Topic: PictoChat: How exactly does it work?

[Pale]

One thing about PictoChat that I have been wondering for a while is...

Will it be possible to pause a multiplayer game and switch into PictoChat mode, and then go back to the game without anything going wrong?

This would be very important in my opinion if internet gameplay will become a reality.

[RABicle]

Yes i was wondering this also. Because it said that it would alert you if someone within range arrived. So would it be able to send you a little message during your game that someone else is near?

Another thing I was wondering was the possibility that not all people will be in each others range. Imagine a public train if you will. Im sitting in one carriage. 7 Metres away to my left is another guy (I'll call him Derek) with a DS. Another 9 metres left of him is another DS owner (Rachael). Now even though Rachael is 16 metres away from me (6 metres further than the DS range) would I still be able to chat to her through Derek? Would Derek's DS send out his messages to me and relay Rachael's to me? Because if such a thing was possible then the potential range is almost limitless, provided that DS exist every 10 metres.

[Gamefreak]

It's not known if the DS will be able to do that (answering RABicle's question). It's certainly capable but there are many hurdles to overcome, mainly the fact that people don't want their DS's channeling other people's games and the fact that if a vital player decides to leave a ton of people's connections could get dropped.

Now, on to the pictochat question. Nintendo has officially only said that the DS will alert you when someone comes into range on Standby or Sleep mode. So it's not known yet if the DS will bother you in the middle of a game. Reggie said the DS will "spring to life" when other DS's are near. Anyway, we'll all find out soon enough....i wouldn't take anything you hear too literally since I'm sure half of the things Nintendo says about the simple system features are that clear and thought out.