Wii Speak is Holiday Gift Guide Tip #84

Nov 10 2008, 4:00pm CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Despite the fact that the Wii console is still hard to find and out of stock, there are millions of Wii consoles already in households throughout the nation. There are actually not many new hardware accessories for the Wii this holiday shopping season.
The Wii Speak actually stands out to offer something really new for the Wii console that has been standard on the Xbox 360 for a long time - voice chat. The new voice chat function makes use of the new Wii Speak accessory, a microphone that sits on top of the television and allows entire rooms of people to communicate with one another. Only users who have traded Friend Codes can connect with one another using Wii Speak.
The Wii Speak accessory comes with a code that lets users download the Wii Speak Channel from the Wii Shop Channel at no charge.
Animal Crossing: City Folk is the first game that features the in-game chat feature. The game launches on November 16th when the Wii Speak starts to ship as well.

For Whom:
The Wii Speak is a great new accessory for kids and teenagers who like to chat with their friends.

The Good:
Picks up conversation of everyone in the room

The Bad:
Only one game supported so far
General chat channel launches later in December

Where to Buy:
The Wii Speak sells on Amazon.com for $29.99. The new Wii accessory ships on November 16th - enough time to wrap it for Christmas.

See all our top 10 gift tips in the Video Games Category. Explore all our Top 100 Holiday Gift Tips 2008.

where to buy

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.