Earlier last week, controversy sparked over Nintendo’s decision to replace MP3 playback in the Wii Photo Channel with AAC playback. Turns out, the update will not be bundled in the next system software update and is an entirely optional, separate update for the Photo Channel. In addition, Nintendo says that the update will not affect games which take advantage of MP3 playback.

…it’s important to note that [the new Photo Channel] is an optional download and is not planned as part of any system updates to Wii. If your Photo Channel currently supports music files in the MP3 format, you can retain this compatibility by electing to not update your Photo Channel to version 1.1.

Additionally, this update will not have an impact on Wii games which use MP3 music files. These Wii games will not be compatible with AAC files and will continue to use the MP3 file format.

So there. Update or not, the choice is yours.

Wii Photo Channel update – if you don’t want it, don’t get it [Go Nintendo]

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