If ever you wanted proof of the oft-repeated axiom that Nintendo really does not understand the internet, you only had to see how they treated the concept of their games being shared via social media outlets like YouTube and Twitch.

While other companies caught on to the idea that YouTubers and Twitch players playing their games was essentially free advertising that could help boost sales and viral word of mouth for their games years ago, Nintendo decided that these creators were making money off of Nintendo’s intellectual property, and flat out forbade YouTubers from monetizing Nintendo game videos, unless they joined Nintendo’s controversial Nintendo Creators Program.

The Nintendo Creators Program was a program where you signed up with Nintendo, and paid them a share of your revenue, and could also only cover games that were explicitly whitelisted by Nintendo. It was widely reviled, and there was a large part of the YouTube and Twitch community that just stopped covering Nintendo’s games as a result.

Thankfully, Nintendo came to its senses, and announced yesterday that it will be terminating the Creators Program starting December 6–not coincidentally, a day before the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a game that could greatly benefit from YouTube and Twitch. A new set of guidelines for sharing Nintendo game content on these platforms has been posted by Nintendo, which is pretty much common sense, and in line with what every other publisher and developer in the world prescribes.

So, it only took Nintendo ten years or so, but at last, they have capitulated on this front. Good going, Nintendo. Maybe the recent launch of the YouTube app on the Switch was a precursor to this…

We keep waiting for the media apps situation on the Nintendo Switch to improve, and slowly but surely, it seems to be. We already have Hulu on the system, and CrunchyRoll and Funimation are due to be launching on it soon as well. And now, YouTube, the largest video consumption service on the internet, is available on the Nintendo Switch via an app that was stealthily released on the system with no fanfare beyond a tweet today.

This, of course, is something that was previously rumoured, so it’s not much of a surprise that it’s happened. The app is 90MB, and can be downloaded from the eShop. It’s actually well optimized, and supports 1080p and 60FPS videos, as well as a full touch interface.

Hopefully, Netflix is going to be next in line. The Switch could be a great media device and general media consumption tablet overall (including eBooks and podcasts, ideally), but so far, Nintendo has done little to capitalize on that potential.

https://twitter.com/nintendoeurope/status/1060578773882548224?s=21

The Nintendo Switch might have one hell of a software library already, which is unusual for most systems so soon after their initial launch, while the console-handheld hybrid’s unique portability and ease of use have also been factors in the great success it’s seen already. But you know what isn’t so great about the Switch?

Pretty much everything else. More precisely, though, the Switch’s surprising lack of multimedia capabilities. Sure, I get that the Switch is a gaming device first and foremost, and that’s the purpose for which it is purchased, but it doesn’t even have a YouTube app (it does have Hulu), which seems like such a basic thing that essentially mostly every device these days seems to have. Not the Switch though.

However, that might be about to change soon. Users on ResetEra are reporting that they’ve been seeing seeing app suggestions for the YouTube media app in the Nintendo Switch eShop, which also mentions, interestingly enough, that the app is coming to the Switch as early as November 8, which is just three days away. French outlet NintendoHOME is reporting the same thing on its Twitter page as well (you can check out the Tweet below).

It wouldn’t, to be frank, be very surprising if this were true. In fact, as I’ve mentioned, it’s just surprising that it’s taken this long for something as universal as YouTube to make its way to the Switch. Either way, right now this isn’t any sort of a confirmation, so you shouldn’t take it as such. It does seem likely, though, that we will finally be getting a YouTube app on the Switch within the next few days.

❓Rumeur – L’application YouTube devrait arriver prochainement sur Nintendo Switch, plus précisément le 8 novembre si on en croit le site de Nintendo America. pic.twitter.com/NgvBhDJu1G

— NintendHOME – Info Nintendo 24/7 (@NintendHOME) November 3, 2018

Beginning Sunday, June 10th, and ending with the show itself, Youtube is once again bringing the world Youtube Live at E3 2018, produced by Geoff Keighley, the man also behind The Game Awards. It all kicks off at Noon on Sunday.

The broadcast promises it’s own world premiere gameplay demos, interviews and more. They’ll be simulcasting all of the major press conferences, and feature appearances by top Youtubers such as AngryJoe, Boogie2988, MatPat, iJustine, TypicalGamer, Vikkstar and others. 

For some reason, we can also look forward to a live let’s play with Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and music producer DJ Marshmello, where he will debut his new track “Tell Me” from his upcoming album. Will you be checking out this show? Share your thoughts in the comments section below whether you’ll catch Live at E3, or if you’ll be on Twitch instead.

Just in case players have already tried all of those old games with the new 4K update on their shiny new Xbox One X systems, Youtube has come to save the day with 4K and 60FPS support in a new update to Microsoft’s latest console.

Available to download right now, the new Youtube Application with the 4K and 60FPS features can be found in the Microsoft store. It’s a separate application, since the original never made it to the Microsoft store, and was just through the Xbox Store. If something seems like it’s missing, then fear not, Microsoft has made statements to The Verge that the app will at some point get HDR support, and if you’re happy with your current Xbox then know that 4K and HDR should come to Xbox One S sometime soon as well.

Should you be more interested in playing games on your new Xbox One X, then recent news suggests that the power of Xbox One X makes development easier for indy creators as well.

While fans may be split on what was the best game of E3 2017, YouTube has determined that DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront 2 as the true winner. At least in terms of views o its videos.

