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<p>Jake,</p>
<p>Your explanation explains to me why the game voice sounds so
realistic, pre-recorded words. I used to have two Speak&Spell
toys. My preference was always for the one with no screen. It
still amazes me how realistic talking toys could sound during the
time period.</p>
<p>Blake<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/1/2021 11:21 PM, Jake McMahan
wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The game uses something similar to a
SpeakNSpell. What has happened is that there was a guy who
recorded all of these words and phrases, after which they were
encoded using LPC. When I was a small child, I used to think
these toys could say what ever I put in. I typed Damn on on
one particular device, and was only met with spelling.
Another example of a toy like this would be the interactive
Arthur. I got that for my ninth birthday and it had a chip in
it similar to what your game had.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jake</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sent from <a
href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986"
moz-do-not-send="true">Mail</a> for Windows 10</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From: </b><a
href="mailto:beroberts@hughes.net" moz-do-not-send="true">Blake
Roberts</a><br>
<b>Sent: </b>Monday, March 1, 2021 11:02 PM<br>
<b>To: </b><a href="mailto:dectalk@bluegrasspals.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">dectalk@bluegrasspals.com</a><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[DECtalk] a physical game powered by speech
synthesis</p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two years ago, I recorded myself playing a
30-year old game which relies </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">on speech synthesis. It's not a computer
game, but instead, an actual </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">device. Although Passport to the World came
with a game board and </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">pieces, the talking part is enough to play.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don't recall sharing my recording here
before. I am doing so now. I </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">don't know what text-to-speech technology
was used as the game voice. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, I have always found over the
decades that the voice sounds </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">realistic to my ears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I received the game as a gift 30 years ago
and it still talks. Passport </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to the World is probably not manufactured
anymore. This is because the </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Passport game I have thinks the Soviet
Union still exists. I was playing </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">tonight to ensure batteries still function.
I heard a question requiring </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">answer to be "The Soviet Union". That
notion is antiquated...</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dropbox link to my recording:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/8wzaj6szagk3y5g/passport%20game.mp3?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/8wzaj6szagk3y5g/passport%20game.mp3?dl=0</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blake</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">_______________________________________________</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dectalk mailing list</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Dectalk@bluegrasspals.com">Dectalk@bluegrasspals.com</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bluegrasspals..com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk">http://bluegrasspals..com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<br>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Dectalk mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Dectalk@bluegrasspals.com">Dectalk@bluegrasspals.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk">http://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk</a>
</pre>
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