Gadgetory

this past week with CES and at the very end of it a little bit of interesting news that came out is that the lead developer for video land announced they wanted to bring the media app VLC to ps4 Roku and most interestingly the switch but what we talked about what this could mean for the switch potentially first I realized that some of you guys don't actually know what VLC is clearly you did not pirate anime in the mid-2000s I guess you always do what your big sister tells you to do okay well what VLC is is a media app available on Mac PC iOS Android and even Xbox one and the main point of it is that it's a media app that supports a very large array of different video formats way more than any kind of stock media app would on your OS now how this news actually came about is during the into CES during some interviews the lead developer for video land the company that makes VLC mention some they're planned upcoming updates including the ability to use airplay on their Android version of the app and have actual native VR support for video but the more interesting thing was sort of a side note he dropped about their interest in bringing it to more platforms including the switch and why this is especially interesting the switch is because as we all kind of know something that that platform is very weak on right now is media options we've brought up various times before that there's a lot of really popular streaming app options that are not actually on the switch yet they're available basically everywhere else the only thing it only has at the moment is Hulu and YouTube we don't even have Netflix yet which is you know one of the biggest trimming options out there so the idea of having something like VLC on the switch is very interesting because unlike more traditional streaming options that actually open up a whole new room of possibilities on the switch because we're not just talking about being part of a membership or service that gives you access to specific content but it actually gives you a way to intentionally load content to your switch directly either by loading something on SD card or potentially by streaming it from some kind of media server this would greatly tap into some potential that the switch has to be something much more than a gaming tablet the only shame is it's probably not gonna happen in the past we've looked at a lot of weird workarounds to show what the switch is capable of that Nintendo is currently limiting doing things like being able to access an internet browser use YouTube before YouTube app was actually released and even went so far as to actually order uber with one and it looks like he's gonna be here really quick actually it says two minutes now but they're already turning on the street I think that's him but an important difference between all those different applications we've talked about before is that those are all very specific things in mind streaming apps services things that are designed to do a specific task whereas something like VLC opens up a little too much of the switch in a way that I think Nintendo is not really comfortable with they've made it a point in the past with previous systems and especially with the switch to really focus on the idea that this is a gaming handheld not a tablet despite what it is capable of despite what kind of potential it could have at the end of the day Nintendo wants to market this as a way to play the newest Mario game not a way to order a car part of this comes down to Nintendo's dedication to preserve what they see as their image which they have relented on a little bit with us which we are seeing a lot more M rated content third-party games and just more don't worry in to stuff in general with the switch as opposed to the usual very kid focused approach but at the same time Nintendo still wants to have that limitation of these are the brains and things that represent us we don't want anything that gives people full control over what kind of content is available on the system another reason that's kind of tied into that as well and similar but different is also Nintendo's immense paranoia about piracy now to be clear this doesn't mean that not allowing VLC is not going to allow piracy to happen there's already been all kinds of homebrew stuff opened up on the switch it's just going to happen no matter what Nintendo tries to do but that doesn't change the fact that they have this intense belief that they have ways of preventing further piracy and that includes making sure that there is very strict control over what kind of applications are available on the switch and honestly I just think this is all kind of a real shame there's so much the switch could do that Nintendo is just handicapping it from doing out of fear of something it would affect their image or possibly allow for more piracy which let's face our seas just going to happen no matter what they try but it's just this entire argument of what is the switch meant to be and I do agree the switch is a gaming handheld first and foremost but that doesn't mean that it can't do more things as just an option just by adding more media streaming apps or more utility maps or more just different things that are available on most traditional tablets doesn't mean all of a sudden Mario won't run on your switch or that you didn't buy it for games in the first place yes obviously you're not buying a switch because you want to have some kind of all in one utility device but it wouldn't hurt to have those things available as well because it can do it