The Wii U will support in-game voice chat, but you'll be forgiven if you're not sure exactly how that will work. Nintendo hasn't shown an official headset for the WIi U and the Wii U's Pro Controller—the one that looks a lot like an Xbox 360 controller—doesn't even have a port to connect one.

So how does it work?

The new Nintendo console will support in-game voice chat for "select games", a rep for the company tells Kotaku. Among the games supported will be Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty Black Ops II and Mass Effect 3, all games with significant online multiplayer modes and all which support in-game voice chat on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The Wii U GamePad—the console's signature twin-stick controller that contains a 6.2-inch screen—contains a microphone and speakers, but that mic does not actually work with the voice chat. Nintendo tells me that users who want to be able to talk to each other can use a licensed stereo headset from Turtle Beach or Mad Catz (Tritton). The headsets plug into the GamePad's headphone jack.

At least one of the aforementioned games, Black Ops II, supports the Pro Controller, but that controller's lack of a jack will require Pro Controller gamers who want voice chat to do something a bit counterintuitive. They'll have to plug their headset into the GamePad, the controller they are otherwise not using, according to a spokesperson for CoD publisher Activision. That rep believes that gamers might be able to use a standard set of headphones that contain a mic (iPhone headphones, for example) with the GamePad, but that's not something I've been able to clarify yet with Nintendo.

From Kotaku

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@carlosrox
First vid: Variety of 'software apps.' Yeeeah..fishy wording.

lol @ Ubisoft, false advertising like with Red Steel. I won't be fooled next gen.

NSAF was non-specific action figure skit. It's the only official display of gamepad mic use use that I know of.

Posted by

Renjaku

on: 10/19/12, 12:08

Edited:

10/19/12, 12:48

But it says "including voice chat".

Ubisoft may have made this but Nintendo still had to approve it, especially since this wasn't leaked, it was official, no? Plans could have changed though.

Ah ok, I was trying to figure out wtf that abbreviation was. My bad. Shoulda known.


And as stupid as GameWiz' comment was, the sad thing is he's right. Nintendo forces us to take it in the ass whether we like it or not. So lame.
Sadder thing is I'm one of those people. I'm gonna get the headset if I have to, even if I shouldn't, and don't want to.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 10/19/12, 13:40

@carlosrox

During multiplayer games like CoD or whatever, I mute everyone. Even in team based multiplayer. I tend to do my own thing anyways. I'm a quiet boy.

Which is kind of weird. I like team-based multiplayer, but prefer to do my own thing while playing on a team. I guess it's nice to know that my actions are helping a team.

Unless I'm getting slaughtered.

Posted by

TheOldManFromZelda

on: 10/19/12, 14:03

Before this thread I didn't know what exactly people wanted or expected from Wii U's online. Now I get it. Universal chat was the elephant in the room.

Here are my psycho thoughts.

If it were my game, what happens on the Wii U itself I want to control. Letting players casually override that control with a UI not of my design cheapens what I'm trying to make. Wii U lets me forbid players from talking to their mob of Wii U friends while they play.

I believe this is in the spirit of console gaming. Once you enter a game you play by its rules without distractions. When you can pause or when you can interact with other people is up to that game alone.

Even Wii's home button makes me feel uneasy. It lets you pause any game any time.

I get the impracticality of my feelings.

Posted by

Renjaku

on: 10/19/12, 15:13

Edited:

10/19/12, 15:41

@Renjaku

I have 2 problems with this philosophy.

1. People will circumvent these rules regardless of the systems in place. Your control ends at the console level. People will set up Skype calls, or chat over XBL, or call each other on the phone if it is important enough to them.

2. On XBL the cross game chat is ubiquitous yes but it can be overridden. Call of Duty MW2 made it so you could not be in a party and be in certain lists in matchmaking at the sane time. Wii U could have something similar if this was such a concern. It's worth noting though the backlash to MW2 doing this was pretty severe and by the time MW3 rolled around this restriction was in place only in no respawn modes.

So fundamentally I think it's a losing battle and one where a lot of gamers who just want to chat with their friends while playing a game are casualties in the name of slaying the would be cheaters who will likely just circumvent the system.

Posted by

Stephen

on: 10/19/12, 15:56

I also wanted to say that while I don't particularly care about voice chatting, I can see why it is frustrating for the rest of you.

Posted by

TheOldManFromZelda

on: 10/19/12, 16:01

carlosrox said:

Nintendo straight up lied with false advertising (isn't this illegal?)

No

Posted by

Jargon

on: 10/19/12, 16:07

Edited:

10/19/12, 16:08

Honestly, I've only used voice chat once or twice on my 360, never on my PS3, and I had no plans to use it on the Wii U, but this is pretty stupid. I don't really understand the people who are defending Nintendo by saying "voice chat is stupid". I don't really value it either, but there's no reason Nintendo should make it difficult for people. You'd think they'd know it's important after all the bitching about how Wii needed voice chat even before Wii Speak came out four years ago. 360 includes a headset in the box, PS3 lets you use any Bluetooth headset, but Wii U users have to buy one, and it doesn't even plug into all their controllers? And the Wii U GamePad's built in mic doesn't work for voice chat (although admittedly we don't know the reasoning for that)? It's stupid.

