SideWinder Game Voice Review - By Mark "Frugal" Bush
In multiplayer gaming, voice comms have become an essential tool. In
the old EF2000 days many squads used codes such as B = Break L= Left
to minimise the amount of typing, but this was never ideal as it was
quite common for people to use the wrong codes when under pressure (or
was it just me :-) Thanks to voice comms software this is now a thing
of the past. Gone are the days of typing messages to each other in the
heat of combat and getting shot down while typing (or was that just
me too :-). The ability to communicate using speech rather than text
improves immersion and can be the difference between success and failure
in today's sims.
Microsoft have recognised the importance of voice communication and
developed the Sidewinder Game Voice. The Game Voice differs from other
voice comms packages such as Roger Wilco and Battlecom in that it is
both a hardware and software solution. The hardware and software combine
to give you the ability to communicate in real time across multiple
channels (which can be programmed on the fly). It also allows you to
use voice to control your game ala Game Commander.
The hardware consists of a circular controller unit that is slightly
smaller than a CD. The unit has 8 buttons that light up when pressed.
These are the 4 buttons for selecting individual channels, a team button
for talking to members of your team, an all button for talking to everyone
in the chat session, a mute button to switch the mic off and finally
a command button that switches the unit from voice communication to voice
command mode. There are also 2 jacks for the mic and speakers, a switch
to choose between headphones or speakers and finally a volume control
dial for the headphones. The unit connects to the PC's USB port and the
sound cards mic and line out jacks. This is complimented by the inclusion
of a high quality Plantronics headset and noise-cancelling mic
Installation was as easy as 1 .. 2 .. 3 literally. Microsoft have included
a simple 3 step installation procedure that takes you through the installation
of:
1. Sidewinder Software including:
Game Voice Software
Speech Engine
Sound Drivers
2. Device Connection including:
Headset Connection
Speaker Connection
Sound Card Connection
Control Pad Connection
3. MSN Messanger Installation.
My initial feelings about the Game Voice were that the hardware was
just a gimmick and that this would not really offer anything over the
free solutions available on the web. After spending some time using
the Game Voice I have to say that my initial feelings couldn't be further
from the truth. This is an awesome piece of kit that really is a flight
simmers dream. Imagine flying an 8-player 4 vs. 4 mission in Janes F/A-18.
Channel 1 contains your Wingman, Channel 2 has your element 2 lead with
his wingman on Channel 3. You put the 4 opposing players on channel
4 (so that you can give them some verbal abuse during the mission
:-). Finally you assign the guys on your side to the team button. Now,
at the touch of a button, you have the ability to selectively talk to
any member of your team, the entire team, the opposing team or everyone.
You can also talk on more than 1 channel at once ie both the element
2 lead and his wingman. The possibilities afforded by the Game Voice
really are exciting and certainly lend weight to Microsoft's claim that
the Game Voice will revolutionise voice communications.
Assigning players to channels is as simple as clicking on the players
name and then clicking on the channel. The same process is used to assign
players to your team. The icing on the cake comes when you hold down
a channel button during a game, the Game Voice will tell you who is
in that channel via a computer voice. This is a really useful feature
when you want to make sure that your message does not get sent to the
wrong person. You can also change the channel and team assignments on
the fly in game, again a really unique and useful feature.
Just to add the cherry on the icing to an already very palatable cake,
Microsoft included a voice command function with the Game Voice. The command function has 2 modes, Single Command and Multiple Command. In Single Command mode you press the Command Button, issue a single command, then the Game Voice automatically reverts back to Comms mode and puts you back into the same channel or channels that you were in before you hit the command button. This is great for when you only use the occasional voice command eg AWACS calls in Falcon 4. Multiple Command mode acts like a toggle between Comms and Commands, when you hit the Command Button the Game Voice will stay in Voice Command mode until you hit the Command Button again to return to Voice Comms. This is great for single player games or for multiplayer games where you may want to issue several commands to the computer in succession. You can switch between Single & Multiple Command mode in game by holding down the Command Button for about 10 seconds so all your bases are covered here.
This feature really
makes a huge difference to immersion as you can "Talk" to the game as
well as the players. So you've just creamed the opposition (and switched
to their channel for a quick gloat :-), now it's time to head back to
base, a quick press of the team button and you give the call "Ok lads
let's RTB. Then a quick press of the command button and you say "Inbound
for landing". You are then vectored in and get the call "3/4 of a mile,
call the ball". You hit the command button and say "Superhornet Ball"
and the response comes back "Roger Ball". You then hit the channel one
button and say to your Wingman "Ok watch my perfect landing and learn".
Shortly after that you go splat on the carrier deck and your career
ends in a fireball (Well no-one said that the Game Voice would improve
your flying :-)
Game Voice has command profiles for many popular games built in and
you can create new profiles very quickly. Programming a voice command
is very simple, you just type in the voice command and then the key
or sequence of keys that this command will activate. Then you can test
your command to make sure your voice is recognised. I was a little concerned
that there is no option to train the Game Voice to recognise your voice
but it seems that this option was unnecessary as the voice recognition
engine used by Microsoft is extremely capable. I personally have had
no problem with commands not being recognised.
One of the potential disadvantages with a hardware / software solution
is that it relies on everyone having the hardware. Fortunately Microsoft
has overcome this by making a cut down version of the software (Game
Voice Share) available as a free download.
I couldn't recommend the Sidewinder Game Voice more highly. This is
an awesome piece of kit for multiplayer gamers. The inclusion of the
voice command facility really makes this an essential piece of kit for
any flight simmer interested in flying online.
