WiiSpeak
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Nintendo announces Wii Speak Channel
As one of the last two announcements for their fall media summit, Nintendo has announced the Wii Speak Channel for use with the Wii microphone (pictured, from E3 2008). According to Cammy Dunaway, up to four people can chat together, and the microphones will come with a coupon to download the channel. Of course, this leads to a plethora of other questions, such as: release date, price (if not buying with the microphone), can a USB mic be substituted, what else can we do with the channel besides speak? We're not holding our breath waiting for answers anytime soon.
Nintendo sneaks Wii Speak Channel announcement out
Nintendo plans to introduce an independent Channel for the WiiSpeak peripheral, planned for release in Japan on November 20. Nintendo of America plans to release the channel stateside on November 16. It'll be a free download with the WiiSpeak.According to NOA's announcement, it works for up to four groups, with each participant in each group represented by a Mii. The Channel allows sending of voice messages and photos. It's simple, yes, but at least people who buy the peripheral outside of an Animal Crossing bundle will have something to do.
Animal Crossing: Timely Folk
One thing Animal Crossing: City Folk won't be replicating from previous Animal Crossings is the horrendous delay in getting a PAL version out. Wild World on the DS took nearly four months to cross the Atlantic to Europe, while Animal Crossing on the GameCube turned up two years late (though lucky Australia had to wait for only thirteen months).This won't be the case for the Wii game, which will launch in Europe this December, where it will be known as Animal Crossing: Pointless, Overlong, Awkward Subtitle Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City and come bundled with WiiSpeak. Happy news for any Europeans who thought they would miss out on any vital, fruit-related conversation at Game Night!%Gallery-27704% KK says: buy Animal Crossing: City Folk to visit the city, reach out to friends, and make Iwata cry!
Point/Counterpoint: WiiSpeak vs. ISpeak
Nintendo, who recently introduced the stick controller and the scale controller, is at it again, with the WiiSpeak, a microphone that you put on top of your TV so a whole crowd can share in voice chat as they play Animal Crossing (and, later, other games). Voice chat isn't new, of course, but voice chat for a whole room is.Is this a worthwhile innovation? Is Nintendo's new approach really preferable to just wearing a headset and having conversations with your Internet pals? Will having the mic several feet away even be a workable solution? We obviously don't know, but we can debate about what we think. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; }
Amazon opens WiiSpeak preorders
WiiSpeak isn't the kind of thing we can imagine selling in Wii Fit quantities, but it's getting hard to tell nowadays. Maybe the microphone add-on and Animal Crossing: City Folk will be overshadowed by the other big first-party release of November, and supplies will be plentiful, but why take the risk? You can now preorder your own WiiSpeak at Amazon, and rest assured that you'll be able to bitch behind Nook's back with your Wii Friends from day one. Hang around now, and you may be confined to the keyboard.[Update: Removed potentially confusing comment]%Gallery-27704%[Via Punch Jump]
Animal Crossing/WiiSpeak bundle gets priced
The WiiSpeak microphone add-on should add a fresh dimension to the Animal Crossing: City Folk experience, and having awkward conversations with fellow internet people about fruit prices won't even be that expensive. Nintendo reps have informed a GameStop manager's conference in Las Vegas that the City Folk and WiiSpeak bundle would retail at $69.99 (the equivalent of 423 apples, five Porcelettas, and a Red Snapper at today's dollar-to-Bells rate) when the game releases in November.That's a tenner less expensive than purchasing the game and peripheral separately, and obviously you'll be able to use WiiSpeak in other titles. Sound fair to you?%Gallery-27704%
Wii Warm Up: WiiTrademark
We've known about WiiSpeak since E3, but it could have turned out to be quite different -- in name, at least. Siliconera's Spencer Yip has discovered a pile of trademarks registered by Nintendo in Japan from July 2nd - 4th, which he surmises are alternate names for the WiiSpeak device (considering E3 began on July 14th, Nintendo obviously left it late to settle on what to call its microphone add-on!).These trademarks include "Wii to Wii," "Wii2Wii," "WiiFriend," "WiiTalk," and the final name, "WiiSpeak." We quite like "WiiTalk," but we're pleased Nintendo didn't opt for "Wii2Wii," which smacks of TXT MSG speak, which we despise.What do you think of Nintendo's shortlist? Do you have any other suggestions outside of their ideas, or do you feel they chose the right name?
