Winners and Losers: Apple TV scores a big win, and Nintendo’s Direct drops the ball

Another week in the world of tech has come and gone, which is why it’s time to look back at the biggest stories in Trusted Reviews’ Winners and Losers.

Folks, I have to be honest with you – this week was full of losers. From the serious ramifications spiralling out of Facebook’s fight with the Australian Government, to the news that MWC 2021 is going ahead as an in-person event (while the pandemic is very much still ongoing), it’s been a week full of headlines that had the collective Trusted Reviews team rolling their eyes.

As a result, it was easy enough to pick out this week’s loser, but it was near impossible to find any winners worth highlighting. We did manage to agree on one in the end, but it’s a far more low-key winner compared to the more negative happenings of the last seven days.

Winner: Apple TV users

It should come as no surprise when I say that the new Chromecast with Google TV is one of the best streaming devices you can pick up right now. It offers content in 4K at 60fps where applicable, support for Dolby Vision, and the included remote keeps things simple with instant access to YouTube and Netflix.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Chromecast with Google TV just got even better thanks to a massive update that brings all the major facets of Apple TV to the device, making it the ideal streaming stick for iOS users.

Anyone tied into the Apple ecosystem can now see their iTunes collections directly on the latest Chromecast, and more importantly, the ever-growing catalogue of original content on Apple TV Plus. While Apple’s streaming service hasn’t been making huge waves in the same way Disney Plus has, its library has been steadily growing and there’s now a solid bunch of must-watch content on the service.

As a personal recommendation, it’s worth jumping on the free trial just to give Ted Lasso a watch. Starring Jason Sudekis as the titular NFL coach who crosses the Atlantic to coach fictional football club AFC Richmond, the show has an endearing quality that’s hard to find these days. It gets two thumbs up from me.

Buy: Chromecast with Google TV from Currys PC World

Loser: Nintendo

It is a strange time to be a Nintendo fan. After the turbulent lifecycle of the Wii U, Nintendo seemed to have learned from its mistakes with the Nintendo Switch by hitting the ground hard with a solid concept that was then backed by regularly released first-party titles. That trend however seemed to come to an end in 2019, as 2020 only saw two major exclusives with Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Paper Mario: The Origami King. This left just two big updates to our best Switch games guide that year.

The absolute mess that was 2020 also brought the appearance full-sized Nintendo Directs to a halt, and fair enough – I can’t even imagine the logistics of trying to keep something like that going during a global pandemic. But after over a year of waiting, Nintendo returned with a whopping 50-minute video to detail what fans have to look forward to in 2021 and beyond… and boy what a disappointment it was.

At a time when gamers are looking towards buying into a new generation PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, this was the chance for Nintendo to show why people should still be interested in the Nintendo Switch. The company needed to hit the ground running with a brand new title to surprise everyone (maybe a new IP or the return to a classic series like F Zero), and at the very least offer an update on the big titles we know about like Metroid 4 and Breath of the Wild 2. We got none of this.

Sure, there were a few good announcements in there (Fall Guys, Outer Wilds, etc.) but to end the whole thing on Splatoon 3 – a follow up to a sequel that already exists on the Nintendo Switch – feels like a missed opportunity at best, and at worst that Nintendo is simply running out of ideas. I sincerely hope that as we move closer to the 35^th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda that we’ll be privy to some better news to keep us invested.