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So this is how Nintendo expects us to use headsets and voice chat on Switch

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jviggy43

Member
They could have simply done this (unless it'll be there, in which case I have no idea why we would need all this shit in the first place):

Nintendo Mobile App
  • Voice chat - Uncheck
Done.

People defending this, even back in January, are missing the point entirely.
Thankyougif. There is no reason for this headset workaround to exist.
 

mantidor

Member
Isnt this a hardware limitation? Or does the switch has actual microphone input somewhere? I think it doesn't have it.

Does it have Bluetooth at least?
 

molnizzle

Member
What are the chances of Nintendo walking this back and actually building chat into the OS?

I don't think they have the memory or CPU cycles to spare. Most of the Switch's hardware is allocated to the games themselves. Presumably that's why they went with this setup in first place.

As for me personally, my fancy wireless headset has game audio piped in from my TV's optical port. I'll only need to plug the headset into my phone for chat. Still an extra layer of hassle compared to PS4, but not nearly as bad as this crazy ass solution.
 

AniHawk

Member
You cut off the post to quote one sentence that makes it look like I'm taking a cheap shot at Nintendo. If that's not cherrypicking then I must have the definition wrong. I dislike this "solution" because it is needlessly convoluted compared to what the competition offers.

And my conclusion is logical, the only thing illogical is Nintendo's approach to online gaming. They always try to do something different whether it's with hardware or software; sometimes it works but most of the time comes off as try-hard incompetence IMO.

And I don't even care about voice chat that much.

the point you wound up at is the point you continue to defend - that they try and do different for the sake of different. i don't think you were trying to take a cheap shot at anything. i am just saying that different for the sake of different is not a logical conclusion to arrive at. incompetence and lack of experience in certain areas? that makes more sense.
 
Other consoles support having both game and chat audio through one headset with a single cord. Those consoles also support plugging said cord directly into the console/controller as opposed to their phone. It's really not hard to see that point of view...

I get that it won't affect you personally and I can admit that it won't affect me either, but come on. It doesn't take that much effort to see the other side here.

I get that other consoles have a superior method and use it regularly, but this simply changes my usage case from plugging headphones into a controller to now plugging headphones into a phone. Other than that I'll use it in the same way as can anybody else. It's not such a radically different approach to warrant so much outrage imo.

That it's far more effort required than any of the other consoles? And it's far more effort than you should be spending on technology period in the Year of Our Lord 2017? (Requiring users to have another device, download something to that app, and deal with any technical issues on another platform to use yours?)

Nintendo expects Switch owners to already have a smartphone.
Shortsighted? Forward thinking? Either way downloading an app in 2017 is not 'far more effort'
 

wildfire

Banned
Very odd.

This was expected when they said early on you'll need to connect through a phone but this seriously hurts the portable experience.

The only time I would want the Switch to connect to my phone is if it means I could use my CDMA or GSM data instead of WIFI.
 

HardRojo

Member
There really aren't many people actually defending this. There are far more people complaining about all the defense than there are actually defending this.

There are however plenty of people (me included) that don't think this will really be a huge problem for Nintendo when it comes to sales or their online subscription service though. It sucks that it's such a dumb solution but it's not gonna hurt their bottom line.

I don't really see why we need to bring sales into this discussion though, we're talking about QoL solutions here, and yeah it probably won't mean shit in the long run. In fact I didn't think the Switch would start off so strong since the reveal was so lackluster and they made baffling decisions like this one (the paid online service which they have yet to explain in detail and the online app that outsources stuff the console should be able to do), but the market proved me wrong and Switch is selling like fucking hotcakes, which is nice for the industry and also me as I plan to get one, but this convoluted voice chat argument is unrelated to sales.
 

Xandremi

Member
I don't think they have the memory or CPU cycles to spare. Most of the Switch's hardware is allocated to the games themselves. Presumably that's why they went with this setup in first place.

As for me personally, my fancy wireless headset has game audio piped in from my TV's optical port. I'll only need to plug the headset into my phone for chat. Still an extra layer of hassle compared to PS4, but not nearly as bad as this crazy ass solution.

Are you telling me the vita has the resources for voice chat but somehow a 2017 console doesn't? lol.....
 

Xater

Member
Isnt this a hardware limitation? Or does the switch has actual microphone input somewhere? I think it doesn't have it.

Does it have Bluetooth at least?

