Wii Microphone - From a Nintendo employee

[thecosmicfrog]

Nintendo Wii Microphone Addon - From the Horses Mouth

Recently I wrote a letter to Nintendo of America regarding a topic on this site: "An Inside Look at the Wii's Magic Wand An Audio Translator".

I didn't really expect anything other than the normal customer services spiel about not giving out any details of future plans, or the even more infamous 'We cannot comment at this time'. But, when I got my reply I was surprised by the answer!

Naturally, I came straight to WiiLoaded to post my findings

Here's the email I sent and the reply I recieved.

In the E-Mail I Wrote:Hi,
This is a question about the Wii Remote.
On this link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/s.../index.htm
it says that one of the components in the Wii Remote is an:
Audio Translator, which Converts analog data such as human speech into a digital data stream
Is this true? If it is, does this mean there is a microphone-like device in the Remote?
They also say about it that:
This feature is unused now but will probably be employed in future games
I also wish to know if this is true. Thank you.
Aaron Hastings, Ireland

The Nintendo Customer Representitive Wrote:Hello,

While the chip is there, there is no inherent microphone function in the Wii Remote.  Even the article you link to says it's not used yet.  However, you never know what the future holds for new accessories that would attach much like the nunchuk!  We've created a microphone accessory for the Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, and built one into the Nintendo DS/DS Lite, so it goes to reason we might think ahead in case we ever want to build one for the Wii!  Keep an eye on http://www.nintendo.com for official information.

Nintendo of America Inc.
R.M. Rickets

Oh my god! This guy is practically telling us that there will be a "Wii Mic" peripheral. I know that, of course, he is trying to say it as safely as he can, but in my honest opinion this guy is convinced about a future add on.

so it goes to reason we might think ahead in case we ever want to build one for the Wii!

It goes to reason this is going to make a lot of people happy. At least we know now about the possibility of a Mic/Headset attachment. He says that:

While the chip is there, there is no inherent microphone function in the Wii Remote.

Basically he is saying that a voice recognition chip is there, there is no input device for it (a microphone)

Oooh I'm all jittery!

Reporter: CZMQFRG
Editor: D4rkDrago0n

Digg This

Edit: Yes, the image is indeed a photoshop

[Snakey]

Nice one ..I want to be able to curse at people when i beat them at brawl

[M@gicM@rker]

Holy....


I would love to have a mic for the Wii....
That way I can talk to people over the internet!
This could also be used for some games, if Nintendo wants to go there...
Still, this is pretty cool.
Nice one, CZMQFRG! You get a smiley!

[thecosmicfrog]

eh rep will do fine *coughs loudly*

[Snakey]

Im sure this isnt the first time you have asked for rep O well.

[Irony]

edit'd portal'd and about to get dugg'd

[thecosmicfrog]

Dude you totally photoshopped that picture

[img][/img]

[Irony]

I sure did where else would I get one about an accessory that's not been made yet?

[FEL-X]

i actually though the pic was what the person sent you, and i was about to say its fake, but anyway the mic is a cool feature, and i hope to see it soon.

[Irony]

updated with a note

[happynoodleboy]

U getz teh reppzz!

This is awesome news in my book! I can't believe they actually gave you a legitimate response...wow!

[Kindrik]

Hmm. Think about what he said. The rep mentioned how Nintendo brought mic attachments to the N64 and GameCube, but remember that these mics were never used online. They were only used for certain niche games like Hey you, Pikachu and Mario Party.

So eventhough having a mic for use in online games would be great I'm guessing that when Nintendo put the chip in they were simply thinking ahead to any new games they could create using a microphone. Not to mention that if it's built into the remote the mic would have to plug into the remote, and then they'd have to let the nunchuk plug into the back of that. And I don't think I'd like having all those cords getting tangled up.

The other alternative would be a wireless thing that would plug into the remote, but then that would drain batteries on your remote and on top of that you'd need batteries for the headset. The best thing Nintendo could do with regards to a headset would be to make a wireless USB thing.

[LemonManX]

They should just make the DS one compatible with the Wii.

[Kindrik]

Is that even remotely possible?

[LemonManX]

I don't know? I figure they both work wirelessly... so there is a way? It'd be easier than buying two wireless headsets that serve the same purpose. But if I have to then I will, lol.

[NBbowler]

Schwing! Sha-WING!!

This is awesome. I really hope that they come out with a headset soon. I would absolutely love to talk smack to people when I'm laying the smackdown in Brawl.

However, if I go up against LMX and his wave-dashing "skills," you can expect that I'm going to be saying more profane words than trash-talk.

[LemonManX]

I'm hoping you weren't referring to Wavedashing as skills with sarcasm. Because its clear that:

Wavedashers > Non-wavedashers.

Anyway, I still think it would be easier if they released a universal headset that was compatible with both DS and Wii. Someone tell me if this is too hard.

[Wii_Rulez]

This is great news, hopefully it'll be used for online and just not specific games.

Kindrik Wrote:Is that even remotely possible?

Well DS and Wii can already interact, so why not.

[LemonManX]

That's what I was thinking, the DS and Wii can interact, so surely its possible to make a headset works for both of them. I wouldn't care if it cost a little bit more than a normal one. I'd rather buy one than two.

[ManaBurnX]

Either that or just let us connect our DS to the Wii and use that mic, though it wouldn't be of the best sound quality and would be too far away from your mouth unless you built some kind of apparatus to keep it on your head. I can see a 3rd party company making the Wii helm as I speak with a slot for your DS.

^-- that was a sarcastic comment