Don't get me wrong I think the Wii Speak sounds like an awesome (yet, somewhat overdue) idea, but I can't help this nagging feeling that it might fall flat. Firstly, from this article we can see obtaining the channel on the Wii is an incredibly rigid and awkward system which highlights the fact that the Wii was born as a mute console. It wouldn't take a great deal for Nintendo to do a universal update for the Wii which adds the channel, rather than it being dependent upon the purchase of specified products. Because of this restriction it does strike me as Nintendo's philosophy, "any one can play and enjoy, that's the idea... you've just go to pay the (sometimes unreasonably high) price first". I'm a buyer for video games at my local HMV and don't get me wrong Nintendo have done a fantastic thing with the Wii and DS, but you always get the impression that Nintendo kind of hate the consumer at the same time. This is usually due to shortages of "must have" products, high prices or unreasonably priced accessories which in some (luckily few at the moment) cases are required in order to play the game.

It's not just the awkwardness which I believe will hinder the Wii Speak though, the Wii is pitched at a relatively large demographic, rather than the Xbox and PS3 aiming at the "core" gamers and the "early adopters", (one which i realise they are trying to change) Nintendo have pitched the Wii at Children, female "casual" gamers in the teens to early twenties, but also at older audiences than consoles usually aim at (I'm not going to be too precise here, but I've sold many a Wii to 60+ couples who want to play bowling or keep fit and active). In doing this Nintendo have latched onto a previously untapped market, but this market was untapped largely due to the fact that they know very little about gaming. Now I can understand that some Wii owners who own other consoles (perhaps even the Dreamcast) will have had experience will hooking a console up to the internet, but it does still seem to be something that many are reluctant to do (obviously not including here the millions of players on XBL and PSN). So after many have purchased a Wii, managed to get it connected to a TV and worked out where the sensor bar goes very often the internet may be the last thing on their mind this Christmas.

I know, I know, connecting a Wii up to the internet isn't THAT challenging, I don't mean to insult many a Wii users intelligence by saying that they won't be able to work it out. But I think one thing that must be considered is that a proportion of Wii owners don't consider it a games console, moreover it is often seen as a family toy, an item of fun, rather than a super-computer, high-tech multi-media platform of the future (Xbox 360, PS3). What I'm trying to say by this, is that there is still a reluctance to complicate matters. For some the idea of a nunchuck was one step too far in the wrong direction, a microphone which requires activation, an internet connection and then friends to make it worth while may be too much to ask (emphasis on the word idea, in practice most like it).

This then falls back on the target audience for the Wii Speak, well when you consider it being bundled with My Sims Kingdom I believe this is very telling. However, it is being marketed under the Wii ethos of a collective undertaking, thus "We (Wii) Speak"; implying that it is not the individualistic affair of one man and his mic shouting insults loudly, but rather a family or some friends perhaps talking to family of some more friends from the comfort of you own living room (perhaps still shouting insults though, just collectively). So potentially Wii Speak is being marketed at the family, young and old, however this marketing requirement hinges on the most techno-centric member of the family having the time and the patients to hook the console up to the internet and download the chat channel. But obviously that's not enough, it also requires for other families to do the same. This is not like the (hard)"core" gamers of the 360 or the PS3 who apparently are born with an ethernet cable for an umbilical cord, nor is it like connecting a computer up to broadband, which has a much more utilitarian purpose; rather, it is a recreational activity which might by a nice thing to do now and then, but somehow I don't believe it'll really change game play that much. There's not really emphasis on ordering friends about or taunting enemies, it's something that the Wii is afraid of in fact, so what will you do with it that you can't do with a telephone, instant messaging or social network sites?

So what am I saying really? That Wii users aren't as literate with technology as other console users, that Nintendo are producing what I consider, another pointless gimmick? In short yes, I may be wrong, I was wrong at the fact that people continue to buy Wii consoles even though there are few games with any longevity or immersive game play. I was wrong when I also said that no one would buy the seemingly pointless Wii Accessory packs. Perhaps I'm not seeing eye-to-eye with the whole “We” ethos and missing the point of communal game play. Either way I still believe that Wii Speak has a lot to work through before it becomes a large part of Wii play.