The pads use Bluetooth, it really shouldn't be hard for Nintendo to implement drivers for Bluetooth headsets.
 

jdmonmou

Member
I think the Switch has bluetooth, I think all they have to do is allow it to use bluetooth headsets
Yeah but you would still need your phone for voice chat. I don't think there are any bluetooth devices that allow a simultaneous connection to both your phone and the Switch. Offloading voice chat to the phone will make all setups very cumbersome.
 
I was actually on board with what they were initially proposing as I pictured a small phone headset with a mic (the kind that come packed with smartphones) simultaneously plugging into a phone via some tiny adapter/dongle along with the Switch. Phone would have been in pocket, headphone on and Switch in hand. I thought the adapter would be just barely big enough to accomadate headphone and Switch wires plugging into it, and the adapter itself would directly plug into phones without needing it's own cord.

This is instead using a regular gaming headset, and adding a bigger, separate adapter thing that's more or less phone sized?

It's weird and I don't see the benefit, but we're only seeing what Hori is proposing. I'll wait for the whole picture directly from Nintendo before writing this off.
 

pringles

Member
Honestly struggling with why this is such a big deal.
YES the Switch should do voice chat and YES this is far from elegant but.....

- I'm playing Switch outside
- I have my phone as a hotspot in my pocket
- Voice Chat app is running and bluetooth headphone/mic is connected to phone
- Game audio comes out of Switch

- I'm playing Switch at home
- Again bluetooth headphone connected to phone for Voice Chat
- Game audio comes from TV

Now if I'm outside and don't want to have Switch audio outputting through the speakers, such as if I'm on public transport for example, then chances are I also wouldn't want to be voice chatting out loud anyway.

If I'm home and I need to be quiet so don't want Switch audio coming through my TV, then again chances are I couldn't be voice chatting out loud anyway.

So... I'm at a loss... OR A DIE-HARD NINTENDO DEFENDER FANBOY I guess...

What am I missing?
Pretty much in the same position. Not saying I think voice chat not being done natively on the Switch is great, but that's something we've pretty much known about for ages.
 

Sephzilla

Member
People here seem to be jelly.
I mean, this Splatoon-style adapter is so damn cute. I will buy it. Love my Switch.

And honestly, how boring is this setup:

Headset-pc-games.JPG


Brb opening a new thread called:
"My SO and me had so much fun with USF2. Is this the best game you ever got for 40$?"

X2FX5PB.gif
 
I understand that the Switch can't do bluetooth audio for whatever reason

...but why can't the headphones at least take the audio from the phone through bluetooth and mix it with the wired audio from the switch internally and without an additional box. They are custom made for this purpose after all. That way you wouldn't need the extra box and would need only one cable, Nintendo would would get their voice chat-through-the-phone-only requirement filled and the whole thing would be much neater.

That's still possible, right? If someone builds something like that.
 
I get that other consoles have a superior method and use it regularly, but this simply changes my usage case from plugging headphones into a controller to now plugging headphones into a phone. Other than that I'll use it in the same way as can anybody else. It's not such a radically different approach to warrant so much outrage imo.



Nintendo expects Switch owners to already have a smartphone.
Shortsighted? Forward thinking? Either way downloading an app in 2017 is not 'far more effort'

Nintendo seems intent to offload all effort onto someone else

Be it DeNA and this shit solution, to their staff that has to spin and explain this shit, to the consumer that has to come up with how to get this all to function comfortably

Any defense of this is asinine
 

Xater

Member
Yeah but you would still need your phone for voice chat. I don't think there are any bluetooth devices that allow a simultaneous connection to both your phone and the Switch. Offloading voice chat to the phone will make all setups very cumbersome.

The should not use a phone app in the first place. They could have a setup that's almost as good as other system, but chose to do this stupid shit.
 

molnizzle

Member
Are you telling me the vita has the resources for voice chat but somehow a 2017 console doesn't? lol.....

I'm saying Sony made sure to allocate those resources when the Vita launched. There's a portion set aside for OS functions that games can't tap into. Every console does this—it's why PS4 devs can only use something like 5GB of memory despite the system itself having 8GB. Some of the juice is reserved for stuff like background voice chat.

As far as I'm aware, most of the Switch's resources are allocated to the games themselves. Nintendo didn't set aside much of it for OS functions. That's why it's so barebones in the first place. The Switch doesn't have much power to begin with, so Ninty decided to give most of it to the games. This is the aftermath of that decision.
 
