Voice chat on the Switch is only available via a subscription-based smartphone app

source: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/5nv1ht/confirmed_by_reggie_fils_aime_voice_chat_is_a/

reggie's condescending quote:

instead of having some sort of bulky gamer headset, you’ll be able to do it right off your smartphone, put in your earbuds that you use for your standard mobile device. We think that’s a pretty sweet solution. That’s part of the overall opportunity that we see in a subscription service.

the stupidity of this statement baffles me. i never would have expected to hear this from someone so well-known in the industry. he's framing it as if voice chat on consoles are relegated only to "bulky gamer headsets" and that an app that requires a paid subscription and ISN'T EVEN ON THE SWITCH ITSELF is somehow a better solution.

nintendo is doing nothing to prove they aren't ass-backwards on online services.

I really hope they 180 on this. That logic is just....

Wow, that's one of the dumbest things Nintendo has ever done...

This console and game company are literally from the past.

I wonder if Nintendo even employ a person who does any market research at all.

Wow that sounds so stupid

And here I am excited for the switch

PLus no headphone jack on future phones

Couldn't give a shit about the online, makes no odds me.

I guess it will upset someone, somewhere.

Really? so you're okay with this?

This is one of the fucking stupidest and most tone def things a company has ever done

It's obviously assholeness, and he's talking out his arse in the hope you are really, really dumb.

oh, and here's something else to underscore how shitty nintendo's paid online service is:

Nintendo confirms that the NES or SNES game you get per month with the new paid online service will only be available for that month, after which you have to buy the game to continue playing it.

incredible. just amazing.

They are completely out of touch with reality, anyone buying into this pile of garbage is in for a rude awakening...

Do they realise that there's an app called skype that costs absolutely nothing? Or you know, countless other apps on my phone that can perform voice chats?

Absolute idiocy, it amazes me how a company could be this dumb.

I thought Microsoft was out of touch in 2013, this is just a whole other level...

This is inexcusable in 2017.

This would be inexcusable regardless of the year, they're hamstringing this into the predication that everyone owns a smart phone, or even a phone... You have to own a $50 to $800 device on top of the Switch to even talk to people...

The concept itself is baffling and idiotic, there's not even words I can muster to really do justice in highlighting the cluelessness of this company.

I was just joking on how you will use your smart phone to chat while playing on the Switch too but it's actually not a joke?! If this is real, that's a damn shame. What if you want to use your unlimited data on the go, but Nintendo will still charge you for online? I'm still gonna wait it out and see how all of these work but right now all of it sounds pretty dumb. Might as well add all these Nintendo games on smart phones and tablets since you'll be using those for chatting anyway.

Dammit Nintendo...YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE....YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT EA, NOT JOIN THEM

I agree, but especially today. It's hard to fathom.

Clueless... Fucking Clueless.

They are selling us a tablet. So what they are saying is you need a second tablet, or a phone, to use voice chat. TROLOLOLOL.

Personally, I don't use voice chat all that much at all even when I play online. But it's still completely insane to not have this most basic gaming feature. Does it have any USB ports? Or just the USB-C? That might have something to do with it. Plus they were probably too cheap to license bluetooth support.

That's a new low for Nintendo.

Nintendo : Play some of our games on mobile on the go. Play our new 3ds on the go. Play our switch on the go. Use your mobile to voice chat while playing smash. WTF

Nintendo stated they have more news coming about their Online Service coming soon. I wouldnt worry too much about it. This is just part of it.

It pr9bably didn't occur to some of you guys that since this is a mobile console, the alternative would be shoving a 4g cellular network spot in the thing and making you buy cell service for the thing, huh?

Remember when the Vita had a 3G model?

Yeah, your outrage is silly and unwarranted. Take a seat.

$300 + a subscription fee for this crap. I feel sorry for the sheep.

@Shewgenja: Amen.

@iandizion713: WiiU 2.0

@NathanDrakeSwag: Youll live.

@iandizion713: I know I will. But I'm worried about the sheep when Switch fails and Nintendo starts making games for Playstation and Xbox.

Oh great, more hilarity to come...

The main focus of this HOME CONSOLE, is that it's a HOME CONSOLE, with secondary portable functionality.

The asinine nature of this feature enveloping the entire system and functionality of voice chat is off the charts stupid.

Now we start to peel back this onion that is the Switch and it is beginning to stink.

@dynamitecop: They're not going to throw mobile functionality away for the sake of a label that ultimately means nothing to them.

Who doesn't charge their phone and tablet at the couch, anyways?

Do you think that he is on the spectrum too?

The fact that they provide no other option especially in the scope of home usage is completely ridiculous, you're now ham-stringed to a smart phone to talk to people... Want to use a 7.1 headset with optical audio like you can on literally everything else? Nope. Want to use a USB headset? Nope. Want to use a 3.5 MM headset? Nope...

This is just stupid, please don't defend this nonsense...

You never can know with these people and the things they say.

Ya'll are the ones that are mental if you thought Nintendo was going to put cellular devices in their hardware to support their online integration.

Now, this shit about the retro games, there you have something.

Nintendo hasnt said you cant use without a phone yet. They merely stated this app is part of their online feature. For someone not interested in the Switch, you sure do spend a lot of time complaining about it.

well this is dumb...

I want to be interested in it, Nintendo is making it and ever growing impossibility the more and more information they release.

Oh, and I'm pretty certain they are stupid and arrogant enough to damn every other form of headset connection...

I really don't see the big deal. People finger **** their phones all day anyways.

@dynamitecop: Then just wait. Yall complain about the same stuff over and over. Get over it.

Criticism doesn't need to wait, it's based upon available information as it comes out.

@dynamitecop: Your criticizing ghosts. Yall are complaining about fears. Man up.

This is delicious. You guys were so short-sighted about the online integration that you got outraged over Nintendo being a step ahead for the needs of their base.

I'm criticizing features and functionality based upon officially released information from the President and CEO of Nintendo of America.

Silence.

Oh be quiet, you can't even address this post, you just skipped right over it because its damning to your lack of logic.

@dynamitecop: No your not, your criticizing stuff that doesnt exist. Your complaining Switch can only use Voice Chat with a phone when we have ZERO reports of such a thing.

@dynamitecop: You're outraged because your expectation is that a mobile console functions like your XBox or PS4 that just sits pretty on ethernet or wifi all day.

@dynamitecop: I just don't have an opinion. I've never used a chat headset for game audio.

It's a Home Console with secondary portable functionality, and that's exactly as it's being advertised officially, don't get shit twisted to fuel your nonsense.

Sheep never learn. Another WiiU is staring them right in the face and they are going to gobble it up while everyone else laughs and walks by.