This, you can't even use a blutooth headset with the Wii U. You have to plug an officially licensed headset into the controller. Is it 2006 again?

I got a theory: because they have a lot to learn in online networks.

I think part of the reason is Nintendo is distributing that power to the developers (software by software basis). Microsoft charges developers fees, meanwhile Nintendo doesn't charge them anything. Which gives developers freedom. Hope that make sense =(

If I can recall from an article, Nintendo wont even charge developers for releasing their DLC.

PS3 hardware sales is doing very well without cross chat ><.

The first casualty of Nintendo's genius strategy. Hopefully the last.

http://nintendoeverything.com/100759/no-voice-chat-in-sonic-all-stars-racing-transformed-on-wii-u/

That's bullshit Sal and you know it.

If they don't want to put chat in the game, its their (Sumo's) choice.

Not at all (@ the 'bullshit') but it certainly is Sumo's choice.

The purpose of this thread is to attempt to explain a poor design choice as intentional. If it is indeed intentional, and Nintendo opted to have every developer decide whether to spend extra resources on implementing voice chat themselves rather than have it OS level, ready for them to implement painlessly, this is indeed a casualty of that strategy.

Hopefully, it's still easy enough to implement that it will only be a concern for launch games like this one on a tight deadline, but who knows at this point. 

Okay, I have 2 questions then.

Does Sony charge its 3rd parties to use x-game chat for vita? If not, that's a big value they are offering for free.

Does MS charge its 3rd parties to use x-game chat for the xbox? If yes, why force devs to pay? Are they required to use it? If they want to use it, does MS give the devs the choice to go with their own implementation if they wanted to? If yes, then you would be right, that MS gives them an option that Nintendo does not.

I wasn't planning to get this game but this is unfortunate.  Games like this beg to have online communication.  It doens't have to be cross platform but being able to talk to people in your lobby or during gameplay is a bit of a must.  Bad news, indeed.

Honestly I don't know how they work on those systems - there doesn't seem to be info on it that I can find - but the fact is that those features are all OS level and standard in every game, and so I wouldn't expect it to cost the devs anything to add it in as it's just present and working on the hardware already, they most likely don't have to touch it. Maybe a single line of code to integrate it into the game? I don't know how that works. 

Obviously Sumo have found that adding it on their own on the Wii U version takes time they don't have, so it must involve some sort of coding/individual implementation. 

Sal, my guess would be that setting up that infrastructure requires more robust servers and networking hardware, something that Sumo can't afford.

If MS offers voice chat (forget x-game chat) for a price that Sumo would like to pay, then I agree with you MS is offering value to their 3rd parties.

If MS forces that cost on all 3rd parties, then that's an issue.

If Sony offers that for free, then that's a big value offered at no cost.

We just don't know, and until we know we can't judge. That's what I've been trying to say since the begining of this thread, but nobody wants to talk about it with me and just blabber out their usual spiel.