Wait...wait?

They removed MP3 Support?

Screw that. What a scam.

Before everyone's panties simultaneously bunch you'll be happy to know that you can downgrade to the original version of the Photo Channel at any time. [www.nintendo.com]

Yeah...but seriously, why did they remove mp3 support? I'm confused.

Also, really don't care much since I NEVER, EVER use that feature.

And it's not like you won't be able to use any music - they're going to go, instead, with some strange, obscure new media format. Whii!

Has anyone ever used their photo channel? I heard of a man - once - but his tale is old now and the details have been lost.

Boring. Beep me when they open the "Everyone's Nintendo" channel.

People also need to keep in mind that this doesn't have any bearing on any games that might use mp3's. It doesn't mean the Wii can't play mp3's at all anymore. Just not in the useless Photo Channel.

Why did they remove MP3 support? Because of licensing fees? I don't see any other reason really. I don't even care that nearly everything including my toothbrush plays MP3 files, that's not the point. They just shouldn't remove anything that was originally there.

@ssjmichael: They replaced it with AAC.

Pokémon Snap is pimp

@Scorpi: Let it remain as a folk bed-time story for all the ancestors of Mr Iwata. Let it remain.

Screw AAC! I dont want to convert my mp3s! My Xbox 360 (with the 65nm chips) replaced my Wii to play music, since I can stream mp3s from my pc with it.

Hm, are you sure that the update won't be including the availability of Everybody's Nintendo Channel?

@V I |Z U $!: You don't have to convert, as the "upgrade" is (for now) optional.

@IAMDUDE70:

Yeah I know that, but why remove it? It's just a codec. Why not let it support both MP3 and AAC files? It's just stupid to me.

As Scorpi said, this affects only the Photo Channel, meaning that if for some ungodly reason you want to watch slideshows on your Wii then the background music has to be in AAC format. This affects absolutely nothing else.

I'd have noticed it.. If I could find a fucking Wii to buy!

@ssjmichael:

BECAUSE! They want to save people space on the SD cards! DUH!

I hate it as well.

SCREW this update! I'll update my Wii when I get that freaking DS demo channel.

What other "upgrades" does it give the photo channel? New ways of photoshopping your pics or is it still pretty much just as useless?

@ssjmichael:

It's called licensing. It doesn't affect games. Also mp3 to AAC coders are available for free.

@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename: But it is the task that is grueling.

the mp3-to-aac change isn't that big a deal (i can finally use my iTunes music now!), but they should've made a better positive change other than personalized icons in order to make the update sound better.

Idk but the new Wii Shopping Channel icon is fugly.

And here I was thinking that was a message from that mail toad in Super Mario Galaxy. (I JUST beat it and I get this blue glow...talk about coincidence)...

Too bad my dorm internet can't connect to my Wii. Ah well, I'll survive.

They didnt remove mp3 support in the whole console just on the photo channel.

KLotaku please dont fudge things to make a story. icome here because you didnt do things like this.

Games like excite truck still have mp3 support. This only applies to the photochannel itself.

@Scorpi: I do on all the holidays. I take pictures and videos of family and friends that come over and put it in the Wii and we all mess with the photos. People like it more than the games, generally. (seriously.)

My Wii's not glowing, but I did just see a baby pee on a woman in a Comcast OnDemand commercial...which is wee related.

The Wii Gift Feature only works within the same country settings. So No Inter-Region purchases or just a gift to a fellow player on the same continent.

@ssjmichael: No mp3 is because aac is better and costs less. MP3 requires some ultra-lame licensing fee while aac doesn't. Most people wouldn't dare to omit mp3 support but I kind of like Nintendo's brash approach. Everybody is going to use mp3 forever unless more companies pull moves like this.

@Padriac:

I know all about MP3 licensing trust me, but I have to wonder if that's the case for this exclusion. If it were licensing, why is it just excluded from the Photo Channel? The console would have disabled it completely if it were that way I believe.

Also AAC does require licensing too if you weren't aware. It's not open source like Ogg or FLAC.

