• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.

Discussion Are social features important to you in a console?

How often do you use social features on a console/Steam? (Not third party apps like Discord!)

  • I use them very often (VC, DM, parties, etc several times a week)

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • I use them every now and then (VC, DM, parties, etc once or twice a week)

    Votes: 6 7.9%

  • I use them only when I need to (inviting friends to play, partying up then using 3rd party app, etc)

    Votes: 23 30.3%

  • I never use them

    Votes: 46 60.5%
  • Total voters
    76
carbvan

carbvan

Chain Chomp
Pronouns
he/him
After watching the latest GVG video on the Switch 2 hardware details, it got me thinking about how important things such as messaging, voice chat, partying, etc, is for a console. The guys doing the podcast kinda acted like it was super important, which was surprising to me. Maybe it's because I'm mostly a PC guy now but how often are those types of features used today? Many people I know don't bother playing games online in public lobbies, and if they are playing multiplayer, it's through Discord.

The only time I really used social features built into a system was way back in the 360 days, and it wasn't very often. Mostly just to hop in a voice chat with friends because what alternatives were there back then? The next generation I just used my phone mostly to text friends via Skype and eventually Discord to do VC and communicate while playing games. A few minutes before posting this, I asked a friend who only has a PS5 whether or not those social features are a deal breaker when it comes to a console. He plays online games a lot, and he said he never touches them despite paying for PSN lol. Obviously the last few sentences are all anecdotal, so I'd like to know what y'alls experiences are.

For the poll, don't include 3rd party apps like Discord in your response, I'm more wondering about the stuff built into the consoles/Steam themselves. Things like DMs, parties, voice chat, etc on Xbox and PlayStation, or even on the NSO app if you're freaky like that. For PC users like me, answer this based on things like Steam messaging, Steam voice chat, etc. I'm very curious to see if anyone uses the social aspects built into Steam often... other than to send game invites. The poll can't be too specific without a billion options, so let me know the more specific details in the comments.
 
It's not important to me, but I have been conditioned by Nintendo consoles over many years. To be fair I didn't use them much on Xbox or PS either. Switch 2 needs better game invites though.
 
The only online game I play on a regular basis is MonHun and that handles matchmaking and searching for hunters that have shared guild cards internally, with comms through editable shoutouts, emotes and text. And I’m happy with that- if I wanted anything more it would be with friends through discord rather than actually wanting voice chat with randoms (shudder). My kid and I occasionally sit and play Mario Kart online together and I’m glad Nintendo’s online comms is extremely limited. I hope they keep it that way. I don’t trust gamers to be friendly.

Can’t say I’ve really made much use of any kind of system-wide social element on any games console, I usually ignore everything that isn’t the game I’m playing and the icon for the store to buy digital games on, which is why I like the Switch interface, it’s not all spammed up with stuff that isn’t that. I dimly remember liking a bit of street pass in the early years of 3DS? That was fun, collecting puzzle pieces from each other. I lost interest in it when the rpgs started flowing though. It was just nice travelling to work and finding I’d wandered past a ton of other commuters all with a DS in their bag/pocket. Like a kind of social acknowledgement for people who don’t want social acknowledgement? Just pleasant.
 
Last edited:
Back on PS4, I would check friends' profiles, message them, and jump into party chats all the time. I liked What's New, because it'd alert me to what my buddies were playing. These past few years on PS5 have been different, and not for the better. I think they've massively downgraded the UI, both functionally and aesthetically. PS4 was peak in this regard, but when it comes to PS5, I feel like I'm navigating a boring gray blob of an interface. Game icons are worse, messaging is worse, there are no themes, folders, or basic color change options (we're over three years into this console gen, come the fuck on with it already you naff scrotes). This has made it so I'm more inclined toward Discord, and rarely ever take a peek at what my friends are up to via PSN itself.

To answer the question: social features are important to me, but only when executed well. When I feel as though my experience has been made noticeably worse than a third-party alternative, I'm pretty heavily dissuaded from engaging with them in any meaningful way. When it comes to Nintendo's "social features", the bar is in Hell's basement, so literally anything the Switch 2 does would likely make for a huge improvement over the way things are currently set up.
 
I rarely used Miiverse or Streetpass etc.
I think they were fun ideas, but not really useful for me personally.

I just want to add friends to a group that I can invite to a round of Mario Kart and voice chat with them without using a strange solution or 3rd party software on the phone. It should be possible on the console.



If there would be gimmicky social features, I would want Nintendo to implement parts of Animal Crossing. Have everyone design a villager instead of a Mii and have their own house on a small Island (like the ones in happy home paradise).
You can decorate the house and outside with items, posters and furniture themed like the games you own (or maybe unlock them with platinum points like the Avatar pictures right now).
You can visit each others houses, use it like a lobby, chat, start games, play mini-games (like a pre-installed Nintendo Land or the 99 games).
NSO subscription mandatory.
 
