When it comes to music streaming services, we're totally spoiled for choice at the moment. Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, Amazon Prime Music, YouTube Music; the list goes on – however, there is officially a new streaming service on the market, though it's coming from an unexpected place.
Introducing Nintendo Music – yes, that's the Nintendo that you may recognise for developing some of the best selling games consoles of all time including the Switch, GameBoy and Wii. It has launched its very own streaming service on Android and iOS devices, and it features soundtracks from the company's extensive video game library spanning over 30 years.
Fans of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Animal Crossing can stream and download tracks from the app and add them to custom playlists. Nintendo is also offering a wide variety of curated playlists based on specific titles, iconic gaming series, characters (such as Yoshi and Bowser), themes (like adventure music and boss battle tracks) and moods (such as a calming evening playlist).
There is even a "spoiler block" button, which will skip tracks from games that you haven't played yet, just in case you're waiting to hear a certain song in-game. Furthermore, you can extend tracks beyond their original runtime – a demonstration video shows the ability to extend a track to 60 minutes – which is a feature we can't say we've seen on any other service.
As expected, Nintendo hasn't gone particularly in-depth with the specifications of this service. We're not expecting high-resolution streaming or Dolby Atmos support, as this is a much smaller service than juggernauts like Spotify. One frustrating quirk we've spotted is that it doesn't work with smart speakers; though wireless headphones and speakers connected over Bluetooth are supported.
A Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to access the service, though that costs just £3.49 per month, making this one of the cheapest streaming services on the market. Will you be subscribing?
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