DEAR NINTENDO: SPLATOON NEEDS A VOICE CHAT OPTION
Splatoon is filled with team coordination. Here's why voice chat exclusion is a mistake.
Update: The focus of this op-ed is largely directed at the total lack of voice chat options. In priority order being able to chat with known friends, whether via cross-game chat or in-game chat, is the biggest need. For those with smaller community resources, an opt-in chat would be a great service.After playing Nintendo's first round of public, online Splatoon beta matches, I'm left both indulged and annoyed. Splatoon is not only an exclusive first-party Nintendo title, but one of its rare ventures into shooters; in particular, the world of online shooters. In the hour-long beta, I fought for inked dominance with my team of paint-wielding squids, and I sat alone on my couch wishing I could strategize: holding down a key point of the map until I arrived, getting an alert from a player who needed support elsewhere, or asking about the next round of weapon coordination. According to Nintendo, it's not supporting voice chat for Splatoon.
In an interview with Edge in April, co-director Yusuke Amano quantifiably ruled the function out: "This is coming from personal experience. When I played online games, I didn’t like the negativity I got and people telling me, 'You’re crap. Go away.' So we wanted to focus on the positive aspects of online gaming." Amano admitted online chat contributed to the fun, but he indicated Nintendo hopes they'll "grab new players" with this voiceless strategy.
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This opt-in approach solves for Amano's concerns. He doesn't have to hear players if he doesn't want to.This opt-in approach solves for Amano's concerns. He doesn't have to hear new players if he doesn't want to. Frankly, I'm right there with you, man. But Splatoon is actually a really clever take on team-based shooting, and players who cannot communicate will not be able to appreciate the depth as much. Is being afraid of a nasty team player really worth losing out on getting an even deeper gameplay experience? Many games also offer a "mute player" option to solve for this. And if you're a parent who is afraid of what your child is hearing through the headset, then you should supervise them -- just like when they're hanging out with their friends from school. These types of concerns should not take priority over what is a core, basic need in an online team shooter. When party matchmaking comes in August this will be even more important. The teams that are able to coordinate with voice over Skype, Google or other means are the teams that will be victorious. Going back to Destiny as an example, the difference in success was no small margin when I was able to communicate with a team. Frankly, there is no argument that coordinating with your voice is the best way to play; it's hard to get a sense of a team without it. All we need are the options to control what's bad, and there is plenty of precedent for it at this point.
Celebrate in silence.
I believe Nintendo's lack of online experience and fear of unknown profanity is taking priority over the gameplay. I also believe it's cheap and lazy. Splatoon is a lot of fun and there's a ton of strategy that will go unrealized if you can't communicate. For example, one super-shooter ink gun allows you to charge up and fire a far-reaching ink stream. It's effectively a river for players to swim through and quickly move ahead. The game changes very fast, so players that can coordinate the strengths of weapons and uses will dominate. Likewise, there are shortcuts and hidden jump paths that you can imagine would give you a lot to talk about as you meet new players and teams. So, while you can absolutely enjoy playing the game without voice chat -- my intention here is not to say the game is unplayable -- it is a plead for a reasonable and common solution from Nintendo.
For me, this is a call to arms, because I continue to be driven further away from a game maker that's defined my career and view of games. How can such an innovative company continue to ignore something so important in gaming today? Splatoon's got potential, but I worry it might only hold my attention for weeks instead of months without the community chat aspects that are so crucially important in today's games.
Fran Mirabella III made a clay GameCube controller before it was fully revealed, is accredited in the Urban Dictionary for giving Mario Kart: Double Dash a 7.9, and is the co-host of IGN's Destiny show, Fireteam Chat. Follow him on Twitter@FranMirabella.
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