I do not understand how Nintendo just doesn't release a phone-holding JoyCon grip like this with all the functionality build into the unit. Maybe there would be a couple short weird 3.5 mm male-male cords but it wouldn't be a monstrosity.

ntrwnhohqlay.jpg
 
I get that other consoles have a superior method and use it regularly, but this simply changes my usage case from plugging headphones into a controller to now plugging headphones into a phone. Other than that I'll use it in the same way as can anybody else. It's not such a radically different approach to warrant so much outrage imo.

I think it's worth pointing out that once again, that's your personal take on things. Second, it isn't as simple as just plugging headphones into your phone if you want game + chat audio from the same source. Plenty of people have gaming headsets that combine the two (and possibly have noise cancelling features) which means they'd then need a smartphone and the adapter to use this. That's also only a solution if you're playing in portable mode.

I do agree that in the long run, this probably won't hurt the console overall as much as a thread like this would make you believe. This is a forum for gaming enthusiasts and as a result we're only going to get that perspective.

Are you telling me the vita has the resources for voice chat but somehow a 2017 console doesn't? lol.....

We're talking about a software feature here, not hardware. Switch could be as powerful as the PS4 and still not offer built-in party chat if Nintendo couldn't find a way to do it.
 
I cant really enjoy the game audio out of the TV while having headphones on.

Either my headphones have excellent noise cancellation or you have supersonic hearing

I mean I'm picturing having a single earbud in, much like gaming headsets only have a singular earpiece...

I play games almost exclusively with headphones. It's a necessity given the noise check, plus I just have a personal preference for playing with headphones.

There's a lotof people in my same camp, some who have an even bigger need to play only with headphones. Some can't play with TV audio due to living in apartment complexes with very thin walls. Some can only play late at night while their spouse and/or kids are asleep.

I get personal preference sure, fine, handheld audio is obviously far superior through headphones, but it the theoretical other examples I don't get.
Family are asleep so I have to mute the TV... but I can still speak out loud whilst in voice chat! Like you can either make noise or you can't. If you can this isn't a big deal, if you really can't you wouldn't be voice chatting anyway.
 

Reckheim

Member
The account system is better at least. I can get my stuffs on the switch I use and get it back without assle if need be.
Online work out of the box, I don't see the problem here, it's painless.
Voice chat...yeah.
I still prefer the way the switch works over shitty ps4 that sends me message for no reason that i can't do anything about it and Sony threatens to ban me if i complain too loudly.



they probably deemed it not enough as they rightfully thought that some people would just not care about that and just let their kids on the switch with no parental control at all.

what are you even talking about? You can disable notifications.
 

guybrushfreeman

Unconfirmed Member
I'm saying Sony made sure to allocate those resources when the Vita launched. There's a portion set aside for OS functions that games can't tap into. Every console does this—it's why PS4 devs can only use something like 5GB of memory despite the system itself having 8GB. Some of the juice is reserved for stuff like background voice chat.

As far as I'm aware, most of the Switch's resources are allocated to the games themselves. Nintendo didn't set aside much of it for OS functions. That's why it's so barebones in the first place. The Switch doesn't have much power to begin with, so Ninty decided to give most of it to the games. This is the aftermath of that decision.

As far as we know from reports the Switch OS uses more RAM and processor time than the Vita OS does so that makes no sense
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
Except, one of the prior 5 systems had integrated online chat. That led to a peado story, that led to a PR disaster, and was subsequently dropped.



The DeNa deal is about mobile games no?

Dont buy it sorry.

You seem to care about branding so much. 90 percent of switch marketing is aimed at Young adults.

This implementation does nothing to save them from another non scandal.
 
Purchase data, nothing to do with user data. Its pointless for me to search for user data as it wont be released nor accurate. A certain amount of common sense needs to be applied.

And if you really think that Nintendo is more popular with over 25s than under 12s, then you really havnt got any and its pointless to argue with you

User data (vs purchaser data) usually becomes more readily available as the generation/console matures.

Also, citation needed.

Wii/PS3/360 user data from 2008:

for-3350-chart1.jpg


Nintendo JP official demographic chart (2008):

l54.jpg


To parse the second graph, it would appear that (as of 10 years ago), Nintendo's 3 largest age user groups were 10, 11, and 12, but the majority of users on the platform were well over the age of 25.

