GameChat on Nintendo Switch 2 Makes Playing Games with Friends Hectic as Hell

In usual Nintendo fashion, the Switch 2 isn’t making online play easier to access; it’s making it stranger by far. GameChat, the online video chat functionality for Switch 2, lets you stream your friends’ gameplay and friends’ faces to your own game system while you play. Nintendo is devoting a hefty amount of system power to this feature, and the result is games that are far more chaotic than without it. That is all to say, I enjoy the hell out of it—at least what it accomplishes despite low-resolution picture quality. GameChat is a heavy dose of Discord-like functionality for Nintendo’s handheld. You can talk over voice chat with up to 12 other people using the Switch 2’s built-in microphone. This means you could see your friend’s perspective as they bully you with red shell after red shell in Mario Kart World. But it also means you can watch as they play an entirely different game. You can have up to four of these streams running at once; the on-screen interface resembles what you’ ... Read full article.