E3 2008: Nintendo Shows Voice Chat Solution

Just yesterday Nintendo announced an adapter that fixes the Wiimote’s lack of 1:1 detection. Today during their press conference Nintendo tackled another issue that many Wii owners have: voice chat. Demonstrated along side the new Animal Crossing game, the Wii voice chat device, titled WiiSpeak, is used to transmit the voice of everyone in the room as opposed to just the person playing. Depending on where the sensor bar is placed WiiSpeak will sit on top of the TV or the sensor bar itself. A cable runs down from the device, connecting to the Wii via USB.

WiiSpeak is set to come out later this year, coinciding with the launch of Animal Crossing: City Folk. The manufacturer suggested retail price of $29.99. As of now it is not apparent whether WiiSpeak will work with previously released titles which have online multiplayer features, such as Mario Kart, but for the time being I think it’s safe to assume that it is not.