Nintendo DS: Pictochat

DS Feature | PALGN takes a look at the software embedded free in every Nintendo DS.

When Pictochat was unveiled at E3 2004, It was a great idea that really showcased some of the innovation that the Nintendo DS was going to bring to the table. While it was a good idea, the prospect of paying full price for a feature which could quickly tire was a little daunting.

Thus, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when only a few months later Nintendo unveiled that Pictochat would come embedded FREE with the Nintendo DS, allowing everyone to have the opportunity to use Pictochat.

Having one of the only Nintendo DS's in the country also means that Pictochat is kind of pointless currently, as it is best described as a multiplayer video game chat-room.

So, we did a good enough job of hopping into an empty chat-room and seeing how long we could talk to ourselves for before becoming bored. Not surprisingly, it wasn't long, but we long for the Nintendo DS launch so we can start Pictochatting with some complete strangers.

We have taken a few screenshots of Pictochat in action. It offers up all the options that a traditional chat-room has, including a scroll up option and a text change option.

The overall concept of Pictochat is, unsurprisingly, extremely simple, but a great addition that will become more useful as the Nintendo DS becomes more popular. Pictochat also helps to showcase that the Nintendo DS is not just a gaming handheld, it is a revolution.

PALGN will have more on the Nintendo DS and all its software in the coming months, so stay tuned.

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22 Jan, 2004 The gaming giant explains the place of its new hardware in the marketplace.

15 Comments

redding

8 years ago

yeh picto chat is kinda pointless when you cant talk to anyone, but me and my friend drew pictures on his DS then we had to guess what each others pictures were. its really hard to draw on if youre left handed though (like me) cause i kept on hiting the screen and ruining my drawings

GroovySamurai

8 years ago

sorry I didnt get one of the facts, how far can you be apart to connect?

redding

8 years ago

i think its roughly 30 feet which in the metric system is about 10 metres

GroovySamurai

8 years ago

redding wrote

i think its roughly 30 feet which in the metric system is about 10 metres

Ah thats not to bad, although its no real use to me, I wish they could expand the range..

mangaman

8 years ago

well, that's useful for chatting through to next door i guess.
unless, of course you live about 40 metres from next door on acreage like me...

Hyperworm

8 years ago

GTPod and I walked quite a distance apart without the DSs losing signal. Must have been 50m at least?
(I'm guessing you'd have to be a fair bit closer than that for gaming though!)

Gtpod

8 years ago

Yeah, I'd say it was around 50ft..

But yes, Pictochat is pretty pointless on your own. ><

redding

8 years ago

50 ft is only around 17 metres, but 40 metres , i don believe it goes that far

onggie

8 years ago

Yeah 17 metres sounds just about right! This is going to be a handy tool, while you are in class. Talk to ya mates

. Cheat maybe

mangaman

8 years ago

you actually bring your gameboy to school?

NismoR34

8 years ago

I did it when I was in high school...

mrcivic

8 years ago

NismoR34 wrote

I did it when I was in high school...

Which was AGES ago. No wait, it wasn't....

Anyway, I tried Pictochat today at EB and it was pretty fun. We were about 10m away from eachother and had no problems.

Hyperworm

8 years ago

redding wrote

50 ft is only around 17 metres, but 40 metres , i don believe it goes that far

I'm sure it was more than 17m... anyway, it's certainly far enough to have decent multiplayer matches if you're even remotely near one another. So yay.