MPlayerWii, a native port to the Wii of the popular MPlayer program, has been updated to version 0.03, courtesy of homebrew developer fcorbier. In case you missed the previous releases, this port is already capable of playing a number of audio and video formats, including MP3, Quicktime, WMV, DivX, and even Flash Video.

This build sees a lot of new features added to the program, including the addition of volume controls on the wiimote. The biggest update though, is the addition of USB storage support. Unfortunately, this is still in its early stages so reading from the USB is still slow, and would only be practical for MP3 files. Here's the changelog:

• added USB storage support (USB reading is dead slow unfortunately, only good for MP3 files)
• added volume controls (Up/Down buttons on the wiimote)
• added wiimote buttons repeat during playback
• added preliminary test network streaming (shoutcast and mms)
• longer filename display in the file selection screen
• fix for widescreen aspect ratio (uses the Wii display settings)
• more audio playback fixes

• MPlayerWii v0.02 - faster SD reading, optimized audio playback
• MFE-Wii - open source media player using Linux on Wii
• DragonMedia Player v0.07 Alpha - lossless audio, XING MP3 support added
• GeeXboX - Media Center prototype for the Wii