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Nintendo is to add a social chat function to its Wii games console that enables whole rooms of people to chat to other Nintendo Wii-owning friends.

The Nintendo Wii Speak will work over the free Wii Wi-Fi connection that is currently used to enable multi-player gaming with groups of farflung friends. However, anyone within earshot of one Wii console will be able to chat to anyone else the Nintendo Wii console is linked up to.

Nintendo Wii Speak can connect up to four Wii games consoles at once. According to the press announcement, 'Wii Speak can be connected directly to the console and pick up the conversations from an entire room of people, meaning friends and families can all get involved in conversations, sharing gaming and social experiences together'.

Rather than simply functioning as an alternative way of making and receiving free phone calls, Nintendo intends the chat function to become part of the way games fans interact with friends. Accessible from the main Wii menu, the Speak Channel will allow up to four consoles to connect at once and to share photos and exchange text messages as well as to chat, all for free.

Nintendo already encourages Wii users to create their own Mii avatar and this cartoon version of the user will now be given the power of apparent speech.

Nintendo is, of course, tying in this speech function with the games at the heart of its Wii console. Wii Speak will be an integral part of the soon to launch Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City and will allow players to share words they have created for their animal characters.

Nintendo Wii Speak Channel will launch across Europe on 5 December. Pricing for the Wii Speak module has not yet been announced.

ALso wii speak channel will be relase in America on Nov. 16

You can make your favorite Nintendo Wii addict happy this holiday season for the cost of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

The Wii console remains expensive and (in many quarters) hard to find on store shelves. But accessories and titles for the Wii are cheap and easy to find.

Nintendo in November will begin rolling out new services and titles for the family-friendly gaming system. Nintendo has a new accessory that will help players enlarge their circle of friends in the Mii community.

The new Wii Speak Channel will bring more of the collaborative and networking experiences that Nintendo has been promising since it released the gaming console.

With Wii Speak, up to four people can chat over the Internet, after swapping their unique "friend codes." Friends can also leave voice messages for one other. They can also create audio captions for a slide show.

While you are chatting online, your Mii (that's your Wii avatar) will appear to be chatting, too. Your purchase of the new Wii Speak microphone (about $30) will come with a code, so you can download the Wii Speak Channel software from the Wii Shop Channel. (The software, once you enter the code, will be free.) Wii Speak goes live Nov. 16.

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Nintendo is turning what could be a key piece of what could help improve there online system into the same old shit. Wii speak concept is good, but the way they are making us use it is shit!

MKWii + Chat = Rol + Drools?

sigh. How hard is it to understand. Nintendo has clearly stated that they will not duplicate the PC model of communications. I think whatever "take" on an aspect of online is going to be. Will be different and unaccataple by those who prefer the pc model. It is not hard to understand that it's for easy access that won't jump into the negative side of online. Which is abundant. Is is ideal path. Who knows, but you don't know more than I on what is best for the masses. Truth is Nintendo doesn't either. That's why they are trying new concepts out. Seriously the "Nintendo makes crappy online stuff" is so old. Nintendo is trying to raise a new child and is working in babysteps. Get used to it.

Let me tell you .jayderyu that I am a Nintendo fanboy.
Second of all I want is to chat with who ever I want to over the internet while I am gaming. Games like Call of Duty 5, Medal of Honor, MKWii, and EA games would have better online system if we had a  device for communicate. Nintendo has come out with the best communication device that even beats anything MS came out with. Let people chat with who ever they want to and not tell us who we can chat with. Now we need to know certain people in order to chat to them. Also we can only chat with 4 people at one time? So what if you have no Wii friend codes for that game, and according to this you can not chat with anyone unless they are your Wii friend on that particular game.

See it is not that they are taking little to see what is the best for the masses. They just do not get how to do online gaming on the Wii. It is really not that hard at all. Nintendo just want online gaming to be with your friends when they are not over your house and that is it. If they had it somewhat like MS has it were you go into a lobby and pick what you want to do instead of it just given to you is soooo much better. Get ride of friend codes and just let your friends have to put one friend code in and that is in the main menu area. That could be there if we want to send them something or to let us know he is in the same game I am in. Just do not make it were I have to know every person I game. That is not the point of online gaming.

The conference calling with photo sharing is so awesome in itself, I am glad that I have a Wii and friends who have Wii's around the world to use this ability.

@KylieDog: You've got it all wrong. You CAN talk to whoever you want in The Conduit (assuming the developers choose to have this feature). The WiiSpeak channel is a Skype-like channel on the Wii's main menu.

Woah! Did you just add your own Ad that has a broken link to your new thread?!  All I can say is that's brimming with tacky goodness.  Oh and Wii Speak FTW!

edit: hm, it seems to have magically disappeared.  weird

 Don't be silly, mun.

The Wii Speak channel is just for chatting outside of games. 

The way Wii-speak will be used in game is completly different to how it's used outside of games.  Games like the conduit will feature the "normal" FPS chat features