Topic: New Wii Firmware Update Available

[WindyMan]

Give the gift of Virtual Console games by updating your Wii.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=14966

 A new Wii firmware update is now available from Nintendo.  The update can be downloaded via the Wii Settings menu.    

The new firmware, version 3.1, lets Wii owners purchase Virtual Console games for friends in a Wii owner's Wii Address Book.  The "Gift" option appears next to the "Download" button on a VC game purchase page.  The price of a gifted VC game is the same as one you would buy for yourself.    

If you choose to gift a game, you will be asked to select a friend from your Address Book to receive it.  If you select a friend that already owns the game, you will not be able to send them the game again.  A message appears stating that a friend could not recieve the game because they already have it, or possibly because they are in a different region than you.    

Also new for this update, Nintendo has included an option in the Wii Shop Channel Settings area (speaking of which, the Shop Channel has a new icon) that will allow people to turn off the ability to receive gifts, if they so choose.  If someone attempts to give a gift to someone that has this option turned on, they will receive the same generic message as if they were giving a game to someone that already owned it.    

Nintendo is also taking the update opportunity to remind everyone about the Photo Channel update that adds AAC music support, among other things, at the expense of removing MP3 support.  The Photo Channel 1.1 update is optional, but can be downloaded from the Wii Ware section of the Wii Shop Channel should you choose to get the new version.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Are you charged before or after you find out if your friend has the game or not?

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Nintendo has your money already.  You aren't charged unless your gift is actually delivered to your friend.

[Crimm]

That's good.  I could foresee something stupid happening and you being left out of your wii points.

[Kairon]

This firmware update is worth getting if only for the new Wii Shop Channel Splash Page.... oooohhh....aawwwwweeee....

[jpc168]

the photo channel update is odd... why couldnt they allow for both mp3s and aacs to be played?  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

because they suck

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: jpc168
the photo channel update is odd... why couldnt they allow for both mp3s and aacs to be played?

Because Nintendo doesn't want to be an "EITHER OR" company, but more of an "AND" company. [/Reggie paraphrasing]

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber
Nintendo has your money already.  You aren't charged unless your gift is actually delivered to your friend.

Awesome. That is all I needed to hear.

[pSYCO-gAMER321]

Taking out MP3 for AAC, awesome! I dislike the sound quality of mp3 in the first place. Anyways, I love this update. Freakin' awesome!

[KDR_11k]

Who even uses AAC? Give us MP3 and OGG please so we can actually play the music we have.

Also boo for "Your friend is in a different region".

[Ceric]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Who even uses AAC? Give us MP3 and OGG please so we can actually play the music we have.

Also boo for "Your friend is in a different region".

Seriously.  If the game is released in each region I see no reason to not allow inter-region gifting.  That sounds more like a back-end thing to me.  Nintendo could just send a note to the person saying that "X have gifted you Y Game Click here to Download" then get the appropriate version for the region.  Technically very doable.  The only sticking about you have is profit sharing.  Nintendo is very segmented branch wise it seems.  So NOE might not get the same amount if it was gifted from the US or Japan.  That is the biggest reason I see for doing that, and region locking now days period.

[Morari]

CENSORED FOR YOUR PROTECTION

[NeoThunder]

I don't know about anybody else, but the mp3 player software in the photo channel sucked.  Well less than half of my mp3 would play in it, and some would make it freeze up when it tried to play them.

The good news though is if you don't like ACC format, you can turn back the clock to version 1.0 by deleting the photo channel in the memory.

Does anyone know if the update allowed for any new types of video to play in the photo channel?  Or what types of videos exactly will play in the photo channel?

[Athrun Zala]

Quote
Originally posted by: NewsBot
The new firmware, version 3.1 (...)

actually, curiously enough, this update doesn't increment the version number... (3.1 was the October update)

and the AAC thing, the reason for that is pretty clear... cheaper licensing than mp3...

[IceCold]

The October one was 3.1U right?

[UltimatePartyBear]

I don't get it.  If deleting the 1.1 update restores the MP3 functionality, then that functionality was never really removed in the first place.  It was merely disabled.  What's the point of that?  Even if the licensing is cheaper, I doubt Nintendo can get refunds if we all download the new version.

Also, am I the only one who hates hearing "gift" used as a verb?  It's like whoever writes the shop channel copy doesn't know the word "give" exists.

[IceCold]

Quote
I don't get it. If deleting the 1.1 update restores the MP3 functionality, then that functionality was never really removed in the first place. It was merely disabled. What's the point of that? Even if the licensing is cheaper, I doubt Nintendo can get refunds if we all download the new version.

Nintendo's already paid for our MP3 licensing, but I assume the new Wiis will come with the new firmware, therefore without MP3 support.

Nintendo allowing us to delete the new version just gives us more options.