The First Nintendo Switch Video Streaming App Lands This Week

07/12/2017 10:15 am EDT

We know. The Nintendo Switch is a little barren when it comes to streaming features. We're sure your hands are more than full with Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, and soon Splatoon 2, but sometimes you just want to kick back and look something up on YouTube or watch an episode of The Office on Netflix, right? Well take heart, because the first video streaming app lands on Japanese Nintendo Switches this week, and the doors are likely opening for other services to push on to the Nintendo eShop as well. Find the listing here.

The streaming app is called Niconico. This is a huge streaming service in Japan. It's similar to YouTube, or even Facebook live, if you'd like. This is where a lot of companies and services will livestream announcements or launches, and fans' comments will stream across the screen similarly to how likes, hearts, and reactions will stream across a livestream on Facebook. Remember that you Switch is region free, which means that you'll be able to download this and stream videos as well.

Nintendo's Japanese listing for Niconico seems to suggest, according to The Verge, that other companies will be able to push their own apps or services to the Nintendo Switch eShop without waiting for a system update from Nintendo. This means that YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Go, or pretty much any other video streaming service you can think of could show up on North American Nintendo Switches at any time now. It's possible that the latest firmware update from Nintendo is what made the streaming functions viable, and that's why Niconico is finally showing up on Nintendo's hybrid console.

We should note that Niconico has always been fast to show up on popular Japanese hardware. It was the first streaming app to show up on the PlayStation Vita as well, but it's comforting to know that the Vita also got Netflix and other popular streaming services. With the rampant and unstoppable momentum we've seen behind the Switch recently, you better believe it's only a matter of time before Netflix and YouTube show up. We'll keep you updated.

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