Nintendo reveals Wii Speak Channel

By Robert Purchese Published 3 October, 2008

Futuristic online chat room.

Wii Speak, the microphone peripheral bundled with Animal Crossing, is to get its very own Wii Channel.

This lets up to four friends chit-chat over the internet, according to Joystiq, and each microphone will come with a coupon to download the channel.

For now that's all we know. There's no word on what else the channel will allow - karaoke please! - or a date when we can expect it.

Wii Speak was unveiled at E3 during an on-stage demonstration of Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City. The device sits on top of the sensor bar on tellies and registers chatter from multiple people in the room.

Animal Crossing (with Wii Speak microphone) will be released in Europe sometime in December. There's no standalone date for the peripheral just yet.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eraser #1 3 years ago

    cheap nintendo bollocks again

  • Doctor_What #2 3 years ago

    I Love Consoles builds up to be a full console, availabe in monthly parts, only from Deagonstini.

  • robg #3 3 years ago

    Extra functionality after you're bored with the game? What a rip!

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #4 3 years ago

    Oh no!

    Nintendo aren't providing free stuff to go with games again are they? Jesus they've got a cheek.

  • Monkey_Puncher #5 3 years ago

    Wonderful....

  • Xerx3s #6 3 years ago

    "Futuristic online chat room."

    20 Years ago maybe.

  • ianegg #7 3 years ago

    "I Love Consoles builds up to be a full console, availabe in monthly parts, only from Deagonstini."

    outstanding!

  • kinky_mong #8 3 years ago

    Grooming message boards around the world are going ballistic. "Finally the add-on we've been waiting for!" says Nigellikesboy45

  • LazyDan #9 3 years ago

    If people could spare five minutes out of their busy schedule bitching about whatever Nintendo does because they're popular, does anyone know how exactly this thing'll pick up multiple people? I've never seen or heard of anything like this so I'm wondering how the hell it'll work.

    See I picture just a microphone sat on your telly, which would pick up all the sound from your telly and then everyone else would sound like distant muffled voices. They can't be releasing and promoting that, so I'm really intrigued as to how the hell it works.

    If it does work, and I'm taking my internet tough guy cynic hat off here, I think it would be amazing - an actual innovation. If two rooms of people could talk to each other via the TV as though the rooms were connected, that would be so much fun - I live with a housemate and we could link up with our friends who live elsewhere and chat/chill/play games as though we were in the same room. THE FUTURE.

    This is if it works. It must do though, right?
    Edited by 1 at 03/10/08 @ 12:50

  • Alastair #10 3 years ago

    Wii Singstar...?

    I would guess it'll be a mike that plugs into the Wiimote. Or do we know that already...?
    Edited by 1 at 03/10/08 @ 13:08

  • RobertFoster #11 3 years ago

    LazyDan: "This is if it works. It must do though, right?"

    To an extent, until they release a little add-on dongle in a couple of years to have a proper 1:1 experience of how they originally envisaged it.

    :p

  • Doctor_What #12 3 years ago

    The idea is that it's got sound cancelling software that knows what's being played by your TV and removes that from the wave data so that a 'pure' sound sample of the room is generated. It's been around in headphone technology for years.

    @ Pac-man Ate My Wife: You pay for the microphone, so I'm not sure how you count this as free functionality..?

    Anyway, there's no such thing as something that's free in games. This is a business: what looks free is just content that you've paid for elsewhere.

  • Lawlost #13 3 years ago

    "Wii Singstar...?

    I would guess it'll be a mike that plugs into the Wiimote. Or do we know that already...? "

    Surely it cannot plug into the Wiimote as the device sits on top of the sensor bar which is on top of your tv. Probably plugs into one of those USBs
    Edited by 1 at 03/10/08 @ 13:37

  • Quint2020 #14 3 years ago

    Welcome to 2002.
    Edited by 1 at 03/10/08 @ 13:37

  • chrisjm #15 3 years ago

    if the friends list was global, this would be a good feature. but until then...

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #16 3 years ago

    Re: "Wii Singstar"

    The mic could plug into the bottom of the remote, and then you hold the remote upside down?

