Wii Speak Channel gets date

By Robert Purchese Published 7 October, 2008

Out same day as Animal Crossing.

Nintendo has said the Wii Speak Channel will be available in Europe from 5th December - the same day Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City.

The service will be free, but you'll need an internet connection and the Wii Speak microphone, obviously. And for the moment, the only way to get said microphone is as part of a bundle with Animal Crossing.

The Wii Speak Channel lets four people chat or share pictures and text messages after Friends Codes have been swapped. Because this makes it safe. Is it safe?

Miis will also join in, and move their mouths to replicate words picked up by the microphone, which should be interesting.

Retailers are yet to set a price the Wii Speak Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City bundle. We'll let you know when they do.

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 (10) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Mildew #1 3 years ago

    Friends codes are a pain in the arse!

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    Put the bloody name back you pricks. It was fine, there was no issue in this country, there was no reason for changing it for the UK. Put it back or there will be trouble. I know EG isn't responsible, but Nintendo better change it back.

    I also echo what Mildew said, Friends Codes are indeed a pain in the arse. Let us sign up for an account with a unique name like I have on XBox Live and PSN! I know this means some online users will have to change their names from common things like Bob, but at least it'd fix this Friend Code rubbish, and I'd be able to recognise people I faced a lot online, instead of starting Mario Kart races with fields of Bob, Fred and John.

  • JCee2k #3 3 years ago

    Anyone know if this can funtion in the background to provide voice support for exiting online games.. would be great to have voice in Mario Kart and Smash Brothers online.

  • jonsaan #4 3 years ago

    It's amusing to see that people think Nintendo listen to their user base. They don't care about you. They never did and they never will. They don't need to. You'll buy it anyway. So will I probably. /facepalms

  • ianegg #5 3 years ago

    It's technically possible to use this in any existing game, either by patching the game or through funky firmware, but whether Nintendo will actually do that is a completely different matter. I doubt they'll ever release game patches on the Wii, and having a background process running that the game designers didn't build around could affect performance.

    I hope they do though, nobody ever wants to play Mario Kart online because the communication is so clunky.

  • hello_fi #6 3 years ago

    christmas comes early for paedos

  • indafunkyhouse #7 3 years ago

    hello_fi was there really any need for the moronic comment? grow up will you

  • secombe #8 3 years ago

    Retailers are yet to set a price the Wii Speak Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City bundle. We'll let you know when they do.

    and next to it...

    £28.99 RRP: £39.99 Pre-order Buy Online

    Pre-order now and receive on day of release!

  • sneetch #9 3 years ago

    @DFawkes
    "Put the bloody name back you pricks. It was fine, there was no issue in this country, there was no reason for changing it for the UK. Put it back or there will be trouble. I know EG isn't responsible, but Nintendo better change it back."

    What are you on about?

  • sneetch #10 3 years ago

    @ianegg
    "It's technically possible to use this in any existing game, either by patching the game or through funky firmware, but whether Nintendo will actually do that is a completely different matter. I doubt they'll ever release game patches on the Wii, and having a background process running that the game designers didn't build around could affect performance."

    Depends on the processing power required speech is more of a bandwidth thing to be honest, if the microphone does the work then it's just another few packets to send and receive so it shouldn't be much of an issue.

    "I hope they do though, nobody ever wants to play Mario Kart online because the communication is so clunky."

    Personally I just haven't been arsed since about a month after Kart released but you're maybe right maybe it's because a lot of the fun in MK multiplayer on previous consoles is the interaction with other players, and being red shelled on the line by another player without being able to swear at them just isn't as much fun. :)

    However, I do not think Nintendo will ever allow us to chat with one another without swapping friend codes first because entering a friend code is a deliberate act that makes you responsible for who and what you're exposed to. If just joining a MK race (for example) could expose people to swearing racists (based on limited XBox live experience) then it's much more likely that there'd be outraged Daily Mail articles.

    Personally, I'd prefer it to be added to the parental control options;

    1) No Wii Speak.
    2) Wii Speak with friends.
    3) Wii Speak with anyone I'm connected to.

    @secombe
    "Retailers are yet to set a price the Wii Speak Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City bundle. We'll let you know when they do.

    and next to it...

    £28.99 RRP: £39.99 Pre-order Buy Online

    Pre-order now and receive on day of release! "

    Yeah, I bet they'll regret that, I doubt the mic will be free. The game will more than likely be significantly more expensive than a regular Wii title (I remember DK64 was about a fiver more expensive than normal because it came with a memory pak).