In a move that some may deem a little foolish, Nintendo have announced an upcoming upgrade for the Wii's photo channel service, replacing support for the world's most popular format, MP3, with AAC. Nintendo's official website states:
Check out these enhancements to the Photo Channel, which will be available in December, 2007.
-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.