    Personally, I think this (AC and Wii Speak) looks fun and great, and the chat room is a good idea. But then I'm one of those mysterious 5% of internet users who are totally happy with the Wii being popular and mainstream and all that.

  • hello_fi #17 3 years ago

    there is going to be an increase in child kidnappings

    "come to my house and we can play animal crossing together"
    "mmm ok, shall I bring my teddy and security blanket?"
    "I would be disappointed if you didn't"

    terrible

  • Xerx3s #18 3 years ago

    "I think it would be amazing - an actual innovation"

    Your cave is that way.

    It's funny, nintendo introduce something on their console and suddenly it's 'new' and 'innovative'. The fact that this has been around for ages is quickly forgotten.

  • macmurphy #19 3 years ago

    Better late than never probably covers most bases. Hopefully they'll update Mariokart and Brawl to make use of the functionality. I still think they've done it arse about face, but if they could include voice chat on stuff like the conduit then I'd be really pleased.

  • Wezi #20 3 years ago

    Nintendo Ruin Xmas as well! - http://pa rentalguidanceuk.blogspot.com/2...

  • bushwod #21 3 years ago

    Hang on, didn't the PS3 already do something like this?

    Also, if you can only chat whilst using this channel it's no use for chatting at the same time as playing.

    Now XBOX did one of these that would be far more useful, although I'm not sure anyone else in my living room wants to hear the swearing racists playing Halo 3.

  • electrolite #22 3 years ago

    I'm interested in this because all may friends own Wiis. It could represent a handy way of getting in touch without using up mobile minutes....

  • sneetch #23 3 years ago

    @Xerx3s
    ""I think it would be amazing - an actual innovation"

    Your cave is that way.

    It's funny, nintendo introduce something on their console and suddenly it's 'new' and 'innovative'. The fact that this has been around for ages is quickly forgotten."

    I was just thinking that myself; I do this every Monday morning at 10 AM, we call it a "conference call".

  • TimidEmperor #24 3 years ago

    You know, there are different types of microphones, not only those that pick up sound closest to the mic (omni or cardioid).
    The mic in the WiiSpeak thingamagig is probably directional, picking up sound from people in front of the TV, not from the TV itself.

  • scouserfuller9 #25 3 years ago

    I agree with LazyDan. Lots of people seem to be criticizing the idea yet I bet they'll all be using it once it's released.

  • smelly #26 3 years ago

    Im not convinced.. the mic sits on your tv.

    Which either means you're gonna have to be near it - or it'll pick up stuff like your mom/wife (delete as applicable) shouting at you to get off the game and take the garbage out..

  • smelly #27 3 years ago

    >I Love Consoles builds up to be a full console, availabe in monthly parts

    Yeah.. "Coming next month - A wireless WIFI adapter - Only 99 QUID!?!"

  • captainrentboy #28 3 years ago

    Smelly, that was a massvely dissapointing comment you made, especially when you actually rode off the back of Doctor_what's fairly clever original post.
    Tut tut, must try harder :)

    A feature like this seems a little wasted unless it could some how be implemented into existing games, surely Mario Kart could make good use of it.
    You can't complain though, if a console is getting new features for 'free' that's no bad thing, right? The 360 and PS3 do it all the bloody time.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #29 3 years ago

    where did Nintendo say this hasn't been done before?

  • smelly #30 3 years ago

    "that was a massvely dissapointing comment you made, especially when you actually rode off the back of Doctor_what's fairly clever original post. "

    Uh? I was agreeing with him

    I hate it when the console doesnt do everything i want to do out of the box. I hated having to spend nearly the price of a console on a wireless adapter for my 360 (for example).

    I guess at least this is free with a game though and they arent charging me 99 bucks for the priviledge..

  • Skurmedel #31 3 years ago

    scouserfuller9: Nah, they probably play on 360 or PS3. It's always "okay" to bash someone else's pet. This Nintendo bashing thing is getting really old.

    Also this thing might not be innovative in that it picks up multiple people, but does the other consoles have anything like it? I have trouble hearing just one dude with the mic close to his mouth with my XBox 360 headset sometimes.
    Edited by 1 at 04/10/08 @ 21:31