WiiSpeak
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Nintendo pulling the plug on the Wii Speak, gently
Oh, noble Wii Speak, you promised to make taunting newbs and chiding teammates so much more of a social affair. Now you're being relegated to the cemetery of console accessories that simply never caught on. Nintendo has confirmed Wii Speak is only available now at "limited retail locations" ahead of an apparent discontinuation, and that while "additional shipments can be made if consumer demand increases," that doesn't sound particularly likely to us. If you'd like to pay your respects, visiting hours will be all weekend ahead of the final ceremony taking place on Monday between the Power Glove and Zapper plots.
Amazon celebrates new year with savings on accessories
Those of you who still have some spare cash in your wallet at the conclusion of yet another holiday season, know that Amazon wants it. They've put all of their gaming accessories on sale, taking 10% off the price of certain items. If you were looking for that extra Wiimote (and aren't expecting it as a gift), they qualify. Or, you could just grab Wii Play with a Wiimote, if you're into that sort of thing. The Nyko Perfect Shot, the Zapper, WiiSpeak, and even Wii Wheels qualify. There's a lot to check out.Planning on picking something up? Do it before January 10, 2009. Offer expires then.
Wii Warm Up: Speak up
The Wii Speak Channel is finally out and enabling voice chat between people who didn't feel like buying Animal Crossing. Some of you have probably put it through its paces by now. What's your opinion of the Channel? Does it feel weird to talk at your TV? Are you being spammed with voice messages from your jerk friends? Is this functionality something that could help justify the cost of the mic? Or is it just another channel that will get deleted for a Space Invaders Get Even mission pack? Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
Hiii! Demonstrating the Wii Speak Channel voice message process [update]
The Wii Speak Channel is out in Europe today, as is the actual WiiSpeak microphone. A helpful early adopter named Butulino has taken video footage of the "Canale Wii Speak" in action, so the rest of us can see what we have to look forward to ... whenever Nintendo of America gets around to offering the channel oh, hey, right now! As a bonus, you can also see some guy's friend code.This video shows the channel's voice message capability, through which short (10 seconds or less) clips can be recorded and sent to Wii friends' Message Boards. Cleverly, the Channel allows you to bundle a picture with a message, so you can take a picture of that stringfish you caught in Animal Crossing and send it with a taunting message about, you know, how your friend has yet to catch a stringfish.The Channel also allows users to warp their voices, in a feature similar to one found in the DSi's sound functionality -- which further cements the connection between the DSi's features and UI design and the Wii Menu.[Update: it's up in North America! Nintendo almost succeeded in completely suppressing news of an available service, but not quite!][Via GoNintendo] Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
Preview Wii Speak Channel and a puppy with these screens
Thanks to the Japanese launch of the Wii Speak Channel, we can now see a bit of a preview of what's coming up for the rest of us (tomorrow in Europe, ??? in North America) in the world of talking at our TVs. Nintendo has opened their Wii Speak Channel page, featuring screenshots of the Channel's features, like the "puppy" feature in the screen above!Well, actually, it's the photo sharing feature, which allows photos loaded from an SD card to be shown during chat. Also pictured: the Channel's voice message function, which allows players to record voice messages for Wii Friends and send them to the Message Board. This results in a text message on special a Wii Speak Channel background with the note "This message was recorded by your friend using the Wii Speak Channel." We always get an Animal Crossing vibe from special "stationery." If you'd like to see more of this Channel, a video is also available at the Japanese site.[Via Famitsu] Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
Yes, you can get the Wii Speak Channel ticket when you buy a used microphone
It's hard to believe that so much controversy could be stirred up by the Wii Speak Channel. Chances are that, had the shocking Wii Download Ticket scare not happened, none of us would have cared much about it. After a statement from Nintendo that didn't quite answer a Edge finally got a point-blank answer from Nintendo on the subject of the eligibility of owners of used WiiSpeak mics to get Download Tickets. Good news!"Any consumer who requires a Wii Download Ticket after purchasing a pre-owned Wii Speak Accessory may contact their local Nintendo Customer Services department, where they can request a Wii Download Ticket for the Wii Speak Channel for free." You can't get the Channel for use with your WiiSpeak on a friend's Wii, and you can't get a Ticket for use with a third-party mic peripheral. But hey! Nintendo isn't nefariously penalizing used sales like we all assumed! Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
Nintendo will replace lost Wii Speak Channel codes
It seems that Nintendo isn't quite as draconian as we thought about the Wii Download Ticket code accompanying new purchases of the WiiSpeak microphone. Previous statements suggested that there was absolutely no way to obtain a code without purchasing new hardware -- even if you have bought new hardware and require a replacement code.The statement from Nintendo of Europe reads "Any consumer who may have misplaced their Wii Download Ticket number for the Wii Speak Channel or require a new number following a Wii exchange may contact their local Nintendo Customer Services department, where they can request a replacement Wii Download Ticket number."There's no word of secondhand purchases or any other circumstances, but it seems likely that if Nintendo is at all willing to offer replacement codes, the friendly customer service representatives won't be too stingy with Download Ticket codes. Just don't buy a used WiiSpeak expecting to get the free code.