I did find this for iPhone vs iPod touch users (2009):

iphone-vs-ipod-touch-age-breakdown-pie-chart-6-15-09.jpg


Keep in mind that Apple stopped reporting iPod sales in 2015, as the iPhone has made it redundant, even at the low end.

Mobile gaming exploded between 2007 (introduction of iPhone) and 2010:

mobilegaming-pr2011.gif


Minors make up the majority of mobile game players.

It's difficult to find mobile trend data - most surveys only hit people 18 and up.
 

bart64

Banned
This app better be great for Nintendo to go through all this trouble. I will be fine because I don't use headphones, but it seems that regardless of whether you use the app or not, the switch is not really compatible with wired headphones.
 

Mr. F

Banned
The worst part is you just know with how convoluted this 'solution' is that it'll eat up like 15 mins of E3 Direct time to explain in excruciating detail
 
I get personal preference sure, fine, handheld audio is obviously far superior through headphones, but it the theoretical other examples I don't get.
Family are asleep so I have to mute the TV... but I can still speak out loud whilst in voice chat! Like you can either make noise or you can't. If you can this isn't a big deal, if you really can't you wouldn't be voice chatting anyway.

You don't have to speak that loud at all for voice chat. Why ARE you attempting to poke holes in people's actual use cases for headphones?
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
I think it's worth pointing out that once again, that's your personal take on things. Second, it isn't as simple as just plugging headphones into your phone if you want game + chat audio from the same source. Plenty of people have gaming headsets that combine the two (and possibly have noise cancelling features) which means they'd then need a smartphone and the adapter to use this. That's also only a solution if you're playing in portable mode.

I do agree that in the long run, this probably won't hurt the console overall as much as a thread like this would make you believe. This is a forum for gaming enthusiasts and as a result we're only going to get that perspective.



We're talking about a software feature here, not hardware. Switch could be as powerful as the PS4 and still not offer built-in party chat if Nintendo couldn't find a way to do it.

Meh most people don't care about how it affects sales, which it likely won't at all. They're more mad about how asinine the whole thing is.
 

Siege.exe

Member
I get that other consoles have a superior method and use it regularly, but this simply changes my usage case from plugging headphones into a controller to now plugging headphones into a phone. Other than that I'll use it in the same way as can anybody else. It's not such a radically different approach to warrant so much outrage imo.



Nintendo expects Switch owners to already have a smartphone.
Shortsighted? Forward thinking? Either way downloading an app in 2017 is not 'far more effort'

How about they just put native voice chat in the OS and save themselves all the trouble to begin with.
 

Dynheart

Banned
Well that is certainly an awkward solution. Couldn't a wireless solution be realized here? Pretty much every phone is Bluetooth compatible, and the Switch is as well. Perhaps attach a Bluetooth adapter to the Switch (via 3.5mm jack), enable Bluetooth on phone (perhaps Nintendo app to allow chat/audio?), and should be good to go.

This is not exactly my field of work, so I probably missed some technicality for this not to be an option. Unless Bluetooth's signal strength cannot carry both audio and chat? /shrug

The proposed solution, though, seems cumbersome.
 
Let me be clear that I am not defending this stupid convoluted setup. As maddening and disappointing as this is, I do not think this will be a big deal ultimately. Nintendo first party multiplayer games have existed without proper voicechat in the past (I realize there are some outliers), and will basically remain the same now. It sucks, but like... I never really used voicechat on my nintendo consoles before and they were almost always my primary console. What nintendo games were you guys playing last gen that had voicechat?

I am pretty upset that we won't have it, considering I thought the Switch would finally get it right. But in not getting it right, the Switch's online functionality is gonna be pretty much the same as it has been for previous Nintendo consoles: voiceless. So for me, it's disappointing that they didn't fix this issue and build it into the system, but I also don't think this is gonna be a huge issue for most people as it's something Nintendo has been missing forever.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
You don't have to speak that loud at all for voice chat. Why ARE you attempting to poke holes in people's actual use cases for headphones?

Exactly. You don't have to yell. I mean I could play with the speaker volume low too, but that sucks. I use headphones so I can have the game audio loud. But that doesn't mean I have to talk loud for people to hear me.
 
Pretty much in the same position. Not saying I think voice chat not being done natively on the Switch is great, but that's something we've pretty much known about for ages.

Uhh not everyone is an android or apple is user. For sure windows won't be supported. Also, secondly ae don't want to waste our phone battery in docked mode?
 
