One of the features distinguishing the Switch 2 from its less powerful predecessor is GameChat. Much was made of this new feature on the deviceâs announcement, a way for people to communicate with friends while playing games, even having their live faces appear as avatars within games. Itâs such a Nintendo-ey idea, reminiscent of Wii-era novelty, so why doesnât it work in handheld? Why doesnât the Switch 2 arrive with a front-facing camera?
Itâs kinda weird, right? Youâve got this device that works in a hybrid model, so when sat in its dock it can be wired up to a free-standing camera, but then when grabbed to be played on the moveânothing. Yet, hasnât everything got a cheap little 720p camera mounted in it now? I mean, Iâve not double-checked my electric toothbrush, but I wouldnât be surprised.
OK, Iâm not entirely naive to the annoyance front-facing cameras can be to device manufacturers. The feature has become vital in cell phones, but often at a significant cost to the form factorâthatâs how we ended up with those god-awful chunks taken out of the top of iPhones, and the weird-ass punch-holes in Androids, as bezels shrank and screen size could no longer be sacrificed for the sake of the cameraâs presence. But, if you look at a Switch 2, thereâs still a decent amount of bezel present, despite the larger screen. Especially if it were mounted to the left or right. It might have been uglier, perhaps undesirable, but it was surely possible.
Under display cameras (UDCs) have existed for a few years now, but theyâre super-expensive and only feature in the most high-end phones, and they come at the cost of visible cross-hatching on the portion of the screen behind which theyâre hiding. Even Samsung may be backing away from them now. You have to assume Nintendo at least looked into the tech, but realized itâs both far too costly and too many years away from good enough. (An inclusion for the Switch 3, perhaps?)
But given just how much of a fuss is being made of GameChat, isnât it just a bit weird that the sacrifices werenât made? Given that games are going to have ways of integrating playersâ faces into characters, of letting you see your friendsâ live reactions as you crushingly defeat them in Mario Kart or delivering their celebratory dances to you in Mario Party, it feels like such a missed opportunity to make this exclusive to playing at home on TV, and even then, only if the player has bought a camera peripheral.
You might wonder if it could be a quality issue. That tech thatâs going to allow the Switch 2 to detect your face, cut it out, and apply it to your avatar, perhaps that needs too many pixels for an affordable teeny pinhole camera? Except, well, those cameras Nintendo are selling arenât exactly top-of-the-range. Horiâs Piranha Plant Camera (which appears to have disappeared from the U.S. Nintendo store) has an incredibly low resolution: 640 x 480. And that will apparently still work.
The Pixel 9a phone, which will cost you much the same as a Switch 2 with a camera, has a selfie camera that can film in 4K at 30FPS. The $55 official Switch 2 Camera by Nintendo can only capture at 1080p, although thatâs still a mighty step up from the Piranhaâs 480p! The point is, if the tech can work on a 480p camera, then quality is clearly not an issue, and something that cheap would barely touch the deviceâs price.
And letâs not forget Nintendo is hardly averse to sticking a camera in things. The DSi had a camera mounted in the clamshellâs bevel in 2009, and even more relevantly, the bonkers Wii U handheld screen thingamajig had a camera in 2012, thus allowing video chat with other players!
Iâm sure Nintendo has its reasons. It could be cost, it could be a complete lack of a desire to give up valuable screen size to a camera, perhaps it couldnât be done in a way that didnât just look plain ugly. UDCâs arenât viable, and pop-up cameras introduce a whole new fail-point to a device (but still seems like it could have been a viable solution here). But it remains significant that it hasnât happened.
Sure, you can still plug in your camera when the Switch 2 is out of the dock, but itâs not like youâll be wanting to carry that with you and set it up on the train! Or in bed. Or just about anywhere other than in front of your TV.
If GameChatâs camera-based abilities really were an integral part of the Switch 2’s ethos, the handheld device would feature an in-built camera. Itâs daft that this tech is not only reserved for the way in which a person is least likely to play some Mario Kart, but is also exclusive to those who fork out an extra fifty bucks for the camera peripheral to boot. It makes clear live video in GameChat is never going to be anything more than a bonus gimmick.
And honestly, I find that a shame. On the techâs announcement, I was super-excited for the possibilities it could offer, that special touch of weirdness only Nintendo offers. Butâand yes, it has taken me two months to realize thisâitâs clearly not a priority for the new console. If it were, the Switch 2 would have a little mounted 480p camera, and developers would be encouraged to go wild with the tech.
Updated: 06/02/2025, 1:05 p.m. ET: A short line was added to this post to make clear you can still plug the camera into the Switch 2 in handheld mode.
