Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Revvin on August 10, 2000, 02:17:00 PM
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Today Microsoft announced its latest hardware/software combination entitled Game Voice (http://www.gamevoice.com/) on the surface it looks like a fancy mix of Battlecom (http://www.shadowfactor.com/) (aquired by Microsoft a few months back) and a utility much like Game Commander (http://www.gamecommander.com/) but Microsoft have also added a swanky looking control device to allow switching between channels with light indicators to show you which channel you are on. Also the software will allow games to be controlled much like Game Commander (http://www.gamecommander.com/) with pofiles that can be custom made to suit any game. The keypad unit will incorporate 8 buttons for controls such as individual channel selection (up to 5 channels) and also a button to allow you to mute your microphone or talk to up to 64 players in any channel at the same time. As well as voice chat facilities and game command control the software will also use the MSN Messenger service for players to create 'buddy lists' in much the same fashion as ICQ (http://web.icq.com/) or the Yahoo! Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com/) service.
The unit which is being advertised for $49 comes complete with the unit and a microphone headset which is quite a good price consideringGame Commander (http://www.gamecommander.com/) costs $29.95 for the standard version or $39.95 for the MX version. Will HTC continue to use Roger Wilco as the means of voice communication or will they give way to the Goliath that Microsoft is and incorporate Game Voice (http://www.gamevoice.com/)?
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I thought MS already had plans to incorporate RW into a future directX? If so, does one dept know what the other is doing, or are they just that big? (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/biggrin.gif)
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No, Microsoft bought Battlecom created by Shadow Factor (Roger Wilco's only competitor at the time) last year to incorporate into DirectX8 to be released this autumn (probably to coincide with Windows 2000 ME being released early September) I wonder if Microsoft's Game Voice system will force other voice comms systems out of the market unless like Roger Wilco they compete across a variety of platforms such as RW's MAC release. Teamsound (http://www.teamsound.com/) (another voice comms program) only support Windows 95/98/98SE/2000 and NT4 but with Microsofts latest program it may force them to also look at including other platforms such as Mac or even Linux as its popularity grows as a platform.
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http://www.get-socket.com (http://www.get-socket.com)
Another entry...this one from CenterSpan (formerly known as ThrustMaster)
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