It was a fairly good year for Wii updates. We got a few major firmware updates, a few new channels, this and that. Nothing that would deprive the Wii of its current abilities. That is til early December. The Official Wii website slipped out some new info on an upcoming update that might not be so great.

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.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like converting 12 gigs of music to AAC format to achieve “higher quality” listening in the photo channel. If anything I thought Nintendo would go ahead and make a separate channel for just personal MP3 listening. Instead, it looks like we’re going in a whole different direction. I know a majority of us don’t use the Wii as a music player, but why take away what little is there?

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