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WiiU

Wii U Chat: Novel But Inconvenient

by Neal Ronaghan - November 19, 2012, 6:11 pm EST
Total comments: 2

Using video chat on the Wii U is like PictoChat, but now you can draw on people's faces.

The wonder of the video Wii U Chat is apparent from the second you see your friend show up on the GamePad. Yes, you can do video chat on your computers and on most smart phones, but something is just exciting about having it work like this on a new console—a Nintendo system, nonetheless.

So far, I've excitedly had conversations with NWR's Mike Sklens, Scott Thompson (with baby!), and Patrick Barnett. Each time, it was really cool, and then we just awkwardly talked for a little bit, drew on each other's faces, and hung up. Video chat is cool and all, but the implementation on Wii U is sort of clumsy. Everything on the Wii U menu is slow to begin with, so unless you're both coincidentally in the application already, it takes a long time to boot up.

Patrick called me while I was playing New Super Mario Bros. U. I rejected his call at first because accepting would take me out my game without saving. So I saved, and then he called me again. I had no means of telling him something like "Hey man, need to save!" Fortunately, we coordinated over instant messenger. From there, it took more than two minutes for the system to close Mario, open the menu, and then open Wii U Chat. From there, it didn't even automatically take the call I already accepted. It went through the whole "Patrick is calling you" rigmarole again.

What experiences have you had with Wii U Chat? Do you think it's more worthwhile than I do? Let us know in Talkback!

Talkback

ShyGuyNovember 19, 2012

Did you call Mike Sklens to apologize?

GKNovember 20, 2012

Sounds like I'd be better off sticking to a headset & Skype.

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