Wii Speak – Speaker Phone

Nintendo’s press coverage is on the move, currently they’ve demonstrated Wii Speak which will allow voice chat on your Nintendo Wii console. Although the Xbox 360 has had voice chat since its day one release, Nintendo is bringing it in a new unique way: community chat.

Basically, the device which will go on top of the Wii sensor bar will allow everyone in the room to talk to everyone in the room on another Wii. Where you need a headset on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this will give the entire room a chance to chat along.

Having a speaker phone style behavior is neat, but what about when everyone is asleep and you want to play a network game with a buddy? Will the device pickup a whisper across the room? Perhaps a speaker attachment will be announced later, but for now… you’re going to be conference calling with everyone in the game room.

(Thanks, Kotaku)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Nintendo’s Non-Gamer 50+ CrowdNintendo’s Non-Gamer 50+ Crowd

While Sony and Microsoft one-up each other with fire sales on old hardware and blockbuster titles like Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2, Nintendo goes for something completely different… older people.

You’re only as old as you feel, but it’s hard to discount Nintendo’s attack on a demographic when they visit the American Association of Retired People’s Life@50+ Expo in Washington, D.C. this week. Odd move, indeed… or is it?

Retired people may have a bit more time than a busy adult with two kids and a few jobs to hold down. While young adults may want to game, they may not always have the time in their schedule, especially in the United States where people forget what “vacation” means. Retirement is a time to reflect upon your life, your deeds and enjoy the fruits of your labor with your grandchildren; it’s time to get a Wii.

The Wii is the perfect gift for retired folk who want to entertain themselves with something new and different without having to keep up with game releases. The Wii doesn’t have very many games when compared to the 360 and, although many get low review scores, retired folks aren’t scanning the Internet for weekly game reviews and news. They may not be the most in-touch with the industry but that’s okay, they’re non-gamers.

All that Nintendo has to do is sell the unit to them, it may sit on the shelf for months or only get pulled out when the grandchildren visit, but it’s a low-cost unit with games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, what more do they need?

(Thanks, Kotaku)

Nintendo DSi – New Features, Same LookNintendo DSi – New Features, Same Look

Nintendo finally came out and announced the Nintendo DS redesign, called the DSi. This product will have an SD memory slot, a 3.25 inch screen (bigger than the last) and a 3 megapixel camera.  The DSi is 12% smaller than the DS Lite and will have a matted gray and regular white finish; no colors upon launch it seems.

Conveniently the DSi has an SD slot for saving photos from the 3 megapixel camera so that you can transfer them to the Wii and use their Photo Channel. The Wii already has an SD card slot so now both devices can work together via the sneaker net.

The DS redesign looks much like the typical DS in looks and layout, a bit sad in my opinion. I was hoping for something a bit more “sexy” and awesome – the Apple way of doing things. Alas, nobody has a design team like Apple so we’ve got what we’ve got and that’s the DSi.

How did the alter the networking? They’ve created a store system much like that of the Wii and will be renaming Wii Points to Nintendo Points to show its more generic versitile nature to the new DSi hardware. You’ll be able to download games to an SD card making the portable device more acceptable to storage size increases, unlike the standard DS hardware.

Nintendo never really mentioned the MP3 concept, using the “audio” more for crazy reasons such as slowing down the speed or increasing it, which may suggest it as another tool for language learning tools.

Any takers? SD card slot is a nice addition and a little more integration with downloadable content would be well accepted by all communities and cultures.

(Thanks, 1up; Image via Kotaku)

Episode 687: Nintendo DirectedEpisode 687: Nintendo Directed

This week’s episode revolves around the Nintendo Direct presentation. The guys also mock PlayStation fans and Geoff Keighley, and discuss Callisto Protocol and Vampire Survivors.

Aside from the Nintendo Direct, the news includes:

  • Microsoft says it’s officially done making new Xbox One games
  • Xenonauts 2 will invade our world this July
  • Respawn worked on Titanfall 3 for 10 Months

There is also some Listener feedback.