If you haven’t already done so, be sure to get your hands on a SD card! You can find really cheap ones at TigerDirect.ca. I myself, purchased a Transcend 2GB card for $35.99 – what a steal! (now: $31.99 CND)
With an SD card you’ll be able to:

1. Store photos
2. Store game saves
3. Store games downloaded from virtual console
4. Store future available download-able content
5. Store mp3’s to play
6. Use as a storage device for any file types, even those not compatible with the Nintendo Wii

It is fascinating how far we’ve come with technology. We’re able to squeeze 2GB’s of storage into a card the size of my thumb. This hard drive from 5+ years ago is also 2GB – notice the size difference?

Once you have your hands on your SD card I would immediately transfer over some photos. You’ll be able to transfer complete folders to keep your albums separate and organize. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Wii won’t recognize the folder structures, but it will know to search for all photos on the device, regardless of how many folders there are.

When you start the Photo Channel, you can see all your photos. If you have more than fits the screen (in my case 700+) you’ll be able to zoom out as far as you like to see all the photos. A neat feature is that it will separate the photos by year. This can be really cool if you plan on showing photos to family from previous years.

The main core of this program is the slideshow. You can start the slide show and chage three preferences:

1. Photo sequence – random or by date
2. Mood – nostalgic, simple or dramatic
3. Music – choose from 6 preset or upload your own mp3’s!

Based on your preferences you can begin to create quite the professional slideshow.

But wait, this is Nintendo, so where’s the fun-factor?? I’m glad I asked myself this question, I almost forgot to share with all of you the possibilities. You can choose a photo and change the brightness, invert the colours, darken it or make it black and white. You can also take individual photos and draw on them with a pen tool. You can use some pre-made pictures (sun glasses, hearts, stars) and splatter them all over your photo.

The real fun-factor in this is where you can take a photo and make it into a puzzle. Nintendo will cut the image up for you into 6 different pieces and using the Remote you will then put it back to the original photo. You do have the option to choose 12, 24 or 36 pieces!! I did the 36-piece puzzle for a Christmas cake which took me about 6 minutes. Those are some tiny squares!
Thanks Nintendo for providing an effortless and fun program to help show off my photos! You’ve made me look like a pro in front of friends and family.

But enough talking, start watching! (Demo)