• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Voice chat on the Switch will consist of a paid app on "smart" devices (your phone)

So you need a subscription to play online AND an app on your phone to use voicechat on Switch?

Worldwide amount of players online with voicechat: 3
 

SOR5

Member
I hope I'm getting some of the details wrong here because what I'm hearing is absolutely exceedingly fucking stupid design
 
I wonder why nobody saw the red flags when DeNA was going to be handling the online. Of course they're going to tie in smartphone apps.
 

wanders

Member
This is just insane. What if you don't own a smartphone? You'll have to add the cost of whatever device you use, the forced data-plan, and having a clunky weird situation with having a completely separate device to do something that should just exist on the console. If you want the whole experience, you'd have to pay for the console, some sort of smartphone, and the monthly fee.

The console doesn't cost 300, it's going to cost more like 600 plus the monthly data fee.

0Fd01O1l.jpg
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
I hope I'm getting some of the details wrong here because what I'm hearing is absolutely exceedingly fucking stupid design

I would hope they are just bad at delivering information or that they secretly fix this while acting like voice chat would always work natively on the Wii U.

We will see.
 
Why after so many hours we still don't have any other informations about this. Why is Nintendo still so fucking secretive when the console is around the corner.
 

eoa-swam

Member
Did anyone else see the * note at the bottom of the Nintendo Switch Online Service page?

*The paid online service will be available in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico only at launch.
 
So let me get this fuckery straight:
I have to pay for online features which then unlocks an app for my smartphone which I then have to plug my headphones in, actively canceling out any sound that's coming from the TV or hindering the use of my headphones with the switch itself?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA what the fuck Nintendo?
 
Found another picture of the UI, from warios twitter.

C2EinBfUAAAr7Ua.jpg


Yeah.. definitely not seeing a party chat icon. Probably didn't wanna delay the console and relegated it to the phone..
To be fair, it appears to be in airplane mode in that screen. So maybe the option is hidden then?

Also to be fair, giving Nintendo the benefit of the doubt is dumb so never mind.
 

eoa-swam

Member
So let me get this fuckery straight:
I have to pay for online features which then unlocks an app for my smartphone which I then have to plug my headphones in, actively canceling out any sound that's coming from the TV or hindering the use of my headphones with the switch itself?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA what the fuck Nintendo?


I bet they release the app only for IOS only at the very beginning, like with Super Mario Run.
 

JCX

Member
This is a dumb solution, but it's not that big of a deal. I always have my phone by me when gaming ( I use it for sending messages via the PS4/XB1 apps).

At least this way I can use my own wireless headset instead of a $100 one that breaks easily.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
i really hope that the app is just a SEPARATE way of voice chat because this sounds really stupid.

being different just to be different

does this mean no game chat at all (i know not many people use it anymore b/c of parties but still)
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
I love the idea of this. Services like these have never been the kind of thing I want to do via my controller or a TV interface, and my phone's always right there. But I've never been a big online gamer/chatter, so I don't have to unlearn what I'm accustomed to in that space.
 
Honestly, I didn't think you could fuck up at voice chat this hard, considering it's been a standard feature in Xbox Live since it's launch in 2002, and even some Dreamcast and PS2 games had voice chat support.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
I love the idea of this. Services like these have never been the kind of thing I want to do via my controller or a TV interface, and my phone's always right there. But I've never been a big online gamer/chatter, so I don't have to unlearn what I'm accustomed to in that space.

you don't really need to learn anything though. you just plug in your headset or mic and it generally works...

edit: setting up a party takes a few more steps but hardly rocket science.
 

Yushi

Member
Honestly, I don't know anyone who doesn't use Discord. I haven't had friends use any console in-game chat for months.

So i would still use Discord for the switch
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
I think it's kind of a bit much to freak out about the straight-up zero details we have about all this, really. There's just readings of vague sentences on a page with no details about a program that isn't launching yet. I think moving this stuff to a companion app could be a really neat idea, let the console itself be very focused and put account management elsewhere, but the actual implementation is really what's gonna determine whether it's neat or stupid.

How about we give it a couple months, huh?
 
this was the worst news from the event for me


ive been dreaming of being able to play Monster Hunter with voice chat again after 3U....

then we got 4 damn 3DS games

how the hell did they get this so backwards
 

Hieberrr

Member
Nintendo: Damn, the Switch's battery life is already kind of bad. Let's make them use their phone instead. *high-fives around the room*
 

Jrs3000

Member
Anyone else feel like post-Iwata, Nintendo is basically being run by the shareholders?

