Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Niconico, nintendo, nintendo switch, switch

The Switch Is Getting Its First Streaming App… In Japan

One of the few things that Nintendo's darling new console can't do is stream videos. The Nintendo Switch does not yet have app support for any sort of streaming service, be it Netflix, Hulu, or Crunchyroll. But hopefully, Switch owners won't have long to wait. The console is getting its first streaming app tomorrow. Granted, that app is only available to Japanese Switch users, but we have hope. Small and feeble as it may be, we have hope that soon we can all go stream videos on our handheld hybrid consoles.

According to Nintendo's blog post, the system's first streaming service is Niconico, one of the biggest Japanese video platforms.

Niconico lets people livestream and upload videos, similar to YouTube. However, what makes Niconico stand out is that user comments actually appear over livestreams. Uploaded videos also have real-time comment pop-ups, and uploaders can add quizzes and polls to the video as well.

For the time being, the Niconico app can only be downloaded via the Japanese eShop. However, Switch owners outside of Japan can still download and use the streaming service by making a Japanese account.

The hope is that, with Niconico on the Japanese eShop, we will slowly see more streaming services get added to the Switch eShop outside of Japan. There may be a small delay, as there tend to be with Japan-only releases getting moved out west, but probably not as long as some of us will be waiting on Dragon Quest XI.

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