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Photo Channel

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Title Screen

Photo Channel

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Wii
Released internationally: December 10, 2007 (v1.1)
Released in JP: December 2, 2006
Released in US: November 19, 2006
Released in EU: December 8, 2006
Released in AU: December 7, 2006


DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
SoundIcon.png This game has unused sounds.
TextIcon.png This game has unused text.
Carts.png This game has revisional differences.


This Wii channel allows you to view photos, doodle on them, etc. and also let you make a slideshow of them with your own MP3 (or AAC in 1.1) files. It can also access images posted on the Wii Message Board (such as saved edited photos, screenshots taken from compatible games, and received Wii Mail attachments). Oh, it also plays moving photos - as long as they're Motion-JPEG in MOV or AVI containers!

The Photo Channel has been partially succeeded by Nintendo DSi Camera and Nintendo 3DS Camera.

Revisional Differences

The Photo Channel "1.0" (HAAA-v0) was a launch title for the Wii; it was followed by two minor upgrades (v1 and v2), which changed the kernel version from the then-only-available IOS9 to IOS13 and are otherwise currently undocumented.

Version 1.1 (HAYA-v1), released December 10, 2007, added and changed several features:

  • You can now set a favorite photo to be used on the Photo Channel's Wii Menu icon.
  • MP3 playback has been replaced with AAC playback.
  • You can now play songs in a random order.
  • The version number was added to the top-left corner of the channel's banner.

Version 1.1-a (as written on the banner; internally v2), released on July 22, 2008, adds Digicam Print Channel integration.

Version 1.1-b (v3), debuting along the SDHC-ready Wii Menu 4.0 on March 25, 2009, changes the kernel dependency to IOS61 for the same benefit, making this tied with the simultaneously-made-available Wii Shop Channel version for the second Wii title to support SDHC.

Technical Details

The Photo Channel 1.0 has titleID 00010002-HAAA. The Photo Channel 1.1 is not technically an update (a title with the same titleID and a higher version number, that would overwrite the older one) but rather a completely separate app, 00010002-HAYA. Both titles are installed on a sufficiently updated Wii, with the Wii Menu having special handling for deciding which one to display (while considering the version of HAAA and a third title, 00010002-HAZA, which only contains savedata).

On consoles that left the factory with the Photo Channel 1.0, HAZA will not be present, causing the Wii Menu to prefer HAAA. HAZA was a free optional download from the Wii Shop, claimed to be the actual Photo Channel 1.1, removable and reinstallable at will.

On consoles that launched with Photo Channel 1.1, a stub version of HAAA (v65280) not distributed via online updates is preinstalled (also causing the Wii Menu to prefer HAYA) and the user of a non-Japanese unmodified console will be unable to use Photo Channel 1.0.

(Note how the (normally impossible) presence of HAYA only is not sufficient to make it accessible.)

Unused Text

Print Service
Before you can order photo products, the Photo
Channel must close, and another channel will start.
Before you can order photo products, the Photo
Channel must close, and another channel will start.

You will lose any changes made to your photos
unless you post them to your Wii Message Board.

The Photo Channel has a feature to launch directly the Digicam Print Channel. Nintendo had plans to offer its service overseas (however it never happened), so there is some localized text for this (since, like the Mii and Shop channels, the Photo Channel is worldwide - except in Korea).

Normal UI with Digicam Print Channel
Photo Channel-SDCard-normalUI.png Photo Channel-SDCard-printUI.png

Even though this never happened, you can still see the option to switch to the Digicam Print Channel if you installed the Japanese WAD on a modded Wii, and also have an SD Card inserted with any displayable photos, since the Digicam Print Channel only uses photos from the SD Card, not the Wii Message Board.

Unused Sounds

There's some leftover sounds from Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! in the .brsar archive.

Present in SE_KIMAGURE_HINT.

Present in SE_KIMAGURE_SEIKAI. (Seikai means Correct Answer).

Present in SE_KIMAGURE_MACHIGAI. (Machigai means Mistake).

Development-Related Text

The CVS folder, present in the root of the 00000009.app archive (00000014.app in v1.1), contains several files (most without file extensions) holding leftover text from the development process:

v1.0
/TPLPhoto.tpl.LZ/1.16/Thu Sep 28 05:49:31 2006/-kb/Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2
/layout.arc.LZ/1.57/Sat Nov 04 10:16:24 2006/-kb/Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2
/nw4r_defcursor_all01.breff.LZ/1.1/Fri Aug 18 02:49:33 2006/-kb/Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2
/nw4r_defcursor_all01.breft.LZ/1.1/Fri Aug 18 02:49:33 2006/-kb/Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2
/rev_photo.brsar/1.21/Fri Sep 22 04:16:08 2006/-kb/Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2
D/homebutton////
v1.1
/TPLPhoto.tpl.LZ/1.19/Tue Apr 08 11:52:50 2008/-kb/
/home_nosave.csv.LZ/1.2/Wed Apr 09 06:45:25 2008/-kb/
/layout.arc.LZ/1.73/Thu Feb 12 01:35:46 2009/-kb/
/rev_photo.brsar/1.22/Fri Apr 11 05:53:21 2008/-kb/
D

Entries.Log (v1.1 only):

A D/homebutton////

Repository (both versions):

photo/DVD/content2

Root (both versions):

:pserver:itoyu@tosa:/usr/local/cvsrepo/revapps

Tag (v1.0 only):

Tbranch_SYSTEM_MENU_2

Build Dates

  • HAAA-v0: *** Photo channel: %s %s *** Oct 4 2006 17:44:54
(Source: 00000001.app @ 1A9318)
  • HAAA-v1: *** Photo channel 2: %s %s *** Nov 11 2006 21:25:17
(Source: 00000004.app @ 1AFF28)
  • HAAA-v2: *** Photo channel 2: %s %s *** Jul 9 2008 20:03:21
(Source: 00000008.app @ 1B06F0)
  • HAAA-v65280: MP3_photo_dummy.0708221150 ohizumi@TENMA
(Source: 00000007.app @ pretty much everywhere)
  • HAYA-v0: photo_070926_FINAL.0709261800 itoyu@ITOYU-WIN
(Source: 00000007.app @ 000000)
  • HAYA-v1: photo_080709_FINAL.0807092038 itoyu@ITOYU-WIN
(Source: 00000004.app @ 000000)
  • HAYA-v2: photo_090305_FINAL.0903050824 itoyu@ITOYU-WIN
(Source: 00000012.app @ 000000)