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In both Wii Fit U and NintendoLand there are games where you have to blow into the game pad's microphone to complete them. I don't like the idea of blowing moisture into electronics so I've tried to cheat by making sounds like I'm blowing in the microphone but it cleverly detects that I'm not doing it properly. Can it actually detect breath or would the right sound fool it?

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No. The game pad cannot detect your breath, rather it listens for a sound similar to that of you blowing. So yes, the right sound would fool it.

I also know that Mariocart on the DS uses the microphone in this way.

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  • I didn't think it would do anything other than detect specific sounds but how do you know this is the case?
    – CJ Dennis
    Apr 12, 2015 at 4:18
  • There was an "environmental" mystery game on the DS really early on that used the microphone for that, without ever telling me so. I was stuck on a puzzle for hours before I sighed into the microphone I didn't even know the DS had and it revealed where someone had written on glass with their finger.
    – gatherer818
    Apr 12, 2015 at 7:01
  • @CJDennis, I have tried and it is possible to make a sound away from the DS which triggers the actions.
    – angussidney
    Apr 12, 2015 at 7:53
  • @CJDennis Also a sensor for this kind of input would be too expensive/large to be a practical sensor on the Gamepad/DS
    – angussidney
    Apr 12, 2015 at 8:01
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    @CJDEnnis If you got a microphone on your pc, record yourself blowing in it, you'll hear something. That's exactly what the games are "listening" for too. Since no one blows exactly the same way, the sound differs so the games need to listen to a specific range of that sound that is the most commonly found when people blow in a microphone.
    – Jonathan Drapeau
    Apr 13, 2015 at 11:42

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