Nintendo Switch and it’s Curious Lack of Video Streaming

I was a Wii U late adopter. I got it just after Splatoon hit shelves and, despite the bad press it seemed to continuously receive, I had a fantastic time with it. Mario Maker was a blast, Splatoon turned out to be a non-stop party, Smash 4 was fantastic fun, and of course Breath of the Wild stole literal days of my life.

What caught me off guard was how much I used the Wii U’s non-gaming apps.

I’ve always spent a lot of time on Youtube, but after a few years of switch usage I’m pushing close to 300 hours of Youtube time on the Wii U. Netflix is a few hours shy of that, and Hulu isn’t too far behind the rest.

I’ve used these same apps on the PS4 and Xbox and absolutely nothing comes close in terms of the ease of use that the Wii U provided. Having an actual keyboard to type out your inputs is a godsend, and while I usually just streamed content on my TV, the ability to watch on the Wii U’s pad came in handy from time to time. The entire system just seems built around user enjoyment, and ease of access.

Imagine my disappointment, then, when the Switch released with no Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, or Crunchyroll. The Switch even lacks a dedicated web browser. I simply don’t understand Nintendo’s logic behind these decisions, as the Switch does have a touchscreen for full tablet-like functionality. It boggles my mind that a major player in the console market, with years of experience, overlooked something that is such an intrinsic part of console use these days.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, told the Washington Post back in march that Nintendo aims for the Switch to be a console dedicated purely to gaming.

“We built the Nintendo Switch to be a world-class gaming device, meaning we want you first and foremost to play games on the system and have an incredibly fun experience” – Reggie Fils-Aime

It almost sounds like Nintendo is scared that people will buy the Switch in order to watch anime instead of to play video games. To my mind, this is like Ford coming out with a new line of trucks that have no radio and saying “We want our trucks to be an experience focused on driving.” It doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, and certainly doesn’t make much sense for the consumer.

It seems like Nintendo are kneecapping themselves by excluding these features. I almost did not purchase a Switch because these apps were missing, and I can’t imagine that I’m the only one to think this way. I’m sure there are a few other people on the fence about getting a Switch just because it would be a pain in the ass to switch between consoles and HDMI cords in order to get the latest episode of One Piece on the screen. In fact, Ars Technica reported in that as of 2014 game consoles might be the most widely used streaming devices. I can only assume that number has grown in the past years.

While it’s not a gaming necessity, streaming apps have become the norm for many gamers looking to watch video media on their TV screens. That, coupled with the Switch’s portability, make Nintendo’s exclusion of streaming apps appear as a serious mistake. I can only hope that the lack of content in this area is something that Nintendo will remedy soon.