Horror Kid said:
I just want to add friends to a group that I can invite to a round of Mario Kart and voice chat with them without using a strange solution or 3rd party software on the phone. It should be possible on the console.
Click to expand...
I can understand the need for this even if I wouldn’t use it. It should be easy to have friends lists, groups of friends, and manage stuff like ‘automatically allow voice chat with this person’ or ‘mute them ‘till I say otherwise’ etc. And you should be able to do that through Nintendo’s online platform that you are already paying a fee to use. That seems like pretty basic functionality even to someone like me that doesn’t engage with gaming in that way.
 
Horror Kid said:
If there would be gimmicky social features, I would want Nintendo to implement parts of Animal Crossing. Have everyone design a villager instead of a Mii and have their own house on a small Island (like the ones in happy home paradise).
You can decorate the house and outside with items, posters and furniture themed like the games you own (or maybe unlock them with platinum points like the Avatar pictures right now).
You can visit each others houses, use it like a lobby, chat, start games, play mini-games (like a pre-installed Nintendo Land or the 99 games).
NSO subscription mandatory.
Click to expand...
This is a neat idea! I'd love this. I know it's unfortunately more likely Nintendo would simply stick with Miis, which are (and I'll be frank in my opinion here) beyond stale, and in desperate need of an aesthetic overhaul at this point. Animal Crossing villagers may be far less customizable in their features (they could use greater face and body type variation if implemented as a system wide avatar, for starters), but they're cuter, and the New Horizons models just look sharper and more modern than any Mii. AC has wide appeal, and if they were to embrace that and use it as core theming for social features, I don't think you'd see many complaints.
 
Aurc said:
This is a neat idea! I'd love this. I know it's unfortunately more likely Nintendo would simply stick with Miis, which are (and I'll be frank in my opinion here) beyond stale, and in desperate need of an aesthetic overhaul at this point. Animal Crossing villagers may be far less customizable in their features (they could use greater face and body type variation if implemented as a system wide avatar, for starters), but they're cuter, and the New Horizons models just look sharper and more modern than any Mii. AC has wide appeal, and if they were to embrace that and use it as core theming for social features, I don't think you'd see many complaints.
Click to expand...
I agree 100% on Miis being "beyond stale". Villagers just have way more charme and making them more customizable should not be too hard.
I think using them as avatars moving forward would be a good idea after the hype the AC franchise got during the pandemic.
And it could be good teaser for the next game. Following up with a new entry in 2026 would be cool.
 
neil said:
It's not important to me, but I have been conditioned by Nintendo consoles over many years. To be fair I didn't use them much on Xbox or PS either. Switch 2 needs better game invites though.
Click to expand...
What is the issue with Switch game invites? Always worked for me when playing with friends
 
woodhead said:
What is the issue with Switch game invites? Always worked for me when playing with friends
Click to expand...
I can't remember to be honest, maybe they're not that bad, I just remember thinking it was too complicated in the early days of Switch
 
0
When I was younger social features defined a big part of online games for me, something happened and everything changed for the worse in that aspect so I never use anything beyond this forum anymore.

That said, I secretly wish Nintendo would release their own take on it like a simplified form of Miiverse that requires no/less moderation or Streetpass with extra social features. Those kind of things would make me excited for being social online again.
 
0
Not in the slightest. There was no good reason to use Miiverse outside of the games that supported it and I can count on my fingers the number of times I've used OS friend features to connect with people.
 
0
VegiHam said:
Doesn't everyone just use Discord? Keep that stuff out of the lean OS.
Click to expand...
yeah i love the convenience of having to use two headphones when gaming on switch to hear the game sound and my discord mates

the funny thing is: a hacked switch is able to play an audio stream in the background while you game (even on more intensive 3d games)

they could easily integrate a discord subsystem where you'd use your phone to manage the call but the audio output and input would be handled through your switch without making the switch os any "bloated"

switch 2 on the other hand? that thing could have a full fucking ass implementation of discord and it wouldn't make a dent
 
0
Very important.
I use party chat frequently and also share screen frequently.

I’ll be pretty disappointed if the switch 2 doesn’t have those. Especially share screen.
 
0
Even if you don't use all of the features, having at least some of them feels necessary. Voice chat, messaging, game invites, and other relatively simple stuff. Nintendo did seem to lean a bit more into this during the Switch's life with the NSO button and allowing you to invite your friends to games. (They even updated Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to allow lobby codes.)

So with Switch 2, I expect them to do a least some more, especially with their comments on keeping the Nintendo account and I have no doubt they want to keep NSO around too. They probably won't go crazy like Xbox has on their consoles but a decent middle ground would make sense for them to do, which is enough for me I think.
 
