If you were hoping Nintendo’s online multiplayer voice chat system would be seamless and make sense, you’re about to be disappointed.
While it’s been been known for some time that the Nintendo Switch will feature a strange, smartphone-based voice chat solution, the entire setup is decidedly more complicated than expected.
Details gathered from a third-party accessory manufacturer Hori and then translated by Kotaku, give us a glimpse at what the Japanese gaming giant’s still unannounced voice chat system will look like.
To use headphones for a purpose beyond just outputting audio with the Switch, users will need to hook a microphone-equipped pair of headphones into an extension adapter that connects to a smartphone for voice chat, and then to the Nintendo Switch itself for game audio.
Essentially, while the game’s sound is still coming to the Switch, it needs to then be rerouted through a dedicated mobile Switch Chat app first. It’s also still unclear exactly how players will connect to each other via the app, though it’s likely the system will be an extension of Nintendo’s somewhat awkward Friend Code platform.
While this setup may not be that bad in portable mode, imagine trying to get the headset’s 20-inch long cable to your couch when the Switch is docked and running on a television. Any way you look at it, getting voice chat up and running on the Switch is set to be a complicated mess.
An interesting touch, however, is that in Splatoon 2, player’s in-game characters will actually be wearing headphones. With Splatoon 2 set to launch on July 31st and E3 just around the corner, it’s likely we’ll learn more official news regarding Nintendo’s voice chat news in the near future.
Image credit: Twitter
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