Posted by

rebonack

on: 10/19/12, 16:11

Edited:

10/19/12, 16:12

Wellsy529 said:

SOOOO..... cross game video chat but not voice chat??

I could be wrong, but I don't think you can video chat while playing games.

Posted by

DeputyVanHalen

on: 10/19/12, 16:16

For everyone who says they don't use voice chat, why don't you think you would want it here? I get not wanting to talk to randoms. Hell these days I never do. You guys really wouldn't enjoy playing Mario Kart or Smash or any of these other great MP games with people from NW and being able to talk to them during the games?

@DeputyVanHalen

That's a big backtrack if true. I'm pretty sure OctoG was helping that guy through his ZombiU crisis during gameplay.

Posted by

Stephen

on: 10/19/12, 16:20

Edited:

10/19/12, 16:21

@Stephen

This. Wouldn't organizing Mario Kart be SO much easier with voice chat instead of having to use a PC?

In fact, Mario Kart is the game which makes Gamewizard's comment even stupider on a whole other level. Was it not his MK7 tournament that failed miserably due to a complete failure of communication? One which used the very PC medium he claims should be used for chat instead of an inbuilt feature of the console?

No longer would start times have to be co-ordinated. No longer would someone choose the wrong course. You can do it all right there on the fly.

And then as an extra treat, you get subjected to my endless in-game cursing as you target me with shells and whatnot. It's win-win.

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 10/19/12, 16:25

Edited:

10/19/12, 16:25

Voice chat is good, and I'll use it when playing with friends(and I anticipate people from here making up the bulk of my Wii U friends list). However, I'll be able to use it just fine. The headset isn't that much extra, and I was going to buy it before this was announced because the thought of using the mic on the controller while playing games never sounded good to me at all. As for cross-game chat, I guess it's a neat feature and all, but I've had access to it for 7 years on the 360 and used it maybe twice for a total of 20-30 minutes, so I won't miss it all.

Posted by

DeputyVanHalen

on: 10/19/12, 16:27

@Stephen
OK, misunderstanding on the wording on my part, plus I hadn't seen that video since E3 so I forgot. The game is still technically open in that video but he's not video chatting while actually playing the game. He had it paused while in the home menu/Miiverse/whatever to video chat. I thought Wellsy's post was referring to video chatting while actively playing a game, which I haven't seen.

Posted by

DeputyVanHalen

on: 10/19/12, 16:42

@Stephen Hey, Stephen! Could voice chat improve Mario Kart? Maybe. I've never been a fan of online Mario Kart Wii. It's just not as fun as playing in the same room. For some reason, it makes me an even sorer looser. It's possible that voice chat would make it more fun, but for me personally, 90% of communication is non-verbal. I'm not sure someone giggling at me constant running into walls, without me seeing a sincere, friendly face, is going to help much.

I very much prefer single-player games, anyway. That's just my style. If I play multiplayer, I want it to be co-op, and the enemy is computer-controlled. Guess I'm too much a pacifist! Was that even an option in Mario Kart Wii? I can't remember.

Posted by

VickiL

on: 10/19/12, 16:58

Does anyone else still kinda feel completely in the dark regarding the Wii U's out-of-the-box capabilities? Like, how video chat works, whether you can use it during gameplay like in the ZombiU trailer, more solid details on Miiverse, other built-in applications, etc? Pretty much the only thing we have a solid grip on is TVii and a little of Miiverse, while the rest of the info comes trickling in from third-party people like in this article.

They really should have one more conference or at least a substantial GUI overview vid that goes into detail about all this stuff. If a hardcore follower of Nintendo like me (who's played the system at two different E3s!) is still in the dark about it, what's the rest of the world think?

Also, while I probably wouldn't use much, if any, voice chat, a lot of people do and it seems like a lame idea to implement it poorly. While they weren't great, t don't remember the DS/3DS mics having issues with being on the system itself and picking up other sounds.

Posted by

TriforceBun

on: 10/19/12, 16:58

If you wanna voice chat while using the pro controller, get a USB dongle headset.

If you wanna voice chat while using the gamepad, plug in your headset to the gamepad.

I suspect that there would be too much ambient noise to chat via the built in mic on the gamepad. The sounds coming from the game as well as the speakers on the gamepad itself, would drown out voice and render the chat fairly useless. If anyone has used Wii Speak or PS Eye to chat online, you know that this is an issue. For video chat it wouldn't be a problem because you're not playing a game.

This is the only possible explanation for such design decisions.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 10/19/12, 17:23

@gamewizard65 Try to have some respect for the fact that not everyone is you, alright? I mean, you basically just insulted 99% of the forum here in one go.

Posted by

Zero

on: 10/19/12, 17:31

Edited:

10/19/12, 17:38

@anon_mastermind

Could be that they just want you to buy more stuff.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 10/19/12, 17:36

TriforceBun said:

Does anyone else still kinda feel completely in the dark regarding the Wii U's out-of-the-box capabilities? Like, how video chat works, whether you can use it during gameplay like in the ZombiU trailer, more solid details on Miiverse, other built-in applications, etc?

I think the majority of us feel that way, and it's a little worrisome that the console launches in a month and we've had very few details about it. Like...baffling.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 10/19/12, 18:40

@Jargon

That would make sense if Nintendo was selling their own headset, but it appears that they're not.

Posted by

canonj

on: 10/19/12, 18:45