Patent ID: 7931537

Claim:
A peripheral for use with an on-line or networked application of a multimedia console used primarily for executing games and other multimedia applications in a multimedia console system, wherein the peripheral includes a microphone module and an interface for communicative coupling to the microphone module, wherein the microphone module includes at least one directional microphone element and at least one omnidirectional microphone element for receiving voice input from a user of the multimedia console, the at least one directional microphone element and the at least one omnidirectional microphone element operating so that the user is able to simultaneously send the voice input to another user of the multimedia console system and receive voice output from another user of the multimedia console system, wherein the interface is configurable to receive an indication from the user that the user wishes to switch operation between the at least one directional microphone element and the at least one omni-directional microphone element, and wherein the interface is further configurable to responsively switch operation of the microphone module without requiring the user to physically manipulate the microphone elements, and wherein the microphone module is configured to selectively operate in a chat mode in which the voice input is transmitted to at least one other person or in a command mode in which the voice input is interpreted as command data for the multimedia console system.