Of course, as YouTube notes, “This ranking includes all videos related to the title, including trailers, official gameplay, media coverage, and fan-uploaded reactions. Notably, EA’s press conference included four of the titles in our top 10, a nod to the strength of its showcase.”

The other three titles were FIFA 18, Anthem and Need for Speed Payback. Also, it’s rather telling that Assassin’s Creed: Origins (2nd place) and Call of Duty: WWII (4th place) were also in the charts. Interestingly, Dragon Ball Fighter Z ranked 10th overall.

In terms of individual views, Star Wars: Battlefront 2’s E3 2017 trailer is the most viewed at over 9 million views. Super Mario Odyssey is in second place at over 5.5 million views. What are your thoughts on popularity by YouTube views? Let us know in the comments.

2016 is almost at an end, and YouTube have decided to join in on the frenzy of making the ‘Best of…’ lists that all games media likes to do at the end of the year. They have released a list of the Top 10 video game trailers of 2016- the results may surprise you a bit.

To be clear, this list only includes games that launched in 2016- so titles like God of War, Death Stranding, and of course, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, won’t figure in this list. Equally importantly, it also seems like hardware is not a part of this list either- so videos pertaining to the Nintendo Switch (which has racked up a record number of views in its debut trailer), PS4 Pro, or Xbox One Scorpio won’t figure in the list either.

With that all out of the way, you can peruse the full list below. As I said- what shows up in it may surprise you (almost as much as what doesn’t show up in it):

• Battlefield 1: Reveal Trailer – 49,864,296 views
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare: Reveal Trailer – 35,930,951 views
• Clash of Clans: Hog Rider – 32,332,845 views
• Gears of War 4: Tomorrow – 17,091,816 views
• Clash of Kings: 17,080,025 views
• Overwatch: Dragons Animated Short – 14,059,394 views
• Pokemon Sun & Moon: Reveal Trailer – 10,767,945 views
• FIFA 17: 10,644,036 views
• Watch Dogs 2: Reveal Trailer – 10,097,425 views
• DOOM: Cinematic Trailer – 9,651,691 views

YouTube is a major part of the gaming ecosystem- YouTube hosts gaming Let’s Plays, gaming ads and commercials, video reviews, soundtracks, and basically has an entire section of its site dedicated to gaming livestreams. A large part of YouTube’s traffic comes from video games- so YouTube’s word on some of the most popular games on its site can be taken as being indicative of larger trends in the video game market.

According to a list of the Top 10 games on YouTube in 2015, it seems as though the mainstream video gaming market is winning big in general:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
2. FIFA 16
3. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3
4. ARK: Survival Evolved
5. Agar.io
6. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4
7. Fallout 4
8. Mortal Kombat X
9. Batman: Arkham Knight
10. Until Dawn

Unsurprisingly, Call of Duty rules the roost, though I have to admit, seeing Fallout 4 that low is surprising.

YouTube also released a list of the Top 10 gaming videos of the year:

1. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial)
2. Real GTA
3. Star Wars Battlefront Reveal Trailer
4. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 Teaser Trailer
5. WARNING: YOU WILL DIE | Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 – Part 1
6. Discover Pokémon in the Real World with Pokémon GO!
7. Fallout 4 – Official Trailer
8. Elders Play Grand Theft Auto V (Elders React: Gaming)
9. Halo VS Call of Duty
10. Final Fantasy VII – E3 2015 Trailer | PS4

I’m just bummed that Persona 5’s trailer didn’t make it on there (though it does seem to be very popular, going by viewership numbers).

Which of these videos is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.

Twitch finally has some competition as the de facto game streaming service, as YouTube Gaming, Google’s competitor to the service that they have been working on and teasing since at least June of this year, has now finally launched.

YouTube Gaming will, much like Twitch, provide a platform for livestreaming, Let’s Plays, and other video content, for both creators and viewers- Google hopes to integrate the great gaming culture and community of YouTube into YouTube viewing, and leverage the synergy of YouTube Viewing and YouTube as an advantage over Twitch.

YouTube Gaming will automatically collect all gaming-related videos and content while also providing over 25,000 pages dedicated to specific games. In addition, the service will also be getting a brand new mobile app for iOS and Android that will be available for download, starting today.

Will YouTube manage to make a dent in Twitch’s marketshare, or will it sink without a trace? We don’t know just yet, but the first thing YouTube Gaming needs to do is to play Pokemon.

Considering that Google already had its foot in the door for video streaming online with YouTube, it is surprising that they did not also become the go to solution for livestreaming video games. That mantle was instead taken up by Ustream and Twitch (the latter now owned by Amazon, though there were rumors that Google was looking into acquiring the service).

There did use to be a YouTube livestreaming service, but it was a bust- now, industry insiders report that Google is planning on bringing the service back, and that it has already started to recruit engineers experienced in the field.

“The time is right as well, with Twitch moving into other areas such as music and so on. Google doesn’t want to be too far behind in the arms race,” they continued.

These same sources think that the two areas that Google will be targeting with its new service will be gaming and eSports, both of which, they feel, present Google with great opportunities.

“There’ll be huge opportunities for established streamers and organizations soon and I would say that the record numbers of eSports viewers are only going to grow when Google start promoting and partnering with these events.”

These sources claim that an announcement is imminent at E3 this year, so we’ll know soon either way. Personally, however, none of this sounds too far fetched to me.