cross-posted from: https://ani.social/post/35665810
Nintendo is so proud of the feature that it even included a little C button right on your Joy-Con (which was a point of excited speculation before the reveal) so you can jump into Game Chat whenever you like.
Unfortunately, it also tried to bury the fact that this Game Chat feature will actually require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription once the free trial period ends on March 31, 2026.
Now, you may be wondering what the button does if you don't have a subscription? Thankfully, Nintendo's vice president of player and product experience, Bill Trinen, was interviewed by Polygon on that very same topic. Trinen explains that the button will let you "find out about the NSO subscription there and get a sense of some of the functionality." It's basically a button that asks you to pay up.
It's basically a button that asks you to pay up
We've gotten to the point where button functions are microtransactions....
This is why I emulate games and just use Linux
People need to start asking companies why they are including features on things that they can't afford to maintain.
Why did Nintendo include a "C" button that they're forcing users to pay for after they already bought the controller? Maybe they should charge more for said controller or remove the button instead?
Conversely, Nintendo's switch is occupying space in people's homes... How do these people go about charging Nintendo a monthly rate for the space they occupy (and the power they need to operate/charge, and a monthly user fee for the people to play on Nintendo's device). If we don't own them, we should really be charging Nintendo for the privilege of having their things in our homes and being used right? Goes both ways