2 Major Nintendo Switch Apps Not Available On Switch 2 At Launch?!
77We're officially in Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Week and, while most of the news about the system is exciting, we're getting some disappointing news in the closing days. While not 100% backward compatible with Switch 1 titles, a majority of the library IS covered. And if you're like me, hearing this news, you're thinking about game compatibility. Well, we just got word that 2 video applications would not be backward compatible with the Switch 2, at least at launch. Specifically, I'm talking about the YouTube and Crunchyroll apps. But does it even matter?
When Switch 2 launched in 2017, we had already seen the proliferation of Chromebooks, laptops, smartphones, and tablets in everyday life. In the living room, things like Smart TVs, Chromecasts, AppleTV, and other connected devices, along with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, made it easy to watch and stream content. As such, having another device that did the exact same thing, well, it wasn't as important as it was in previous generations. Going back another generation, the Nintendo Wii even had a Netflix DVD so you could stream content! We've been very connected for a very long time.
Another thing that some may not consider is the effect on battery life. While people love to talk about handheld gaming on the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED, you're going to get 3-4 hours of use out of the system per-charge if you're lucky. So even if you're not playing games on it, streaming content is going to use up a lot of precious mAh and capacity on those batteries when you could be using other devices with better or more optimized batteries and larger screens.
One thing I will say is a bit surprising about this is the fact that Nintendo is talking about porting these apps to the Switch 2 instead of creating new, Switch 2-specific versions of these apps. This to me cries of laziness and the lack of importance that Nintendo is putting on these apps.
What do you think? Do you think Nintendo is going the lazy way out here by not creating new, Switch 2 dedicated Crunchyroll and YouTube Apps? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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