If it was shareholders it would have been a straight console similar to xb1/ps4 or they'd be 3rd party. The switch reaks A blue ocean design all over it to try and find a new way to play. Ghost Iwata In control.
 

meerak

Member
This is very forward thinking actually. System level voice chat is dumb, game level is beyond dumb. Both are a waste of ressources. People who want to chat have access to tools companies spend ages perfecting, so there's no contest. This is dodging a bullet and setting up a more enjoyable play space in one fell swoop, an ultimate mute button of sorts.
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Seems like Nintendo software engineers are like decades behind.

This is very forward thinking actually. System level voice chat is dumb, game level is beyond dumb. Both are a waste of ressources. People who want to chat have access to tools companies spend ages perfecting, so there's no contest. This is dodging a bullet and setting up a more enjoyable play space in one fell swoop, an ultimate mute button of sorts.

lmao son come on. Was not expecting defence for this at least.
 
Why? People will use skype/teamspeak/discord/any of a dozen other already free and more ubiquitous chat services on their smartphones. Man this sucks, so much about this thing scream Nintendo continuing to live in some kind of technological bubble. Which makes the forward thinking lack of region lock all the more baffling in contrast, unless they expect sales to be so bad that they'll at least profit from imports?
 

Yado

Member
This is very forward thinking actually. System level voice chat is dumb, game level is beyond dumb. Both are a waste of ressources. People who want to chat have access to tools companies spend ages perfecting, so there's no contest. This is dodging a bullet and setting up a more enjoyable play space in one fell swoop, an ultimate mute button of sorts.

That's all well and good when you're not paying Nintendo money for online services. Voice chat should absolutely be included as a feature on the console.
 

Oersted

Member
I'm actually okay with the app. The pay for it part is super silly, given that you pay for the online subscription too.'
 

Skii

Member
Wow, Nintendo have become more greedy than MS. Didn't think that was possible in the gaming space but here we are.
 
Literally no. If it was, the Switch would literally be a phone or some shit.

To be honest, this is all very Iwata.

So you need a paid app on a phone to use voice chat. Appease them as much as possible without just folding your business. I mean, we can go back and forth on our subjective sense of what constitutes an 'Iwata idea' all day, but I just plain disagree with you.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Super lame on top of the paid online.

I'm not up in arms about those features being in the App it as I don't use chat with randoms and have no friends into Nintendo stuff so it doesn't affect me in practice. But the principal of it is absurd.

Online going paid stinks though as Splatoon is the only online Nintendo game I've really enjoyed to date. At least online will be free when it's out this summer. If it's like the first game (and most online games for me) I'll be sick of it long before online goes paid anyway I guess.
 

Aces&Eights

Member
So let me get this fuckery straight:
I have to pay for online features which then unlocks an app for my smartphone which I then have to plug my headphones in, actively canceling out any sound that's coming from the TV or hindering the use of my headphones with the switch itself?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA what the fuck Nintendo?

.

(seriously, WTF)
 
This is very forward thinking actually. System level voice chat is dumb, game level is beyond dumb. Both are a waste of ressources. People who want to chat have access to tools companies spend ages perfecting, so there's no contest. This is dodging a bullet and setting up a more enjoyable play space in one fell swoop, an ultimate mute button of sorts.
lol this is spectacular bullshit.

Wastes resources? The damn 360 did it just fine and the entire system OS + party chat did it with what, 32MB of memory allocated to it? On a console with 4GB of RAM or more there's no excuse. Furthermore, there is a significance to the streamlined nature of it all. Everyone I play with on Xbox has a headset and party chat right there. No extra software, no using a phone or a computer, just ready to go as is. It's simple, convenient, and streamlined.

But of course that doesn't even matter anyway, because even if you prefer the social features removed from the console and placed elsewhere... WHY WOULD YOU PAY FOR A FIRST PARTY SERVICD?!? It's insane. If I'm having to use a phone anyway, why the hell not use Skype, Discord, or anything else instead for free? It's nonsense.
 

PeterGAF

Banned
This is such a convoluted mess. If this is the only way to do voice chat on the switch then forget it I'll just use skype.

Hopefully this is something that can be fixed with a firmware update to the console, but this is Nintendo we're talking about so who knows.

I'm still getting a Switch since there are games that I definitely want to play on it, but this kind of news is killing my hopes and dreams of the Switch being the first Nintendo console in a long time where Nintendo just "got it."
 
The naysayers in this thread are ridiculous. This is clearly just an app like the PS Messaging app which can be used in addition to the on-device apps. It makes no sense why this would be it's own separate thing, which would just require extra effort for an actively bad decision. The switch is literally a multi-touch tablet not even Nintendo is dense enough to not be able to figure out messaging on the device.

I'm also sure that both the pro controllers and switch device themselves will have a headphone jack just like the Wii u gamepad did.

Tying the audio chat service to the paid online portion does seem kind of silly, considering both PS and Xbox support party chat on their free tier, but given Nintendo's history of aversion to voice chat (i.e. in basically nothing except Pokemon) it's better than nothing.
 
Top Bottom