First Nintendo Switch Video Streaming App Launches Tomorrow (It’s Not Netflix) Michael Kwan July 12, 2017 News You’ve likely noticed that it’s not good enough to do just one thing anymore. Your smartphone is your camera, your web browser, your music player, your mobile messenger, and your portable game console. Your PlayStation is your Blu-ray player, your Netflix machine and your game console. And now Nintendo’s versatile little rig is getting a little more versatile with the first Nintendo Switch video streaming app. But it’s not YouTube or Netflix. We’ve known for some time now that Nintendo had plans to include video streaming apps as part of its Switch offering. This only makes sense, since every other video game console has plenty of video streaming baked into it. Let we forget the original Xbox One reveal at E3 a few years ago where all they talked about was TV, TV, TV and Call of Duty. In this case, the first Nintendo Switch video streaming app is going to be Niconico and it’s going to launch tomorrow in Japan. If you’re not as familiar, Niconico is akin to the Japanese YouTube and it’s used quite heavily in the gaming community. In previous years, much of the big Evo fighting game tournament was streamed on Niconico in Japanese, while the English-speaking world watched on Twitch. (Evo is this weekend too, by the way.) According to the official listing for the Niconico app, which will be offered through the eShop on the Switch, we can expect it to play related videos automatically, support playlists for favorites, search while watching, and have comments flow across the screen while watching. The app will support the standard modes for the Switch, including in the dock, in tabletop mode and in handheld. With Niconico setting the precedent, the respective launches of the Netflix, Twitch and YouTube apps on the Nintendo Switch are all inevitable, right? Share This With The World!