E308: Wii Fanboy's E3 Endgame Evaluation
In the second year of the newly revamped show, Nintendo released a few much-desired games, as well as a pair of incredible peripherals, and yet, there seemed to be something missing. Much of the show's excitement came from third parties (on my Nintendo Wii?), and some found Nintendo's announcements disappointing. Whatever your reaction, we're sure we can all agree on one thing: there was a ton of news and a flood of media. Luckily, you can revisit it all right here (even the week's most outrageous story, which wasn't even from E3).We've listed a few of the show's highlights below, but for the full index of all our 2008 E3 coverage, hit the break. We still have a few items rolling in, and we'll be updating the index as that happens. Check back with us over the next few days by clicking the E3 sidebar graphic. A new Pikmin sprouts! Animal Crossing: City Folk confirmed The Conduit will use WiiSpeak Wii Sports Resort announced (and Wii MotionPlus!) Mega Man 9 feels more like a 10 Wii Fanboy bats-on with Mario Super Sluggers Animal Crossing to support keyboards, save fruit-picking time Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wii Sports Resort
E308: WiiSpeak with Mario
Nintendo's WiiSpeak demo was one of the freakiest things that happened during E3. Basically, Nintendo had an Animal Crossing demo running in their conference room, with a WiiSpeak mic connected. In an undisclosed location somewhere else in the convention center, Charles Martinet was also playing City Folk, with a Mario-style avatar, and riffing in the Mario voice with whoever happened to wander by.Mostly, this entailed yelling at other players for messing with his flowers, and complaining about the lack of bugs nearby. I tried to interact with Mr. Martinet, but the WiiSpeak couldn't pick up my normal speaking voice (which is admittedly mousy and whisper-quiet). As I was walking away, Mario started smacking the other players with his axe.%Gallery-27704%
Wii Warm Up: E3
Because we've also asked DS fans, we thought we'd pose the same question here: how would you rate the Wii's E3?Despite the angry tidal wave of criticism over what many (but not all) saw as a disappointing Nintendo keynote, the more recent announcement of a third Pikmin game seems to have tempered the outcry a little. Not that there was a shortage of announcements in the first place -- WiiSpeak, Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing: City Folk, MotionPlus, Wii Music, and online, WiiSpeak-enabled multiplayer in The Conduit were all entirely new to us.Fill us in on the bits of E3 you liked, the bits you hated, the surprises, and the no-shows.
E308: The Conduit will use WiiSpeak
High Voltage today revealed to Kombo that new fan-favorite FPS The Conduit is confirmed for 16-player online multiplayer, but should also incorporate voice chat with WiiSpeak. Good thing it's going to be sold separately. Of course, now that's got us wondering who else is going to use it, and for what. But as for chat in The Conduit, we hope to see more details soon.%Gallery-25003%[Thanks, Andy!]
E308: WiiSpeak to be sold separately for $29.99
We hope you didn't get your hopes up by thinking that the Wii's newly revealed "room-to-room" microphone peripheral, WiiSpeak, would be bundled with copies of Animal Crossing: City Folk! No, Nintendo loves making money much too much, and they have to pay for that 800-foot wire somehow.According to a press release put out by Nintendo earlier today, the WiiSpeak microphone will be sold separately for $29.99. You could buy a DS game for that kind of cash! Maybe even two DS games, if you follow our sales posts!If that price point is too rich for your blood, you need not worry about missing out on City Folk's voice communication features, as we're sure several dozen Chinese accessory manufacturers will step up and release a slew of cheaper, ridiculously shaped microphone solutions soon enough. For comparison, Microsoft's MSRP for its official Xbox 360 Wireless Headset is $59.99, and Sony's official Bluetooth PS3 Headset (bundled with SOCOM: Confrontation) is rumored to be $49.99 as a standalone product. Of course, both of those accessories boast more advanced technology than WiiSpeak, and both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have much cheaper third-party solutions.[Thanks, Kongo!]
E308: WiiSpeak brings yet another power brick to the table?
When the WiiSpeak peripheral was unveiled for Animal Crossing: City Folk, we were happy to finally get voice chat on our Wii. But, a curious slide at the conclusion of Nintendo's E3 keynote showed the device has a very peculiar brick-like adapter that the USB end's cable plugs into. Now, we're assuming this is just a power brick, but you know what your school teachers told you about assuming!At least one thing is certain: the thing has enough cable to wrap around Nintendo HQ many times over.
E308: Wii Fanboy reacts to Nintendo's keynote [update]
[Updated: Now with JC talking about things!]With so many highlights from this year's Nintendo E3 keynote, we're finding our live chat wasn't enough to cover our thoughts and opinions on what was shown. So, below, you'll find some impressions akin to what we did last year. Enjoy.
Nintendo introduces the Wii Speak community microphone
During their announcement of Animal Crossing: City Folk at E3, Nintendo announced a new "community microphone" called WiiSpeak -- from the look of it, it sits on your television right on top of the sensor bar, and Nintendo says it'll let you speak with other players around the world. Here's hoping they enable other online activity with the microphone as well. Finally, some Mario Kart voice chat? Yes please!