So my Wii pulses blue EVERY DAY. My Wii has been getting the same 7 messages from Nintendo every day for the last three months. Apparently I'm the only one with this problem. Sigh...

@HiYonKrak: The Wii's a glowing now.

I blame time zones. We should just get rid of those, that way, when someone says "It's 4:20 somewhere," you have more of a right to slap the stupid out of their mouth. That, and I don't like the fact that my friend in Korea already knows what's happening tomorrow.

I am probably the only person on the planet that uses the photo channel. My wife loves it when I throw some pics of our baby up on the TV through the Wii with some song in the background. It is also nice to harass friends and family with pics of the baby as well.

It sucks that they got rid of mp3, but I can live with ACC since they finally have a shuffle option.

Plus, it is nice to fire up my Wii now and see a picture of my daughter in the menu.

Anyone else thinking "podcasts"? I know most podcasts are in MP3 format, but aren't some that are specifically tailored to iTunes in m4a?

I honestly have never used the photo channel and never think that I will. I have a computer. Enough said.

www.bradrealtalk.blogspot.com

I don't know, I use the photo channel from time to time. Plus, I like that I can now put whatever picture I want in the Wii menu. I mean, it's probably just going to be my girlfriends cat, but...

Plus, buying VC gifts is tight. Gives me a reason to find out peoples friend codes.

Hehe, I already sent one of my best online friends Super Mario Bros. 3 as an early Christmas gift ^_^. He's enjoying it right now lol XD

Ironic that I was just on the phone with Nintendo today trying to get my USB Adapter to work with the Wii (to no avail). It worked fine for a long time on my old computer and XP, then that computer broke, I bought a new computer that came pre-loaded with Vista and can't get the Wii online. I'd buy a wireless router, but I don't have any reason to spend the money outside of the Wii, which isn't reason enough.

oh no, installed that update already..

Is there a second game out yet that plays .mp3s beside Excite Truck? My guess is no but I haven't kept up as much with Wii news the last couple of months.

My biggest and most urgent question, though, did they add more sunglasses and star shapes to the doodle section?

@majortom1981: some of us actually use the photo channel as a low-end back door feature music player.

I would use my computer but my laptop has a horrible sound card, and Dolby Pro Logic II on my little surround sound system brinfgs new life to my audio. Atm it is the closet Nintendo will get to allowing user media and utilize the system as a media center. It is all I got.

It's all about licensing. Your mp3's will still work with the game and you don't have to upgrade. If you don't want it, then don't get it.

Sheesh, some of these comments seem a bit over the top when compared to the initial report.

So I finally mass enough Star Points to purchase a Wii points card enough to buy Pokemon Snap...

...and they're sold out. How can they be sold out of virtual data? Nice one, Nintendo.

Please, let's not repeat this particular discussion, OK? Thanks.

i think i know about this since i was woke up 5 FUCKING TIMES LAST NIGHT. that damn glowing disc slot is really annoying. and why did it do it five times? don't ask me, ask nintendo...

and FYI, update took 20 minutes for a lame change of a store appearance. how lame...

@Wuffles:

lmao! Are you serious? They sold out of a virtual console game? That's newsworthy in my opinion.

@Akmed:

Hey, can't you go into your Wii settings and disable it or turn the brightness down or something? I thought I saw a setting for that last night.

Not me, I unplugged that damn white box ever since I got messages from Toad every 5 seconds because Luigi got lost again.

@adamcole:

oh, i think you're right. i forgot about that lol. i'll look into it tonight.

Thank you, Kotaku, for the details on this issue when it was announced earlier; it saved me from downloading the update that I don't want because of the MP3 issue, even though the new version would let me use a picture of Peach in a thong as my photo channel icon.

When my Wii was glowing a lot a while back it was because there were new contests being announced on the second Mii channel. You can opt out of getting messages from that channel.

For those who are freaking out about losing MP3 playback support for the Photo Channel 1.1?

Download a transcoder program like MediaCoder ( [mediacoder.sourceforge.net] ) & convert your MP3's into the AAC format that works with version 1.1. THERE! PROBLEM SOLVED!

If you can't bother to do a little work, don't go crying to me when you miss out on another update!