By the way, your mouth should be about 20 cm (8 inches) from the microphone to ensure optimal recognition. We got it right at the first go and off we were to create a profile next. Press the circle button to enter your nickname and birthday, then add a voice sample (your name is best) by holding square to record. The microphone level can be adjusted here (or later on should you find yourself in a noisy environment) with the up/down buttons on the D-pad. Saving this creates system data on your MemoryStick. Change all that and more at any time from the options screen. 



Some Basic Info on Talkman and our Host MAX

In case you'll need a tutorial, look for it in Options, where 47 helpful hints should provide you whith valuable insight on how to get the most out of Talkman. For example, if you want the sound to come from the speakers when the headphones are plugged in, choose to have the speakers on from the options menu. As far as speech recognition goes, MAX is certainly not perfect. He understands common languages only and does not well with dialects. But by understanding his weaknesses, it's certainly possible to make good use of this title.

One cool thing is that you can try to talk to MAX in the main menu screen, which is his living room. He will recognize some simple phrases and either show off some whacky animations or reply as he sees fit. Which might not be the answer you were looking for in the first place; still a fun addition to the two principal modes described later. The more you use MAX, the happier the blue fowl will get. Early on there's a promise for bonus content that you'll have to earn by playing with Talkman a while, there are two entries marked "???" each in the Game mode and options menu. Any number of these probably will uncloak itself by achieving perfect scores in the Listening game.

Click here to pre-order the Talkman from Liksang!

Article by Richard Manley.