That mysterious ‘C’ button on the Nintendo Switch 2 had us theorising for a few months. Was it a cast button? Another capture function? Nope, it’s Microsoft Teams. Nintendo is finally integrating online game chat on its new console – not some standalone app – and it’s doing it in the most Nintendo way possible.
Using this function, we’ll be able to join a video chat with other Switch 2 users when playing online, with little Discord-style icons for each person present in the chat. You can also share your screen, albeit with a low frame rate, so you can show your friends your gameplay directly.
However, this is where we get really ‘Nintendo’.
Anyone Up For Yet Another Camera Peripheral?
As though we’re back in 2006, you can purchase an add-on camera for the Nintendo Switch 2, which will connect directly to the dock’s second USB-C port. This lets your friends see your face superimposed over your gameplay as though they were watching a Twitch stream starring you.. The camera quality doesn’t look… amazing, but it sure does the job.
It would be nice to have screen sharing that didn’t look quite so choppy and a camera that wasn’t quite so pixelated, but when we’re finally getting a (hopefully) streamlined way to chat with people in a party on a Nintendo console without needing to download some smartphone app, I think we just have to take what we can get.
However, my immediate thought – and maybe this is a way of coping with Nintendo’s strange way of doing things – is that suddenly, with a little group of pixelated people talking on the lower portion of the screen, it feels like having your Star Fox squad talking you through a mission. Even if that mission is just fishing in Animal Crossing or building some cursed contraption in Tears of the Kingdom and forgetting to stop sharing your screen.
Maybe this will be quite a good feature for chill games, but I don’t want to be on camera or mic when three consecutive red shells ruin my day.
It’s Definitely Not Intentional, But Maybe It Is
Is Nintendo messing with us? Maybe this is all part of its clever plan to charm us into buying sub-par hardware. “Oh hey, the party chat looks like I’m playing Mario Kart World, exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 console, with my good pals Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad!” The joke’s on you, Nintendo. I see your game.
It’s going to work on me because I can’t help but love just how low-quality the system looks, and if Nintendo is good at one thing, it’s taking my money, time and time again. Give me weird peripherals, give me funny little accessories, and give me a system that reminds me of my childhood, even if it looks like crap.
One day, I’ll be playing Splatoon 4 Battle Royale, dropping in with Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare, and Big Dave, ready to take on the world a few pixels at a time; who will be laughing then, Nintendo?
- Brand
-
Nintendo
- Operating System
-
Proprietary
- Storage
-
256GB internal / MicroSD
- Resolution
-
1080p (handheld) / 4K (docked)