Nintendo of America has responded to questions about Wii Speak's availability, while High Voltage talk about their reasons for not using it.

Last month we reported that Wii Speak, the peripheral that lets a whole family speak to people over the Internet, was rumoured to be discontinued. Nintendo of Europe responded to these claims and stated that Wii Speak has not been discontinued and is still available to purchase.

Nintendo of America have informed IGN that the situation is similar in America and promise to continue producing the accessory as long as there is demand for it. A representative stated, "the Wii Speak microphone is still available at limited retail locations. Additional shipments can be made if consumer demand increases."

Speaking to Bitmob recently Eric Nofsinger, Chief Creative Officer for High Voltage Software, stated that the reason they chose to feature Headbanger Headset support over Wii Speak was because Nintendo advised them to.

In a conversation with IGN Mr. Nofsinger then admitted that the firmware couldn't support both and they knew that either way some fans were going to be upset but added "the headset peripheral is more in line with what we believe our fans and first shooter players want/expect".