Wii Warm Up: Wii Plan to Speak
The WiiSpeak microphone is ten bucks cheaper when purchased with Animal Crossing: City Folk. Obviously, it works with Animal Crossing, but it will also work with The Conduit, with the new version of the Opera browser, and on its own via the Wii Speak Channel. Of course, more compatible games will follow. We hope.It occurs to us that even people who like Animal Crossing, but don't necessarily care about catching up with their friends while fishing or shaking trees may have interest in the WiiSpeak mic for other stuff. Are you in that group? Did you pick up the Animal Crossing WiiSpeak bundle with no intention of using the two items together?%Gallery-27704%
Animal Crossing: City Jack O' Lanterns
For those of us who missed celebrating our favorite fall holiday with fake anthropomorphic jerks, Halloween is back in Animal Crossing: City Folk. We just have to ... wait almost the whole year for it, thanks to the November release of the game.Your animal neighbors, dressed in identical pumpkinhead costumes, will accost you and demand candy. If you fail to comply, or try to pass off some junk out of your pockets as candy, as the IGN demo player has done here, you get a trick! For being stingy, the residents slapped a pumpkin head on him and changed his clothes. In the little IGN player doodad, there's another video featuring a player picking fruit in the winter. Animal Crossing winters are so lovely!%Gallery-27704%
Wii Speak Channel download tied to hardware
MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo opened his review WiiSpeak microphone box and discovered the secret behind the associated Wii Speak Channel: it's a free download, yes, but that download requires the entry of a one-time-use code included in the box. At first blush, this isn't a big deal, because anyone who wants to use the Wii Speak Channel is probably going to have a microphone anyway, right? The problem, as Totilo identifies, is that you can't buy the thing used and expect the channel, because the "Download Ticket" will have been used. And Nintendo won't replace it. The channel won't be available for purchase, or for free download without the ticket. So buy the thing new or plan to chat only in games.
Wii Speak Channel hit by delay
Contrary to what we originally heard, it looks like the Wii Speak Channel won't be launching alongside Animal Crossing: City Folk on November 16th.IGN snapped a picture of the WiiSpeak box, complete with a disclaimer that the Channel (which allows chat outside of Animal Crossing) will actually appear in December. When in December isn't clear, though we know the Channel will be available in Europe from December 5th, so maybe then. Until then, you're just going to have to pick fruit and chat simultaneously. We can probably cope with that!%Gallery-27704%
Animal Crossing and WiiSpeak about 60 in UK
Nintendo has confirmed to Eurogamer that the Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City and WiiSpeak bundle will cost "£59" in the UK when it launches there on December 5th. We guess they mean £59.99, but let's face it: only chumps will pay that sort of money when the likes of Play have it for a penny under fifty quid. If you do still live in the late-1990s and buy stuff from high street stores with real people in them, then expect to pay a premium. Separately, the game will cost £40 and WiiSpeak £25. Again: if you're a chump.As for the North American price, we're still waiting on official word, but Amazon's price hasn't budged from $69.99.%Gallery-27704%
City Folk crossing into central mainstream with new ad
It's easy to hate on the new Animal Crossing: City Folk ad. Gut reaction is that it's not for us, for the real gamers, so clearly, Animal Crossing itself isn't, either. But that isn't the case; if you liked Animal Crossing at all before, you'll probably like it now. So, no, this commercial isn't for us. It's for everyone else, everyone who thinks Animal Crossing might not be for them. And when taken that way, it seems pretty effective to us. %Gallery-27704%
Wii Warm Up: Peripheral issues
Wii peripherals have proven a profitable business for Nintendo, and a new member, the WiiSpeak microphone, will join this rapidly growing family later this month. In our experience, these accessories mostly enhance the games they support, and that's great and all, but it has been a while since we actually perched on our Balance Boards, or waved our Wii Wheel about to Mario Kart Wii, or Zappered zombies. When was the last time you played a Wii title with something other than a naked Wiimote and Nunchuk, and what was the game?%Gallery-23865%
Animal Crossing/WiiSpeak bundle box revealed, price worries continue
