(Credit: Nintendo)
Historically, Nintendo has had a weird relationship with the internet. Although its systems embraced online play years ago, their functionality has lagged behind rivals in terms of communication. The Switch 2 promises one of the company’s most ambitious online features yet with GameChat, which is the system's new online communication system. I tested it before launch to see how Nintendo uses cameras and microphones to turn online gaming into a more fun, welcoming experience.
How GameChat Works
GameChat is so baked into the Switch 2 experience that there's a dedicated button for it on the Joy-Con controllers. Pressing the new C button launches the GameChat menu that lets you create a lobby or see which friends are online and ready to play. Parents, you can block these features by utilizing Nintendo's parental controls.
I spent the GameChat demo playing The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, the multiplayer Game Boy Advance Zelda title that supports online play via Nintendo Switch Online. Considering that the game is all about cooperation, being able to communicate with teammates makes sense. However, GameChat isn't tied to any particular game. Every member in the lobby can play whatever they want, or nothing at all, while hanging out with the group. You can even see what friends are playing and go directly to the Switch’s online shop to buy the game if you're interested.
Stream Quality
Visually, a GameChat session greatly resembles a Discord call. By default, there's a main screen featuring your game session and your head in a corner. It resembles what you'd see while watching a Twitch stream. Beneath that is a smaller row that houses up to 11 friends, with their gameplay footage and floating heads. In a nice touch, you can rearrange the layouts, change the viewing window size, turn off the camera, and mute sounds.
(Credit: Nintendo)Using GameChat in the real world will be the real stress test, but my controlled demo delivered the expected performance. The camera picked up my face and removed the background without issue. Everyone in the session used Nintendo's official 1080p web camera, though you don't have to; the Nintendo Switch 2 should support most USB-C webcams, even those with lower resolutions. Audio quality was more of a mixed bag. The Switch 2's integrated microphone filtered out most background noise, but voices still didn't sound particularly crisp. The Pro Controller features an audio jack for headset support, I'm curious to try GameChat with a higher-quality microphone.
In testing, GameChat didn't harm my game's performance; I felt no added lag in Zelda. That said, your friends' gameplay streams run at a much lower frame rate. That isn't that big a deal, though. I rarely paid much attention to those video feeds, just glancing at them if someone pointed something out. GameChat aims to create the comfortable communal vibe of playing together with real people in the same room, and the audiovisual quality is just good enough for that ambiance to be effective.
Cool Extra Features
GameChat wouldn't be a Nintendo feature without other nifty functionality. Along with the screen sharing options, there is an impressive speech-to-text tool that transcribes what party members are saying and displays it in the chat in real time. That, combined with the text-to-speech feature, gives GameChat appreciated accessibility tools.
Even without GameChat, certain Nintendo Switch 2 games can use the camera for local multiplayer shenanigans. During my demo, I sat on the couch for Mario Kart World action and used the camera to add my face into the game. That way, whenever you knock someone out with a shell, your victim can see a picture of who did it. For added comedic intensity, I zoomed in on my face as much as the camera would allow. Is it that meaningful? No. Is it dumb fun? Absolutely.
Is GameChat the Switch 2's Killer App?
Nintendo is so eager for you to use GameChat that the feature is free until next March; after that, you must pay for a $19.99-per-year Nintendo Switch Online subscription. I'm unsure about its long-term prospects, though. When it comes to gamer communication, Discord's iron grasp might be too strong to conquer. Still, a proper voice chat tool (not tethered to your phone like the original Switch) goes a long way toward making Switch 2 feel like a modern system. And as we learned during the pandemic, seeing friendly faces can make online interactions feel far less isolating. You can explore GameChat when the Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5.