just play music files, but you could do other related things in it; stat-tracking etc.
This is still pretty cool. I look forward to it.