Well, it looks like it’s strictly text for players of the future modern classic, Mario Kart Wii. Voice chat will not be an option. You can use your keyboard or the wiimote to type stuff in, which has been sufficient for years now. I’ve had some good times talking trash in Half-Life 1 DM, Starcraft, and Counterstrike (beta 5.2 forever), and it was all in text. To this day I refuse to… → Read More
Reggie Fils-Aime works in mysterious ways. An online virtual console seems like a slam dunk and easy to implement (low bandwidth, drives sales, no extra hardware needed, lots of fun), but the big man at Nintendo of America doesn’t anticipate it being implemented. Voice chat, however, which is a mixed blessing at best, he wants to jump on. All that’s left, it seems, is “finalizing… → Read More
Does voice chat destroy the illusion of being a wizard master or whatever-the-hell and take all the fun out of online video games like World of Warcraft? This guy thinks it does and in a piece only slightly reminiscent of a Penthouse letter, he explains how listening to and playing with an 11-years-old boy online killed the role playing mood of yet another Saturday night. Whereas with text-only… → Read More
I know someone who’s running a flavor of Skype on his Treo, talking to friends and family without using minutes that eat away at his plan. It’s a great idea, if your phone supports it. For the rest of you, have a look at Nimbuzz. Nimbuzz is a Java-based program you load to your handset that allows you to initiate instant message conversations with others via Windows Live, bypassing… → Read More
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Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
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