PictoChat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PictoChat is a communication utility included with the Nintendo DS. It is used to chat with up to fifteen other people connected wirelessly through a system-to-system wireless connection.
Contents |
[edit] Functions
The touch screen is used to type in letters with an on-screen keyboard or draw and send pictures. The languages that can be typed in (as well as the languages the system itself can be changed to) are English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese (kana only).
It would also be possible to type in any other language using the Latin alphabet that has no diacritics, or which has diacritics that are used in German, French, Spanish, and/or Italian. Four chat rooms are available at one time, each with a capacity of sixteen people. (64 people maximum)
If a person is unable to use one chat room it may be because the wireless channel is already in use by another machine. So, using any of the other three rooms means that there is a greater possibility of getting in because of the use of different channels.
PictoChat is preloaded onto all Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite units worldwide.
[edit] Using PictoChat
PictoChat has an easy-to-use interface. The first thing to do is simply draw the picture one wants to send with the stylus and pressing the send button (alternatively, the start button). One can also type a message by touching the on-screen keyboard or by using the Control Pad to select the letter and A to type it. In addition, one can drag letters from the keyboard to move them anywhere in the chat window. Pressing select or the retrieve button (the button under the Send button) will recall the image at the bottom of the top screen. To make a different picture recall itself, use the arrows on the touch-screen (alternatively, use the R button to scroll up and the L button to scroll down) to make that picture at the bottom. Pressing the far lower-right hand button erases the current chat window.
Clicking on one's name or another chatter's name will reveal his or her color and profile (which can be changed in the DS settings).
[edit] Predecessors
Inkstorm from TrumpetSoft LLC, predated PictoChat by shipping on the Tapwave Zodiac Palm OS based game handheld in 2003 and included both ink chat and shared whiteboard capabilities.
[edit] Imitators
A game called Ping Pals is based on PictoChat, featuring a more advanced slew of options and capabilities. However, both users must own the game, making it less useful and widespread than PictoChat.
The popular friend code website DS-Play has recently released a PictoChat-like chatroom called "Picto-Play" for its members. Picto-Play was once located here, but the project has since been discontinued.
DS Arena added a PictoChat-like feature to its Ajax chat on the 8th of March 2006, becoming the first site to use a purely Ajax-driven chat interface with drawing support. The drawing ability is only available to registered users.
Clubhouse Games has online pictochat with friends, with added colors and extra features.
Category:Nintendo Software
