One of the players in my group plays remotely through voice/video using skype. Myself and the other players who are present in the meat have no trouble hearing him, but he has definite problems hearing us. What is the best (affordable) hardware that would best pick up the group's voices at our gaming table?

Thanks!

Some sort of boom mike? The problem is he can't really hear you because you're not using a multi-directional mike most likely. I mean you guys aren't all gathered around wearing gaming head sets are you? So you need something like a boom mike that they use in movies that can pick up sounds from multiple directions. Take a look for surplus movie stuff maybe? Or some cheapy mike that you might use for karoake and put it on a stand in the middle of the room.

I use a webcam ($11 US) for that mounted on m laptob facing the other players. It has a Mic and has worked pretty well. Though when everyone is talking he has a hard time following the conversation due to occasional lag.

Actually we use a similar setup with my laptop, two copies of the skype trial client and a dirt cheap headset microphone I used to use for WoW. The trick is to really tweak the sound settings so the mic volume is just short of causing some reverb, then drop it in the middle of the table.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=s...IwAg#ps-sellers
I would use one of these, they are omni directional, rather inexpensive and are made by a company I really trust. (they make pro grade mics)

Thanks Kronk, I'm gonna try that one out!