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
I remember this article from, oh, it says it right there, April 2025. Turns out no one who owns the things actually cares. And if you do, you pay for NSO.
Yes another Nintendo hit piece that nobody who actually plays NS2 gives a shit about.
If I’m playing with friends, I’m in discord on PC and console.
If I’m playing NS2 it’s almost always alone.
A I’m playing NS2 with friends, it’s on the couch at their house.