Let me be clear that I am not defending this stupid convoluted setup. As maddening and disappointing as this is, I do not think this will be a big deal ultimately. Nintendo first party multiplayer games have existed without proper voicechat in the past (I realize there are some outliers), and will basically remain the same now. It sucks, but like... I never really used voicechat on my nintendo consoles before and they were almost always my primary console. What nintendo games were you guys playing last gen that had voicechat?
I am pretty upset that we won't have it, considering I thought the Switch would finally get it right. But in not getting it right, the Switch's online functionality is gonna be pretty much the same as it has been for previous Nintendo consoles: voiceless. So for me, it's disappointing that they didn't fix this issue and build it into the system, but I also don't think this is gonna be a huge issue for most people as it's something Nintendo has been missing forever.

What nintendo games were you guys playing last gen that had voicechat?

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the WiiU
 
Exactly. You don't have to yell. I mean I could play with the speaker volume low too, but that sucks. I use headphones so I can have the game audio loud. But that doesn't mean I have to talk loud for people to hear me.

Exactly. I've played with friends who have kids, and we play plenty of times late at night when the kid is asleep, he has to talk in a low voice so as to not wake her up but I can still hear him just fine.
 

conpfreak

Member
Pretty sure someone will defend this.

I think the idea of using a external app for voice is ridiculous, but with using bluetooth headphones with your smartphone. it becomes much more reasonable. A inconvenience rather than poor function. Still, once they see the backlash from this, they should abandon this approach and implement true voice chat. All it takes it a patch for old games and the new approach for new games. Also, it's not the end of the world and the routine Switch outrage really needs to calm down.
 

molnizzle

Member
As far as we know from reports the Switch OS uses more RAM and processor time than the Vita OS does so that makes no sense

I mean, the Switch also has significantly more RAM and CPU power compared to the Vita. It makes sense.

The point is that Nintendo didn't reserve enough of it with the Switch. And they're not the most efficient engineers when it comes to this stuff anyway.
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
User data (vs purchaser data) usually becomes more readily available as the generation/console matures.

Also, citation needed.

Wii/PS3/360 user data from 2008:

for-3350-chart1.jpg


Nintendo JP official demographic chart (2008):

l54.jpg


To parse the second graph, it would appear that (as of 10 years ago), Nintendo's 3 largest age user groups were 10, 11, and 12, but the majority of users on the platform were well over the age of 25.

I did find this for iPhone vs iPod touch users (2009):

iphone-vs-ipod-touch-age-breakdown-pie-chart-6-15-09.jpg


Keep in mind that Apple stopped reporting iPod sales in 2015, as the iPhone has made it redundant, even at the low end.

Mobile gaming exploded between 2007 (introduction of iPhone) and 2010:

mobilegaming-pr2011.gif


Minors make up the majority of mobile game players.

It's difficult to find mobile trend data - most surveys only hit people 18 and up.

gotta include that with the wii sales declining and 3ds having its ups and downs, nintendo shifted their strategy to try to grab an older demographic. Whicfh is also why all the switch commercials have shown people in their 20s almost exlcusively.
 
I don't think they have the memory or CPU cycles to spare. Most of the Switch's hardware is allocated to the games themselves. Presumably that's why they went with this setup in first place.

As for me personally, my fancy wireless headset has game audio piped in from my TV's optical port. I'll only need to plug the headset into my phone for chat. Still an extra layer of hassle compared to PS4, but not nearly as bad as this crazy ass solution.

This is the most reasonable explanation for the app I could think of. It's still not very elegant and they want to charge money for the service.
 
What nintendo games were you guys playing last gen that had voicechat?

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the WiiU

Ahh, I never played that one, but that is huge indeed. Damn, I was thinking about getting MH XX for Switch as well, but I feel like partying up in a game like that is contingent on voicechat... Hopefully they do come up with a seamless way to do voicechat wirelessly. I just want Nintendo to be transparent in why they decided to do it this way, but I realize that will likely not happen.
 

guybrushfreeman

Unconfirmed Member
I mean, the Switch also has significantly more RAM and CPU power compared to the Vita. It makes sense.

The point is that Nintendo didn't reserve enough of it with the Switch. And they're not the most efficient engineers when it comes to this stuff anyway.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make anymore. The Switch has the resources for voice chat but Nintendo aren't skilled enough to use them?
 
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