RUMOR - Nintendo DSi Getting Dedicated DSi Speak Channel?
by VGChartz Staff, posted on 25 October 2009 / 897 Views
Original post at Popzara Blogs:
Making waves this weekend comes the rumor that Nintendo's popular DSi portable would soon be home to a specifically-designed, downloadable app that would allow voice-to-voice communication between registered DSi users. Christened DSi Speak by anxious bloggers, the mentioned first appeared on the official Nintendo.com website's customer support page, only to be quickly removed once its existence was made available online.
Before disappearing, the reports from the official page had read:
"To redeem a Nintendo DSi Download Ticket number, such as for the Nintendo DSi Speak Channel, enter the number off the Nintendo DSi Download Ticket in 'Settings and Features' off of the main Nintendo DSi Shop page, then select 'Nintendo DSi Download Ticket."
Predictably, Nintendo has chosen not to comment on speculation concerning the now-missing webpage, although they have not denied the existence of the possibility.
VOIP (voice over internet protocol) is nothing new in the world of portable platforms, with both Sony's PSP (Skype) and Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch (Skype/Vonage) receiving their own downloadable apps and services to enable voice communication between users over WiFi-enabled internet.
Of course any mention of a portable DSi-compatible voice-to-voice service would draw comparisons to other attemts to bring online voice-communication to Nintendo consoles. In fact, it wouldn't be Nintendo's first foray into the world of online, VOIP-enabled communication. Released last November to coincide with the launch of Animal Crossing: City Folk, the company's own Wii Speak peripheral and console Channel has been met with little fanfare (and support) from both developers and users, leading some to question the unit's future.
The company has also previously released a specially-designed headset for the original Nintendo DS/DS-Lite console, which supported voicechat over the internet - on select titles. One imagines that if DSi Speak were to become a reality, like its Wii console cousin, a dedicated voice app (perhaps similar to the unit's embedded Pictochat) would accompany its launch.
Thanks to CVG for the rumors and innuendo!
