So Mario Kart 8 has no voice chat feature. Let me be the first to say that this kind of sucks for Wii U players (and technically for me when I get the thing in the future). A lot of people seem pretty upset by this news, and rightfully so. Some people really want to be able to talk to the people they are playing with and that's a perfectly fine criticism. Although, I do feel like some of the criticism is a little overblown. Let's start from the beginning.
So Mario Kart 8 has been listed on the Wii U eShop and the confirmation about no voice chat comes from the spot that usually lists that feature as blank on the MK8 eShop page. Well that stinks. We can hope that voice chat is present in some capacity, but sadly it's more than likely not there at all. And why not? Nintendo's foray into online with Mario Kart 7 was actually really good. They introduced a community feature that made it a lot easier for friends to play together. The next logical step would be to let those communities, well, communicate! Well, it seems that wasn't a high priority for Nintendo on this one.
And you know what? I'm both okay and not okay with it. Here's why!
Why it's okay - Mario Kart 8 is gorgeous and looks like a very fun improvement over its predecessor. I don't think there's anyone who can argue that the game looks uninteresting. Furthermore, it's probably the first Wii U game to boast a graphical art style that makes you say, "Wow, these graphics look great!" Basically, the game is going to be awesome regardless. And if it's any saving grace, Mario Kart does not have any cooperative modes as far as I know, so voice chat would not really have the same sort of efficiency that it would in a game of Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty. And is smack-talking people online in Mario Kart really all that it's cracked up to be?
And now why it's not okay - Unfortunately this is also a showcase of how Nintendo still seems stubbornly apprehensive about online gaming in general. Nintendo Land and all of their cooperative Mario games have had 'NES-like' game experiences that don't utilize the internet in any way other than Miiverse. This doesn't hurt the game's overall quality necessarily, but it prevents fans from connecting together who don't have the option of local multiplayer (like myself). While this game DOES have online, the lack of voice chat means there's still another barrier between me and the friends I'm playing with. It certainly leaves me concerned for what happens with Smash Bros., a game that needs online and DOES have cooperative gaming.
I personally am not entirely affected by this however. When playing Mario Kart 7, my friends and I would always use Skype to communicate with each other and using the devices in tandem worked very well. My friends and I always anticipated we would have to do the same in Mario Kart 8 and unfortunately our prediction was correct. I don't like speaking in public chats anyway. People tend to say annoying things in public game chats, so I would rather just talk to my friends and Skype is a perfect tool for that.
All is not lost though! If you feel Nintendo should have had voice chat in Mario Kart 8, then you should probably take to Nintendo customer service or Miiverse and ask for universal party chat for Wii U. That would fix this entire issue altogether. And the reason why I encourage you to do that is because while this issue won't affect me, there are plenty of fans who probably really wanted this feature who do not have access to Skype and their game consoles at the same time.
So all in all, I think there is some need for some concern over this issue. People really need to buckle down and tell Nintendo they want something better if they expect this to change (and Nintendo fans need to acknowledge that the lack of a basic online feature is indeed a viable criticism). That all being said, Mario Kart 8 looks amazing regardless and I am pretty sure that many of the people complaining would love it if they played it anyway. Who knows?
Anyways, these have been my three cents. Happy gaming!
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Nintendo has been very vocal (irony) about not allowing voice chat. Their reasoning is sound: they want anyone - from a 4 year old kid to a grandmother in her 70s - to be able to play with others online in a "clean" environment. While it's annoying, it is also something that sets them apart from other companies. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but we all know that when voice chat is involved, you're going to have those people who mess it up for everyone.
With that said, Mario Kart is all about the local MP in my opinion.
im seeing allthese mariokart 8 stories n its making me want this bad boy even more i can't wait to play this game
A good way to solve this would be for Nintendo to implement party chat (if they don't have it already, I don't have a Wii-U so I'm not 100% on that). This way you are only really talking to the people you want to talk to, and the games are free of obnoxious asshats.
I am sorry but I can't seem to agree with most the comments here saying it is Nintendo's job to look after kids.. No, it is not. They are a gaming company, not a day care.
I feel that is one of Nintendo's problems is over zealously monitoring everything we do on their systems. For things like Miiverse I can understand but certain things you just can't avoid. It isn't their job to parent children.
One example is them removing swapnote which still has me bit peeved, sure there will always be bad apples in a bunch but what about all the responsible individuals who can use features like that without causing trouble? I guess we are just screwed and must be punished with the others who did abuse it.
I notice most people don't talk too much anyway in games that aren't FPS. So I am pretty sure the valguarity in MK8 would be very minimal.. There is also this thing called muting a person.
I also don't understand why Nintendo acts like they have more kids on their systems more than anyone else these days either because I honestly don't see it, I see kids with all types of things. Anyone who has played CoD knows there are tons of little ass clowns on it.
There are also many ways they could easily implement chat so people can "cleanly" chat with one another, they allow typing in games like Animal Crossing, it gives you a warning not to be a jerk beforehand, what is so bad about that? How can a game like Animal Crossing allow some type of chatting but MK8 doesn't at all?
I could understand if literally only children played their games and literally every game they made was made for children but that isn't the case, is it? Nintendo even has some more adult games but that doesn't stop them from selling them either.
Sometimes I really don't understand Nintendo's stance on this, as I said they allow communication in more childish games (don't get me wrong, I love some Animal Crossing) but then they limit it in games like this? Just doesn't make much sense to me. If you are going to go full throttle, why not limit everything then?
I also don't understand how they didn't expect people to misuse swapnote every now and then.. This just comes with communicating. It just isn't Nintendo's job to raise kids for their parents let alone monitor what they do, that is their parents job bottomline. It really is that simple.
It also drives me a bit nuts because Nintendo's system have the most child protection I have ever seen on any device in my life yet they still feel the need to take it further and further.. What is the point of even having child protection on things like the 3DS at all anymore considering they removed every way you could communicate with anyone?
They also heavily underestimate children these days, like the whole swapnote situation. Did it not occur to them these children where on online forums through the internet already talking to these adults? Do you seriously think removing swapnote somehow stopped pedophiles from finding ways to talk to children online? Of course not and those same troubled kids who want to act like adults will easily find ways to keep talking even if you take everything away from them.
I'm disappointed but nobody talks online anyway. I remember when Xbox Live first started and it was a social experience, those days are sadly long gone.