Dragon 11 Gaming SpeechPack

I have to say, the best thing about this `Dragon Gaming Speech Pack' is that you get the full basic Dragon Speech Recognition Pack as part of the deal and this more than compensates for the glitchy aspects of the gaming add-on.

This comes with the discs to install, a headphone/mic set and gaming activation card.

It pays to take the time to set this up properly and don't skip the sections where you tailor the software to your individual speech patterns. I read some set texts so the software could recognise how I speak and even after doing this the accuracy was a little hit and miss. I started to think I must garble in everyday life until I re-did the set up process and things started to move a lot more smoothly afterwards.

You have to get used to the style of dictation this program uses (basic stuff like saying `full stop' or `fresh paragraph') and I felt a bit silly sat there talking to my computer whilst my wife giggled in the next room, but I soon felt more comfortable and it felt more intuitive.

It states on the website this can work with the following games: Call Of Duty Black Ops, Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Flight Simulator, XMass Effect 2, Pacific Poker, SecondLife, Splinter Cell Convictions, Star Craft 2, Warhammer 40,000, World Of Warcraft and others and I agree with other reviewers here that this lends itself to some games better than others. Games where you have to act quickly may not be best served by this, but those where you can take your time will definitely benefit more. It is also worth mentioning that this is a great idea for gamers with physical disabilities. When you're in the heat of the game and you have to start repeating things or correcting mistakes from the software mishearing you can get quite frustrating. When you are working in a word processing package this isn't too annoying, but when you are trying to relax by playing a game, this quickly becomes wearing.

Overall this is a competent speech recognition package for word processing and general computer use, but it is less successful when it comes to gaming. If you find it inaccurate I'd suggest you go back and redo the specific tailoring set-up section and take the time to correct the mistake it makes. It may take some patience, but gradually it will become more useable and of general benefit.

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