A Portuguese Nintendo fansite happened to notice the appearance on Amazon of the Animal Crossing: City Folk/WiiSpeak microphone bundle. Only just now after looking at it have we realized what Nintendo has done here: they've guaranteed City Folk's bestseller status by making it yet another first-party Wii game with a bundled peripheral. It now joins Wii Play, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit. People really love big boxes!Amazon's price for the bundle is a cause for concern. Either they never bothered to update to the $59.99 price or the price is back up to $69.99. We'd like to make an official announcement at this time: Wii Fanboy endorses the lower price this November. We think it's the right decision for this county.%Gallery-27704%[Via FNintendo]
Make your pets hate you, win a Wii and Animal Crossing
If you have no interest in actually paying for a Wii and Animal Crossing: City Folk, Nintendo has your back. For the next three weeks, the company is encouraging people (North Americans only) to dress their pets in adorable outfits, and send photos of the unamused, uncomfortable animal(s) to this website. Come November 16th, the fifty best will win a Wii, a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk, and a WiiSpeak microphone. Maybe this is the excuse you've needed to justify buying a pug?The rules encourage an Animal Crossing theme, meaning the entries featured so far on the site are fairly rubbish, with most people just putting a hat on a disgruntled labrador. We sense our own idea is a winner. Protip, though: getting a necktie on a giraffe is hell.%Gallery-27704%[Via press release] KK says: buy Animal Crossing: City Folk to visit the city, reach out to friends, and make Iwata cry!
IGN's hands-six-to-eight-feet-away-from WiiSpeak preview
IGN's Craig Harris tested out the WiiSpeak microphone and voice chat functionality inside Animal Crossing at Nintendo's San Francisco office. His experience seemed much smoother and friendlier than my own, possibly as a result of improvements in the technology, a quieter environment, or a voice that is capable of normal human volume. Treehouse staffers told him that the voice chat has improved significantly since E3.Conversations came in clearly enough from multiple positions in the room, though Harris noted a drop in quality when his interlocutors in Nintendo's Redmond office drifted far away from the mic, which seems pretty obvious. He was able to converse in a normal speaking voice from his position "six to eight feet" away. However, with no option to turn the music down or off in Animal Crossing, the game tended to drown out the voice output.There was a mysterious "Use Headphones" option available in Animal Crossing, whose function is currently unknown. Harris speculates that it sends voice and game audio through separate audio channels, but maybe it just changes some preset audio settings to optimitze performance through tiny speakers. It's not as if you can plug a headset into the Wiimote or anything.%Gallery-27704% Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
WiiSpeak Channel dated for Europe
Wii lovers and fans of speakerphones across Europe, the WiiSpeak Channel has been dated for your region. The Channel and peripheral will debut alongside Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City on December 5th, less than a month after North America receives the game and service. Sadly, there's no word on what the bundle will cost you and if it'll be much more expensive than the bundle we're getting in North America. We'd like to think it will cost around the same, but we know how you guys get the shaft sometimes. Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
Animal Crossing/WiiSpeak bundle cheaper than we thought
Remember when we reported on a $69.99 price tag on the Animal Crossing/WiiSpeak bundle? Well, it turns out that price was off, by $10. Yes, the bundle will in fact retail for $59.99. That brings WiiSpeak down to $10, with the purchase of Animal Crossing: City Folk. Animal Crossing: City Folk and WiiSpeak will be out in North America on November 16th.%Gallery-27704%
Nintendo unveils Wii Speak channel for four-way voice chats
Remember that Wii Speak microphone that Nintendo announced at E3 for Animal Crossing socialization, and then everyone promptly forgot about? Well, shuffled in with its other announcements yesterday, Nintendo announced the Wii Speak channel, that will allow for up to four people to voice chat directly without all that pesky fishing and digging and tea sipping and cute getting in the way. Unfortunately, literally nothing else is known about the feature -- we're curious if we can use that USB mic we got for karaoke, and we're sure you have burning questions of your own, but Nintendo's clearly going to debut this feature and the related hardware in its own sweet time.[Via Joystiq]
