nicovideo.jp
Since YouTube came out many years ago, other video streaming services have been trying to find ways to do it better and take its spot as the most popular and widely used free video streaming site on the web. So far, none of these services have been successful in unseating YouTube. It is still, by a huge margin, the most popular and widely used free video streaming site on the web. It has the largest community of users (with billions of them) and, thus, is still the site with the highest number of videos on the web.
That does not mean, however, that there is no room for another video streaming site to rise up and take YouTube's spot, though. People, it seems, are becoming increasingly fed up with YouTube. There are a number of issues that people have with the site, most of which YouTube appears not interested in changing in the slightest. The ads, for instance, have grown increasingly frequent and obnoxious on YouTube over the years. People have been quite vocal about how annoying they find this, but YouTube has not throttled them at all. In fact, if anything, the ads on YouTube have only become more prominent since the outrage.
YouTube has come under fire in the last few years for censoring content. This has to do with their policy of demonetizing channels and videos that happen to express beliefs that differ from those of YouTube. That means if someone publishes a video stating a political belief, say, that YouTube doesn?t like, they can just demonetize that video, make it so that the user can no longer earn money on the site, or, in the most extreme cases, simply take the video down.
This has happened numerous times in the last few years, most notably with YouTube's decision to demonetize Joe Rogan over something he said on his podcast. Instead of respecting Joe Rogan's right to freedom of speech and issuing a statement about how YouTube disagrees with what he said, they simply demonetized his channel. A rather draconian policy, don't you think? Especially considering the fact that Joe Rogan wasn't even expressing a hateful, racist, or particularly hurtful belief.
Over the last decade or so, there has been an influx of numerous competitor sites aiming to dethrone YouTube as the top video streaming site. However, despite their best efforts, none of these sites have been successful in doing so. Thankfully, there are plenty of alternative sites out there that offer a slightly different type of content.
Perhaps you have heard of Daily Motion, Vimeo, Meta Café, or D Tube. These are but a few of the viable YouTube replacement sites. If you just can't take YouTube's ads anymore, their outrageous censorship measures, their militant dedication to upholding copyright laws, or you just want to check out something a little different, any one of these sites will provide hours of entertainment.
Without further ado, let us learn more about this great video streaming site, Niconico. It is easily one of the top 5 sites in the world, with a large and popular collection of videos. It is great for news, live TV, anime, manga, gaming and more!
History
The first incarnation of niconico sourced its videos from YouTube. However, as niconico grew bigger, You Tube began to feel the strain of increased bandwidth and traffic that niconico was putting on them. This resulted in You Tube blocking access to niconico. The site ceased operations almost immediately.
But only temporarily. In two weeks, niconico was up and running again, re-launching with its own on premises video server. And on May 7th, 2007, niconico announced that it would be releasing the mobile version of the service. ?Niconico Douga Mobile? has been available on NTT DoCoMo and Au mobile devices since August 9th, 2007.
Niconico, a massively popular video streaming site, had nearly 24 million registered users, 6.9 million mobile users, and 1.4 million premium users as of October 31st, 2011. In 2012, the site unveiled its ?Zero? update which significantly increased video quality streaming speeds and other upgrades. Since then niconico has also been made available on the Nintendo Switch in Japan making it the Switch's first third-party app available in its app store.
Design
As far as web design goes, there are many poorly designed video streaming sites out there. I don't think that I can fairly say that niconico is poorly designed. I think it would be more accurate to say that the design of this site just isn't for me. It's kind of cluttered, wandering, and difficult to navigate. I have trouble figuring out the logic of the user experience as you scroll down the page - the section sequences don't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me, but maybe that's just me.
But overall, I find the menu bar to be a reliable, easy-to-use way to explore the site.
The slender and stylized site menu bar makes things a little bit easier. Here, you can browse the site by Videos, Images, Live, Channels, Blomaga, RPG, Apps, and More. I suppose I would like it if these sections also materialized on the home page more clearly so that I can browse each one quickly. But overall, I find the menu bar to be a reliable and easy-to-use way to explore the site.
Content
Niconico, like YouTube, has a vast library of videos to choose from. However, the quality of the videos and how interesting they are will depend on what type of content you are looking for. If you enjoy watching manga, anime, gaming videos, etc., then there is a good chance that you will love everything available on Niconico. Additionally, Niconico has a cool live video experience called "Niconico Live." This allows users to experience unique and original virtual trips, such as cruising on a cruise ship or checking in on live Japanese news.
All of the content on niconico.com is available for free, and many of the site's videos are also in high definition. This is mostly due to the uploaders, though; the site itself doesn't always dictate how videos are formatted.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Overall, I believe that the mobile app is where Niconico truly shines. The platform seems designed specifically for mobile devices and it's easier to use and more user-friendly than the desktop browser version. Videos are conveniently archived and organized by category, and recent uploads are featured prominently.
The app has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 on the Apple App Store, and it looks great. My only real issue with the app is that it only comes in Japanese. So, unless you speak and read Japanese, you are going to be out of luck with this app.
Pricing and Plans
Niconico offers a premium service that is available for purchase at the cost of 550 yen per month or 6,600 yen per year. Premium members receive an ad-free experience, the ability to live stream their own broadcasts, and additional MyList slots.
Suggestions that I have for niconico
I would like to see Niconico expand more for a global audience. They have the numbers, community size, and servers (it seems) to do so? I would love to see what Niconico would look like if it expanded beyond the borders of Japan a little more. Make the app available in additional languages, start to expand into the European and American markets a little. Other than that, I think Niconico has a pretty great video streaming service here, especially for Japan.
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