Nintendo hasn't been very forthcoming when it comes to the Wii U's unrevealed details, but we can confirm one thing: in-game voice chat will be supported but there's a catch to it.
The Wii U will support in-game chat support for "select games" that have significant online multiplayer components. Among those confirmed to use this feature are: Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, and Mass Effect 3.
Now, here's where things get tricky. While the Wii U's GamePad has a mic and speakers, gamers can't use it for voice chat in games. Instead, people will need to use a licensed stereo headset that plug into the GamePad's headphone jack.
If you think that's a bummer, wait until you hear how in-game voice chat support will work with the Wii U's Pro Controller. For those not familiar with this alternative input method, the Pro Controller resembles an Xbox 360 controller, minus the touchscreen and is built with the "core" gamer in mind. However, the Pro Controller doesn't have a mic/headset jack and players who want to use the Pro Controller with voice support will have to jump through an annoying number of hoops.
First off, the user must first plug their Wii U supported headset onto the GamePad's headphone jack. Once they've done so, they can then use the headset attached to the GamePad while playing with the Pro Controller. To make this sound even more counter-inuitive, it's not known as of press time if there will be wireless headsets for the Wii U as the ones listed now are all wired.
While I have no doubt that a wireless headset for the Wii U is an inevitability, in-game voice support shouldn't be this cumbersome to use — especially seeing as how the Xbox 360 and PS3 has been doing it flawlessly for a few years now.
Hopefully, Nintendo can think of a better way to let "core" gamers use the Pro Controller without this much hassle. If not, I honestly don't see multiplayer minded players leaving their current consoles to deal with this much hassle.
Do you think this will be a problem in Nintendo's on-going courtship of core gamers or is this a problem that can easily be remedied?
Source: Kotaku
