Wii U’s peculiar way of handling voice chat
Yes, you will be able to chat with others on Wii U. That being said, the console’s way of handling this is a bit odd.
In-game voice chat functionality works for “select games”, according to Nintendo. Assassin’s Creed III, Call of Duty Black Ops II and Mass Effect 3 should be included in this.
Now, even though the GamePad features a microphone, you can’t use that for voice chat. You’ll need a third-party solution from Turtle Beach or Mad Catz (Tritton) in order for this to work. Players will need to plug in a headset into the GamePad’s headphone jack.
But let’s say you’re interested in Black Ops II. Furthermore, let’s say that you’d prefer to play with the Pro Controller. What happens then?
Basically, the headset will still need to be plugged into the GamePad even though you’re not using it. It may be possible that you can use a standard set of headphones with a mic to use in conjunction with the GamePad, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
According to Turtle Beach, its own product is wired:
“The Wii U supports Bluetooth and can pair with its own accessories, but the officially licensed headsets we produce and offer are wired and designed for use directly with the [GamePad] tablet.”
Nintendo vaguely commented on the possibility of wireless headsets sometime in the future. It seems as though it could happen through a Bluetooth connection or between a headset and a signal connected plugged into a USB port. For now though, wireless solutions aren’t available.
Finally, here are a few additional tidbits about voice chat on Wii U:
– No universal support for in-game voice chat
– Game-by-game support for in-game chat
– The GamePad mic will not, by default, work as an input for in-game voice chat
– The Wii U will support wired headsets (and possibly mic-enabled headphones), but only through the Wii U GamePad
– No news yet about whether wireless headsets can or will be supported
