Uh, hey, Mario, are you listening in on us?

We’re less than a month away from the launch of Nintendo’s Switch 2, and to say gamers are excited is an understatement. Sure, you could argue it’s pretty much just a more powerful Switch, but that’s exactly what many Nintendo fans have spent the past several years wishing for.

And it’s not like there’s nothing new with the Switch 2! One of the most intriguing additions for the new console is GameChat, an integrated voice and video chat function with the creative twist of being able to place images of you and your friends within the gameplay field. It looks like it could be a fun way to make it feel like you and your friends you’re playing with are all hanging out together in the same actual room…but with Nintendo itself peeking in and listening through a crack in the door.

On May 7, Nintendo announced that it’s updated its privacy policy for users of its video game hardware and related apps. As is often the case, there’s a lot of technical terminology and legalese involved, but Nintendo itself helpfully summarized some of the most important changes, and the first one listed is “we may collect, monitor and record audio and video of your chat sessions with other users.”

Nintendo says it will be doing this “to provide a safe and secure environment,” ostensibly as a means to prevent language, imagery, and behavior that it considers harassing, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate. In that sense, it’s really not so different in intent from the many variations of the “this call may be monitored for better customer service” disclaimer that businesses have been informing users of for decades, but since this is Nintendo, it comes with some potential extra wrinkles.

▼ GameChat preview video

Video game chat functions have a not undeserved reputation as the Wild West of online communication, a largely lawless area where the combination of competitive juices and remote anonymity often produces a swiftly flowing stream of profanity, slurs, and other words that people wouldn’t be so quick to toss around in face-to-face, and thus potentially fist-to-face interactions. The question of how to create a welcoming game chat environment without stifling expression or intruding on privacy is a tricky balancing act that Nintendo has been able to sidestep until now by simply not following the industry trend of including chat functions. With GameChat’s debut less than a month away, though, it’s an issue that Nintendo now has to deal with, and the way the company has embraced its family/kid-friendly image raises the question of whether or not it’ll be stricter than other companies have been regarding what it allows users to do and say.

Source: Nintendo via Hachima Kiko via Nintendo Soup
Top image: Nintendo
Insert image: YouTube/Nintendo 公式チャンネル
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