NicoNico Will Be First Video App On Nintendo Switch

Published: July 12, 2017 10:49 PM /

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NicoNico Teal

Business Insider reports that the Nintendo Switch is getting its third-party video & media application: NicoNico.

NicoNico is not necessarily well-known in the English-language world, but in Japan, it's the seventh most popular website according to Alexa rankings. The websites ahead: Google, Yahoo, YouTube, and Twitter - are all relatively popular elsewhere in the world. In Japan, NicoNico serves as a mixture of YouTube and Twitch. The NicoNico app for the Nintendo Switch was announced in a tweet from the video sharing site's official Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/nico_nico_info/status/884940424388919297

The upcoming release of the NicoNico Switch app is the first officially announced third party app for Nintendo's latest console. In a March 2017 interview with Business Insider, Nintendo Senior Public Relations Manager Kit Ellis stated that the Japanese-based video game company was focusing on making the Switch a good game console first and foremost. Four months later, and it seems evident that Nintendo is finally willing to bring third party apps to their system.

Although Nintendo has stated that they have plans to bring apps such as Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube to the platform, there have been no definitive announcements on when they would be making their way to the Nintendo Switch. The delays aren't necessarily a matter of processing power - after all, a teardown of the console revealed that it makes use of NVIDIA's Tegra 210 processor which would (at the minimum) put it in line with modern tablets on the market. Other third party apps are likely on the way, but which ones we'll see first is up in the air until Nintendo or a related company makes an official announcement on the matter.

What do you think of Japanese-based NicoNico being the first third party app for the Nintendo Switch? Do you make use of the site yourself, or do you prefer Western-based media hosting websites such as YouTube or Vimeo? Which third party app do you think will make its way to the Switch next? Let us know in the comments below!

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A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N