Nintendo is on a roll this year. The Switch couldn't be more successful if it tried. People love it, gamers clamor for it, folks want more third-party games ported over to it. The worst thing about the Switch right now? There are enough of them to meet overwhelming demand.
That's certainly an excellent problem to have, especially as Nintendo bounces back from the horrid performance of its last-generation console, the Wii U. Tables have turned this time around. Nintendo is apparently king again, and it's become less restrictive about working with rival companies, too, allowing Switch players to mingle with Xbox One owners on Minecraft via cross-play. Oh, and it's getting Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. A handheld running those incredibly intensive games — wow.
What Will Make The Nintendo Switch A Perfect Handheld Console?
It's almost as if the Switch is the perfect handheld console — almost. It could become even greater if Nintendo also made it an all-around media player by finally bringing on-demand streaming apps to the console. That's right: Put in Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, Spotify, and other services on the Switch and it's basically a winner, no questions asked.
The fact that owners can dock the Switch and enjoy content on their big screens essentially makes the console the perfect device for watching films, but Nintendo hasn't shared much of anything regarding when these sort of apps will come. That changes now.
Nintendo Boss: On-Demand Services Are Coming
In an interview with Kotaku, Reggie Fils-Aimé said on-demand streaming services will arrive on the Switch "in due time." That's not exactly a specific schedule, but it's at least an enough confirmation that these apps are indeed on their way. It's not like they wouldn't eventually come, anyway. The Wii U, the 3DS, and even the Wii all had their own Netflix app.
When asked specifically about Netflix, Fils-Aimé had this to say:
"You'd have to ask the folks at Netflix. I have [Netflix CEO] Reed [Hasting]'s number."
It's kind of a cop-out statement, that's for sure, but at least players know good ol' Fils-Aimé can text Hastings anytime. Also, his statement implies that it's Nintendo that's waiting for Netflix, not the other way around.
The Nintendo of America President also talked about various things related to the Switch, such as the company being just as surprised as everybody else when it discovered that the console supports GameCube controllers, the future of its My Nintendo Rewards program, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's second expansion, which he said is still launching this year.
