After being passed over due to failed certification tests, Skype on PSP will finally land in the hands of Japanese gamers on March 18, PSP Fanboy reports. The Japanese version of the Slim-PSP-only service launches a month later than the North American version, defying our normal expectations of how these things go.

The day after the firmware launch, a new Skype-optimized USB microphone atttachment for the PSP will be released for 2,500 yen (or two for 4,000). Expect a sudden surge in Japanese gamers yelling at their PSPs shortly thereafter.

Following the news of impending Skype support on Slim PSPs, some were left wondering why the plumper PlayStation Portable failed to answer the voice over IP call. Speaking to SCEE's director of corporate communications Nick Sharples, Pocket Gamer has ascertained the simple answer. It has nothing to do with looks, and everything to do with the older PSP's waning memory and inability to remember long strings of numbers (just like grandpa).

"We had studied the possibility of supporting Skype with PSP-1000 but had to give it up because of the smaller size of main memory on PSP-1000 series," said Sharples. If you recall, the PSP-2000 benefits from 64MB of internal memory (as opposed to 32MB in the older model) which is used for UMD caching and the reduction of game loading times. The same enhancement also enables Skype to run and thus excludes the original PSP from online chatting. We certainly hope early adopters don't get too hung up on the disappointment [Goodbye! - Ed].

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Rumors, in the form of a decrypted firmware, cropped up last February regarding Skype on the PSP. In August, at the Leipzig Games Conference, Sony officially unveiled Go! Messenger – the newly branded suite of VoIP tools by British telecommunications giant, BT – which is due this month. On Sony's event page for CES 2008, the massive consumer electronics expo kicking off in Las Vegas this weekend, they list a curious feature for their handheld: "Call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system." (Click on the controller and then on the PSP to bring up a list of the features, as seen above).

Could Sony finally show off the long-anticipated VoIP platform? And why isn't it using the Go! Messenger branding? And why are we asking so many questions? We can't be sure, but we've asked Sony to comment on their webpage.

[Thanks, Jorge]

SCEE has put a name to the BT-developed software that will enable a suite of VoIP functionalities on PSP: Go!Messenger. The Go!Messenger XMB application will be installed with a future firmware update due in January (or downloaded separately), enabling European PSP users to instant message each other using a redesigned virtual keyboard (we're still waiting on a physical QWERTY pad to materialize). In addition, the PSP headset and Go!Cam can be used for voice and video chat.

Go!Messenger has been developed in conjunction with BT, the UK's leading telecommunications and broadband internet provider, which services more than 170 countries. Initially, Go!Messenger will only be available in select European territories and will remain limited to Wi-Fi hotspot availability. No plans to expand the chat services beyond BT's jurisdiction have been announced.

UK telecommunications operator BT has developed software for PSP that will enable Sony's handheld to call other participating PSPs and some BT phones in the UK, and eventually PCs, landlines and other cellies in as many as 100 additional countries. Using the Go!Cam peripheral (currently scheduled for a UK release on May 25), the service will utilize BT's 21 Century Network, which has been designed for IP technology -- supporting both voice and video calling. BT plans to reveal further details during the Leipzig Games Convention in August, but the service's initial launch will be limited to UK calls to and from home or BT-operated wireless hotspots (there are roughly 2,000 scattered in and around airports, train stations, hotels and fast food joints in the UK).

BBC recalls that Nintendo was the first to has also attempted to transform a portable gaming device into a clunky, crippled phone, revealing DSpeak in 2005, which enabled Mario-mimicking VoIP calls -- but the application was never released. Still, with a headset, DS users can make calls to friends while both are playing VoIP-compatible games like Metroid and Pokémon.

Update: PSP games like SOCOM Fireteam Bravo also support player-to-player VoIP communication via a headset.

[Via Engadget]

It's been awhile since the DS came out -- nearly 2-1/2 years -- and we're finally using the handheld's headset jack to its full potential. Due to arrive at the end off April at an estimated retail price of $15, the Nintendo DS Headset is being sold on its functionality with one game in particular ... or make that two games. Well, sorta one and a half: Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl.

The headset works with any game that uses the microphone (including the huff-and-puff games), but is being sold on the ability to chat more conveniently with your friends over the internet. The headset works as a monaural earphone as well as a microphone, so all DS audio is routed to the earpiece, not just the voice audio. Considering the less than optimal sound quality of the unit, this is an unfortunate design shortcoming. The unit is lighweight, fits pretty comfortably over your ear, and feels durable enough to survive being stuffed into a backpack repeatedly.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are scheduled to be released on April 22nd (Sunday?) along with the headset.

Not that Pokémon -- only the second best-selling game franchise evar -- needs any marketing spin to excite sales of its predestined two-headed spawn Diamond & Pearl, but Nintendo does seems eager to herald the game's impending arrival as a sort of "My First Celly" for DS toting youngsters eager for chatter. Of course, this is simply the ability to chat with registered friends using DS's VoIP capabilities, enabled by the new Pokémon game. While it's a far cry from pending productions and possibilities proposed by the competition, VoIP on DS is a little used feature that has the potential to be a unique selling point.

Sure, it's tethered to Wi-Fi hotspots, but the technology offers the promise of safe communication -- in terms of both who your kid be talkin wit' and potential costs (or lack thereof) -- for concerned parents looking to serve their whiny offspring. Then again, DS VoIPin' lacks the much desired 'prank call' feature. With mischief muted, your preteens are gonna have to settle on playground gossip. That, or they could actually engage in some good ol' pocket monster melee. Imagine that.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are scheduled for release on April 22.

Nintendo has hinted that there are still Wii functions that have yet to be revealed. One of the latest rumors suggests that one of these functions is built-in microphone support.

We know that the Wiimote houses a speaker, but what if the controller also contains a microphone? And if that should be the case, could the Wiimote also double as a VoIP-supported communication device? Sure. Throw in a voice-activated phonebook and we're talkin' universal functionality (i.e. an incentive for "non-gamers" to buy in).

Telecoms startup Vivox has an intriguing vision, and an ambitiously-named product; "Immersion" aims to add voice chat to online games, with both persistent chat for guilds and dynamic chat for instancing. The product also seems to tie together various text-based chat methods, including regular messengers such as Yahoo and AIM as well as in-game chat.

By supplying the (scalable) infrastructure for this service, Vivox hope Immersion will take the burden of providing voice chat away from game manufacturers, while making communication centralised and seamless for players. However, there are already several products that already achieve this -- many guilds have Ventrilo or TeamSpeak servers, while Xfire provides cross-game chatting. Vivox can go either way; it could corner another segment of this fragmented market, or -- if the company manage to deal directly with game developers -- it could become the one-stop-shop communication solution for gamers regardless of their MMO of choice.

It'll be interesting to see which way the company goes; voice chat is certainly billed as the next stage of interactivity with MMOs, with Xbox Live gamers testifying to the added dimensions voice can add to various game genres. A recent press release on Vivox's website points to another direction in which the technology could become useful -- adding voice and centralised communication to online dating and social sites -- but reaching saturation point is going to be a tricky ride.

[Via Gamesblog; City of Heroes screenshot from GameAmp]