0
Not really important at all. 99% of the time, online multiplayer is just "harder AI" for me. Like, I'll see people bemoan the lack of a messaging system on Switch that means they can't meaningfully interact with the randoms they add to their friends list and, no hate to internet randos, but I'm just not really looking to make friends with the people I randomly get matched with in Smash or Rocket League or whatever

Anyone I actually want to talk to or play with on a regular basis is in my phone's contact list, so things like voice chat/messaging have never really been something I care about. If I want to play with someone, I shoot them a text, and if I really want to talk to them while playing something, Discord exists. It's just been a non-issue for me and the way I engage with multiplayer games

fwiw I'm also on the record as a Miiverse hater; always made a point to disable that thing as soon as a game would give me the option. I see people wanting it to make a comeback (esp. now that witter functionality is going away) and I'm just like, please no, that thing was annoying and cringe and only made the whole OS slower
 
0
Overall I'm more active on my Switch than PS5, so while I wouldn't be using all the features all the time, I do think there's value in having a way to at least message your friends.

Voice chat shouldn't be offloaded to a Mobile app either.

Otherwise most of my VC activity is on Discord.
 
0
Not at all.

Like, it would be nice to have some kind of direct message feature in the system itself (like Miiverse had!), but it's not like it ever going to be a replacement of sending a Twitter or Discord DM.

a gaming device is for playing games, after all.
 
0
Social features with randoms I can live without. Social features centered around friends are priorities to me.

I get some people really want the option to talk to randoms and it's important to them, but I can't say I'm super interested in that kinda environment.

But I do think the actual features for people on friends lists should be improved.
 
0
Honestly, I just use Discord. Even when I'm playing on another console or Steam, I still use Discord (or even Facebook messenger for some of my friends who play more casually).

I will echo what others have said about invites though. Every once in awhile I do find myself wishing I could send someone a quick message to join me when I see that we're playing the same game.
 
0
I don't really know anything about this stuff because I've only owned Nintendo consoles since online was introduced (and have barely ever played online as a result). But yeah if I were to do something on Steam I'd have no idea how to even get to all those features and would just use Discord.
 
0
Nope.

As long as we get themes and the eshop is a bit better, I'm happy to have my next gen Nintendo to be as bare-bones as Switch.

Just let me play games.
 
I prefer having voice chat available at the system level on console so I can connect a headset and just mix the audio between chat and game to my preference . Discord works fine when playing Switch games with friends but it is not ideal. Messaging I am not too bothered on, will just text my friends but I do really like how PS/Xbox have integrated screenshots and videos into their respective mobile apps so you can just download them quickly to your phone. The Switch solution for that is really cumbersome especially since I deleted Twitter.
 
0
Not really anymore since discord, for irl friends i still use them sometimes (party system and invites) but then whatsapp calls/messages are easier. In the Ps3/Wii days i used em the most and since late ps4 gen it slowed way down for me. I do love the Splatoon social posts so i hope they wont be gone soon after twitter is pulled, imo a big part and charm of that franchise especially during Splatfests.
 
0
Last time I used voice chat for a significant amount of time I was harassed and threatened for days so I could do without. I do like seeing what games those on my friends list are playing and what games are trending among them, but that's it.
 
0
When it's integrated well, I enjoy communicating via consoles. Wii messaging to friends, Wii U Miiverse...but with Switch? It's plan a game night, then hop on Discord. Like hell if I'm gonna be using the NSO app if I already have a dedicated messaging app that's platform neutral and actually integrated with features well. The only reason I keep NSO on my phone is so I have easy access to adding friends to my Switch and sharing my friend code as well.

The only good thing Nintendo did for Switch's social features is to show "What's Trending" on my friend list with what games they're playing and how many hours they've put in , but even that is extremely bare bones and I feel could use some pizzazz. I know the Wii U did it to an extent as well with the Plaza, but I do prefer my friends over what's trending globally when that stupid meme game took over for several months until it finally got removed.
 
0
Messaging is a must, because getting hate messages and scrub quotes after a match of dead by daylight or whatever fighting game in my dms inflates my ego
 
0
I really like Switch's screenshot sharing. I hope they figure something out for Switch 2. Maybe share to Instagram? =/
 
0
I was playing some NSO co-op the other day with my friend and even though I was chatting with her on WhatsApp at the same time and could have easily started a voice call, I would have appreciate some way to do it through the console just as a convenience measure.
 
discord is better than anything nintendo could provide. unless they just let me use discord I don't really care to use their services besides streetpass and maybe miiverse, bring that back and my tune changes to whistles and rainbows.
 
eye0h said:
discord is better than anything nintendo could provide. unless they just let me use discord I don't really care to use their services besides streetpass and maybe miiverse, bring that back and my tune changes to whistles and rainbows.
Click to expand...
this would be ideal and assuming 1 of the 8 powerful A78 cores is dedicated to OS functions i don't see how it couldn't handle an app in the background, but i suspect there are details to having a 3rd party app on the Switch OS that would make it difficult for Nintendo to accept.

I'm just hoping they can integrate their own phone add into the system.
 
0
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top Bottom