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Wii

Wii Speak Ready Immediately at Launch of Animal Crossing: City Folk

by Francesca DiMola - November 19, 2008, 9:20 pm EST
Total comments: 18 Source: MTV Multiplayer

Prepackaged codes ensure only new purchasers of the peripheral will have access to the Wii Speak Channel.

Nintendo's innovative group voice chat peripheral, Wii Speak, was released earlier this week either separately for $29.99 or in a bundle with Animal Crossing: City Folk for $69.99. The chat function for Animal Crossing: City Folk is immediately accessible for any players that have registered one another as friends.

For the first time, Animal Crossing fans will be able to interact through voice with a whole room full of people. Wii Speak acts as a large microphone that players set down on a surface with no worries of microphones or headsets.

Every new Wii Speak peripheral includes a code for the download of the new Wii Speak Channel. People will have the ability to chat worldwide with any registered Wii system friend. While users chat, they will see a Mii representation of themselves on the TV screen. Parents will also have the option to set controls on the device through the Wii, limiting their children's access to Wii Speak.

The peripheral seems to have become an issue of debate because of the methodology in which the Wii Speak Channel is acquired. MTV Multiplayer revealed last week that a code is being packaged with the peripheral to enable download of the channel, though it is only good for one download. Nintendo states in the Wii Speak pamphlet that the code "cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen."

This is a very large concern, because it severely limits the usage of the product if purchased used. Anyone who purchases Wii Speak used will not be able to download the associated channel when it becomes available in December. Because the code is only available in new Wii Speak packages, anyone who would like the channel will need to buy a brand new Wii Speak to use it. However, player will be able to use it in future Wii titles including Sega's first person shooter, The Conduit.

Other concerns such as performance malfunctions are also popping up from concerned consumers. Many customers have reported problems with echoing, screeching, and poor sound quality among other issues with Wii Speak. Nintendo has recently posted a Wii Speak troubleshooting section on their website, and enourages people having problems to read over their suggestions in order to get their Wii Speaks performing optimally.

Talkback

KDR_11kNovember 20, 2008

Epic talks about DLC-only endings, Nintendo implements it...

NemoNovember 20, 2008

I thought Animal Crossing's lack of innovation and features were going to be the only reasons I wouldn't be getting it. I guess I have another reason.

DAaaMan64November 20, 2008

This is likely to keep Nyko at bay as well. Total gayness.

MarioNovember 20, 2008

Disgusting.

KDR_11kNovember 20, 2008

Quote from: DAaaMan64

This is likely to keep Nyko at bay as well.

Hm, that sounds like a possibility too...

I don't see this as a big deal.

1. You don't need the Wii Speak Channel -- the mic still works in supported games.
2. We don't know for sure that the channel will never be offered as a paid download for people who lost their code or bought the microphone used.
3. Wii Speak is only $30 -- I don't see there being a huge used market for it.

I'm curious as to why Nintendo decided to do this. Is it to curb third party microphone sales? Is it so Nintendo can better track market penetration?  Is it to squeeze some money out of used microphones via a channel purchase, as Jonny suggested? Is there some sort of parental control angle that I don't get? Usually Nintendo's odd approach to online communication is the result of some half-baked notion of child safety.

Maybe it's just a way to make sure only Wii Speak owners can download the channel -- otherwise, there might be a lot of confused people who try to download it even if they didn't buy the microphone.  That would be even worse if they had to pay for it.  Nintendo has never before offered a free download to a select group of Wii owners.

LuigiHannNovember 20, 2008

Quote from: Jonnyboy117

Maybe it's just a way to make sure only Wii Speak owners can download the channel -- otherwise, there might be a lot of confused people who try to download it even if they didn't buy the microphone.  That would be even worse if they had to pay for it.  Nintendo has never before offered a free download to a select group of Wii owners.

That's actually a good theory. Modern Nintendo, as far as I can tell, is much more prone to well-intentioned obnoxiousness rather than mean-spirited obnoxiousness.

KDR_11kNovember 21, 2008

Quote from: Jonnyboy117

Maybe it's just a way to make sure only Wii Speak owners can download the channel -- otherwise, there might be a lot of confused people who try to download it even if they didn't buy the microphone.  That would be even worse if they had to pay for it.  Nintendo has never before offered a free download to a select group of Wii owners.

Well, it does show you a big "you can only use this software with these controllers" screen whenever you download anything...

BeautifulShyNovember 26, 2008

Http://nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/11/25/nintendo-will-replace-lost-wii-speak-channel-codes/

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterNovember 26, 2008

Well, there you go. Bitch and you shall receive...

Ian SaneNovember 26, 2008

I assumed this news post was just going to be about how Animal Crossing being in stores now.  I just read it for the first time now and find out about this weird ass implementation of Wii Speak.

It's Nintendo being Nintendo.  Did Nintendo invent voicechat?  No.  Do they ever implement an idea some else came up with without f*cking it up somehow?  No.  This is what Nintendo does.  They always do things their own way.  The problem is when the RIGHT way to do something has already been done by someone else first Nintendo still feels they have to reinvent some new Nintendo way to do it.  So they f*ck it up because the best solution already existed and by being different "just because" they had nowhere to do but down.

NinGurl69 *hugglesNovember 26, 2008

Some could make a Star Trek game where you could shout at "Computer" all day long, and get blogging done that way.

The classy people would act like Tony Stark talking to Jarvis.

DAaaMan64November 26, 2008

Sentinel, STAND DOWN

KDR_11kNovember 27, 2008

Quote from: Ian

I assumed this news post was just going to be about how Animal Crossing being in stores now.  I just read it for the first time now and find out about this weird ass implementation of Wii Speak.

It's Nintendo being Nintendo.  Did Nintendo invent voicechat?  No.  Do they ever implement an idea some else came up with without f*cking it up somehow?  No.  This is what Nintendo does.  They always do things their own way.  The problem is when the RIGHT way to do something has already been done by someone else first Nintendo still feels they have to reinvent some new Nintendo way to do it.  So they f*ck it up because the best solution already existed and by being different "just because" they had nowhere to do but down.

You realize the point is that they wanted anyone in the room to be able to use voice chat, not just the one guy with the headset, making it more feasible to use online multiplayer with multiple players per console?

MarioNovember 27, 2008

Like Mario Kart. Except MK can't use it.

PlugabugzNovember 28, 2008

My TV is wall mounted, and i dont know how this is going to work without either catching all the noises and vibrations from the keyboard and PC.

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