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Conference and Mobile Video Chat may be coming to Wii U.

G

GiantEnemyGoomba

Member
From the tech discussion thread:

Captain Smoker said:
While it isn't new that Vidyo provides the video chat technology for the Wii U: http://www.vidyo.com/2012/11/vidyo-powers-video-chat-service-in-nintendos-wii-u-console/

I searched on google and found a Vidyo-PDF file. I don't know if it should be public (that's why I won't link to it), but I'll quote what the Wii U specific page said (pdf is published on 14.12.2012).


Focus on social networking around gaming
Now: video chat in Miiverse
Next: video-powered game experiences

Chat today, conferencing soon
Now: point-to-point
Next: multi-party conferencing

Extending to mobile devices soon
Now: between Wii U consoles
Next: between Wii U and mobile devices



Is this new? the "Next"-parts seem to be like future functions that they're going to add, since I never heard that they want to enable cross-video chat function with smartphones.

And what does video-powered game experiences mean?
Click to expand...

PDF (Page 18 contains the slide) - http://www.temdec.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp/html/katsudo/ATS/2012ATS/presentation/PD3_Kusumoto.pdf

izCoFV9UKy5hN.PNG


It looks like Nintendo may be adding support for multi party video chat as well as extending the service to mobile devices. Having multiple people in a video chat could be fun, and being able to support Wii U -> mobile chatting will be a nice feature for when Miiverse comes to smartphones.

The first part has me a little confused though. "Video-powered game experiences" is a kinda vague and could probably mean a few things. My first thought was Eye Toy-like implementation, but I don't know if the controller needs anything outside of basic camera tech to support something like that.

Anyway, this might be the first sign of that much needed update the console will be getting fairly soon. Hopefully we hear more about this and other features in the near future. In addition to an updated video chat service, I really hope an OS-level voice chat service is going to be added. Cross-game chat is a big feature for me.
 
prag16

prag16

Banned
Link to the PDF? If it's right there on Google, I'm sure it's not expected to be "private".

Good find though. Could be interesting.
 
D

DaBoss

Member
Does this mean without suspending the game? IIRC, you need to suspend the game you're playing to video chat (I don't own a Wii U, so if someone would correct me, that would be great).

EDIT: They should really put a system wide voice chat system in place. I think many people find this useful.

EDIT2: I meant close, not suspend. Though the question has already been answered below by FoxHimself.
 
Q

qq more

Member
In speaking of Video Chat... has anyone actually tried out playing a game during video chat? I remember hearing you can do that (this was right before launch) but I'm not sure if that's true since no one has ever brought it up since launch.
 
T

Throwaway123456789

Member
DaBoss said:
Does this mean without suspending the game? IIRC, you need to suspend the game you're playing to video chat (I don't own a Wii U, so if someone would correct me, that would be great).
Click to expand...

You need to CLOSE the game, actually. It's absolutely dreadful the way they've implemented the Wii U video chat. And it takes 40-50 seconds to load the app, then another 10-20 seconds to actually start the conversation.

If someone calls you the only notification you get is a flashing home button, and then you have to do the stuff I wrote above. So if you're calling someone and the other part is "answering", it'll take over a minute before they're actually there (so don't hang up, I guess).
 
D

deviljho

Member
FoxHimself said:
You need to CLOSE the game, actually. It's absolutely dreadful the way they've implemented the Wii U video chat. And it takes 40-50 seconds to load the app, then another 10-20 seconds to actually start the conversation.

If someone calls you the only notification you get is a flashing home button, and then you have to do the stuff I wrote above. So if you're calling someone and the other part is "answering", it'll take over a minute before they're actually there (so don't hang up, I guess).
Click to expand...

It's funny that Iwata mentions this in one of the Iwata Asks and implies that it's not such a great solution, and that they couldn't get it working in time for launch but are still working on it.
 
C

Clefargle

Member
"Video powered game experiences" could be some sort of livestreaming set up similar to what Sony is doing on PS4... Mebe
 
D

DaBoss

Member
FoxHimself said:
You need to CLOSE the game, actually. It's absolutely dreadful the way they've implemented the Wii U video chat. And it takes 40-50 seconds to load the app, then another 10-20 seconds to actually start the conversation.

If someone calls you the only notification you get is a flashing home button, and then you have to do the stuff I wrote above. So if you're calling someone and the other part is "answering", it'll take over a minute before they're actually there (so don't hang up, I guess).
Click to expand...

Yea, I meant closing the game. Didn't word it properly. Thanks for confirming it.

deviljho said:
It's funny that Iwata mentions this in one of the Iwata Asks and implies that it's not such a great solution, and that they couldn't get it working in time for launch but are still working on it.
Click to expand...

That's good, though I'm almost never going to use video chat TBH.
 
K

Keslord

Banned
"Video-powered game-experiences"?

Are they finally releasing video games for the Wii U?

Just kidding. Kind of. I love my Wii U.
 
W

walking fiend

Member
interested to know whether mobile devices extend to cellphones or just means 3DS.

It seems as if Nintendo is trying to expand Miiverse into an specialized social network for gamers with a wide options for accessibility.
 
G

GiantEnemyGoomba

Member
Alcotholic said:
I thought they mentioned before that you could video chat while playing games or even watch the game itself.
Click to expand...

Not sure when the latter was mentioned, but video chat while a game was suspended was first shown during the pre-E3 Direct (in the famous OctoG123 segment). I guess actually implementing the feature in the OS was too difficult for it to be available at launch.
 
B

Bullza2o

Member
Should be a cool feature if they implement it properly, with proper multitasking.

I'd be happy if it's just voice chat while gaming even, cross-game like XBL.
 
S

Somnid

Member
Good find. This makes sense with Iwata's plan to create synergy with smart devices. Wii U Chat works well enough but it's very limited at the moment. Given it's a first-class menu option it seems like the type of thing they really would like to push and improve.
 
H

HyperCubed4

Member
That's amazing. I would love to try this one day. Glad to see Nintendo giving more focus on the social aspect of their console.
 
S

serplux

Member
I remember reading in the Iwata Asks for this (I think it was that) that they planned on expanding Voice Chat in a lot of different ways. So I guess this is the fruit of their labor.
 
O

Outtrigger888

Member
Was going to make a thread for this, but glad I searched first.

I think it would be a killer app to have in game video chat with multiple people(especially with a 2nd screen).

This might mean Nintendo would put a mario party game online, since you can still maintain that social feature of seeing people and their reactions.

This would be one nice advantage of having that second screen.

That 1gb dedicated to the OS needs to be put to use.
 
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