I am surprised that they would let someone circumvent friends codes at all, I do so hope this is a sign that Nintendo is learning about online play. We also have it on good grounds that not only does Nintendo not support their own perifials but actively discourages other developers from using them...  :confused; ;)

Nintendo's handling of a voice chat standardization for Wii has been absolutely atrocious. I wonder how Nintendo will standardize voice chatting for their next console.

They told them not to use it *because* of the Friend Code circumvention, it would seem at least. This way the whole family won't hear the "fuck you mother fucker" that the person playing the game will be hearing, since it will only be going to the head set. It's a good idea if you ask me, at least for games that aren't family-friendly.

I like BlackNMild's idea from another thread: pack a Wii Speak-style solution (hopefully significantly improved) in with the system, and sell headsets separately if people want one. Ideally it should work like it does on the 360, on a system level, independently of any game.

COD Black Ops allows you to add people you've played against without putting in numbers and also allows voice chat among anyone.

Too bad Nintendo didn't tell High Voltage OVER Wii Speake, then High Voltage would have been all "What? I can't hear you."

A headset is better than Wii Speak anyway. Wii Speak (usually) sits well away from the person that's playing, and if other people are in the room its going to pick up everything they say/do and broadcast that as well. Do we really want to hear someone's dad yelling about something we don't even understand and doesn't concern us? With a headset it keeps all the domestic politics private (like they should be).

I also really hate it when people are playing music or watching tv while they play and then you have to hear all that crap as well. Sure, you can mute people most of the time but its annoying to even have to do that.

Well, the obvious question is... why not? Wii Speak may suck, but at least it's an option for some people. Why would Nintendo ask them not to support the device? This is getting to be absurd.

I hope that the online communications of the Wii 2 are alot easier to deal with then what is currently available for the Wii. I like the idea of having a wireless head set for online games and I am a little pissed off that the head banger head set does not work for Monster Hunter Tri.

The wording in the interview is a little vague, but... given the context, they might mean that Nintendo doesn't want them to allow Wii Speak to be used with randoms, and only people on your friend roster. It's hard to say, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well, now a precedent is set. Should be easier to get these waivers in the future. Hopefully.

I use Wii Speak when I play Monster Hunter Tri, and it works alright, but nothing compared to my headset for PC gaming. Although it would help if the people on the other end would stop talking in crap fast talk and mumbling and grumbling... and screaming.

Regardless of the reasoning for the decision, prohibiting a third party from using a first party peripheral just doesn't come across as third party friendly.  It's too restrictive.  Nintendo is telling someone else how to make their game and that sort of crap does them no favours in attracting third party support.

Perhaps this isn't really the type of usage that Nintendo imagined for Wii Speak.  But then what did they expect it to be used for?  When people talk about voice chat in videogames THIS is what they're talking about.  This is the type of game they want to play.  If this isn't the intended usage of Wii Speak then Nintendo is completely clueless regarding voice chat in videogames.

This problem should not exist.  Wii Speak should not exist and friend codes should not exist to create any issue in the first place.  Nintendo should have made a headset from day one.  That was and is the obvious solution and games like Conduit 2 are the obvious usage.  This is simple obvious stuff that any company that specializes in videogames should just get.

Nintendo never gets this stuff and that's been the problem since the N64.  For all the Wiis they've sold Nintendo can still never get the little stuff right.  Until they do their third party support is probably always going to be weak and because of that I think that falling back to last place again will always be a threat.  Nintendo is their own worst enemy and they're realistically one clueless easily-avoidable mistake away from pissing it all away.  That is always going to be the risk until they admit they've got a problem and make a legitimate effort to address it.

I'm not going to go into a huge rant like Ian did, but it does disturb me as well that not only does Nintendo not support their own peripherals, but now they're telling 3rd parties not to support them, either.

It does suck because I own a WiiGargle. I probably can't afford both a game and the new peripheral so I intended to get the game and use my WiiGargle until I could get the Headbanger. What was the point of buying my WiiSpeak? I have like three games that use it. Peripherals should have a lot of games supporting it.

This attacks the heart of the very meaning of the word Wii and it's a slap in the face of legitimate customers. The very definition of Nintendumb.

Well amazon is listing the Wii Speak as discontinued. Seriously though, is this a shock to anyone? Nintendo periphreals have always been a gamble. Ereader, GC/GBA link cable anyone? I'd think after people getting burned so often with these Nintendo peripherals they'd be expecting it to be discontinued or not supported. It should no longer be a surprise when Nintendo does this (I learned my lesson back when they canned the Ereader before I could unlock the remaining levels in SMA4: SMB3).

My guess is that Nintendo told High Voltage to not utilize Wii Speak so they could sweep it under the rug easier.

A few weeks ago I was at Walmart and in their clearance section there was a huge stack of Wii Speak units. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now that I see GP saying Amazon has marked it as discontinued it makes me wonder...

Interesting. I just checked, and the Animal Crossing bundle is also listed as discontinued, though the Endless Ocean bundle is not. So it looks like it may be true, but even so, I don't see why they'd ask a developer to not use it

My best guess is that they just want it to disappear as quickly as possible. They obviously feel it was an unsuccessful accessory (which isn't surprising since they hardly utilized it) and want to save face by burying in Miyamoto's garden as quickly as possible.

Eh, they hardly utilized the Balance Board or Wii Motion Plus too. Or the Wii Wheel. Or the Zapper. They always use their accessories just to sell one or two games so if those games are still in production then I see no reason to discontinue it, let alone tell a third-party to not use it.

The Motion Plus (not to mention it is packed in with Wii Sports Resort), and Balance Board have sold millions, along with the Wii Wheel since it was included with MK Wii. The Wii zapper is a piece of plastic, that has no real use but you get a game with it. The Wii Speak has only sold with AC, Endless Ocean 2 and separately. My guess sales have not been that great, and to NIntendo they probably are a disappointment unlike the above mentioned peripherals. Not only that but it may not be worth the production costs to make anymore.

I think Brandogg hit the nail on the head. Yes it's restricted but only because you play random people.

Isn't it possible that its discontinued because Nintendo is planning on releasing a proper headset solution in its place?

Anything's possible, but at this point it seems extremely unlikely that Nintendo has any other big online games planned for the Wii.