Following new social developments for Nintendo Switch 2 aimed at augmenting the enjoyment of multiplayer play-namely the amusingly-fashioned GameChat and GameShare-an incredibly convoluted retort has been laid down by the community.
The official Nintendo of America Twitter account posted a video showcasing the functions with a plea to players to “have more fun together” linked to said functions. Navigating the Twitter replies is like stepping into a war zone where emotions bounce between being exultant and fractious. What follows is a very vulgar conversation that surely reflects how much division exists on how Nintendo should approach online social gaming in 2024.
So, what in the world happened with GameChat and GameShare? Well, GameChat is Nintendo’s voice chat solution, whereas GameShare is for sharing… games. But things get messy from here; one user, @NotDylanBarlow, wasted not a moment, saying: “Voice-chat has been around since 2001.” Honestly? He ain’t wrong. 2024- and Nintendo is still treating basic voice chat like it’s some revolutionary new feature.
“It has also gone on: “@FallsTextual hopefully sums up that many players are thinking: Are they really pushing this? Everyone uses Discord or telegram, ect. Its free.” This really shows the central crux: why would anyone use Nintendo’s clumsy system when Discord clearly exists and is free? @tsukinoazura shared the same viewpoint, questioning why Nintendo requires your phone number “when Discord just needs an email, and Discord voice chat is free.”
GameShare is also under a storm of critics. ‘Gameshare is trash… go back to the switch 1 way of sharing games,’ said @EagleFangMaster unabashedly. Ouch. @Eli_Izumi would appear to concur, wistfully lamenting, ‘Sharing games and playing together was perfect before Gameshare and virtual game cards </3.’ It’s safe to say that Nintendo may have over-engineered what used to be a simple process.
But wait! It just gets juicier! @TRIPSTER0 shamefully laid into Nintendo for putting “Features hidden a paywall,” plainly stating, “You should be ashamed.” This probably means that these social features will indeed be locked behind the Nintendo Switch Online paywall, which is going to irritate players who remember when gaming was… you know, just about playing games together without extra fees.
The price talk was cut short by an aside from @IR0NWAR, who declared, “Won’t be purchasing any systems games or theses cheesy gimmicks anymore unfortunately your products have gotten too expensive and the greed is starting to show.” However, @Vwemmyy very quickly contested, stating that the Switch 2 is the “Cheapest console on the market currently lol” – a contrary argument amidst the rest of the criticism, especially when compared to PlayStation and Xbox.
