The official Niconico app for Nintendo Switch will go live in Japan tomorrow, i.e. July 13, 2017. For those unfamiliar with Niconico, it is a massively popular video streaming platform in Nintendo’s home turf Japan and is frequently used by developers for their official live streams.
The confirmation about tomorrow’s launch came earlier today from Dwango.
Niconico is going to be the first application built for the Nintendo Switch. However, for now, its availability will be limited to Japan only.
Nintendo has been focusing primarily on games ever since the Switch was first announced. While that approach is understandable considering that consumers purchase the device mainly for gaming, Nintendo was long expected to make its plans clear with regard to the availability of applications such as YouTube, Netflix, and other such popular apps.
Niconico will be available for free download and it will allow users to follow their favourite channels, play videos, search for content, and make comments on movies etc. The app will also support the TV mode, portable and tabletop mode. Nintendo is making it available only in the Japanese language, and it is unlikely that the app will be reaching the European and American Nintendo eShops anytime soon.
But then, because there’s no restriction by region, anybody with a Japanese account on their Nintendo Switch will be able to download the app for free.
This is indeed an important move by the company given that now it will allow users access to a lot more options at their fingertips. Those who bought the device solely for gaming can continue to do so, while the others who want to use it for accessing other content will now be able to do so using Niconico.
Here’s the announcement trailer for the release of the Niconico app for the Nintendo Switch console.
https://youtu.be/rIb-GT3_N1w