Description:

Hey You, Pikachu! (ピカチュウげんきでちゅう) was a game for the Nintendo 64 that used an included microphone to talk to Pikachu and issue it commands. The game was first released in Japan on December 12th, 1998 for 9,800yen, a price many considered to be too expensive for a video game.

Story/Information:

Hey You, Pikachu! introduces players to a new way of playing video games with microphone-based controls. Pikachu will listen to and obey players commands. It's just like having a Pikachu as your very own pet Pokémon.

The players goal is to keep Pikachu entertained and happy by giving it toys to play with and instructions on what to do. The more happy Pikachu is, the more places the player can go and the more things are unlocked.

The game starts off at the characters home when their mom tells them that Professor Oak's test was that day. The character quickly gets up and heads to see Professor Oak. The Professor wants the character to try out a new device called the PokéHelper. He explains that the PokéHelper allows humans to talk to Pokémon.


The Nintendo 64's Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) was developed by NEC was an advanced speech recognition system for its time. It converted a human voices into digital signals which allowed the Nintendo 64 to interpret the converted information into actions that would occur in the game.

The kit that was included with Hey You, Pikachu! featured a microphone that could be connected to the Nintendo 64 controller or to a headset. The United States did not get a headset packaged with the game though.

Features:

• The game included microphone to allow players to talk and issue commands to Pikachu.
• The included Nintendo 64's Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) can recognize 200 words including: ThunderShock, Thunderbolt and Thunder.

Screenshots: