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Joystiq

Are game system web surfers an untapped market?

by Kyle Orland on Apr 17th 2007 6:15PM

We're not really that big on the whole web browsing on a gaming system thing -- the home computer does a fine job for most of our 'net surfing needs. There must be some people out there who disagree though, because a recent press release from sci-fi eBook provider NextGenBooks reveals that "over half of its traffic coming from Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PS3 and PSP users."

Perhaps this isn't too surprising, given that the site offers optimized versions of its free eBooks for all four systems (and the site's overall traffic doesn't even cause a blip on monitoring sites like Alexa). Still, the explosion of game-system-browser-friendly versions of everything from YouTube to Virgin Radio to porn sites seems to show that at least some people think the surfing-on-a-system audience is going to be big big big.

Do you use your favorite game console for web browsing? Are you perhaps reading this on your favorite system right now? Or do you think the web is meant for computers?

Source

Tags: browser, browsing, DS, internet, PS3, PSP, web, web browser, web surfing, WebBrowser, WebSurfing, Wii

Reader Comments (22)

It depends on the site and content. I'll use the Wii or the PSTRIPLE if I have friends over and want them to see a video or something instead of huddling around a smaller screen.

You ever try typing on a "computer" that doesn't have a keyboard? It's even more annoying than typing on a cell phone.

@2

That is the biggest problem for me. To just surf around to my favorite sites (read things I already have bookmarked) it's fine, but without a keyboard I would never consider it for real browsing. Come on Nintendo, how hard is it to support my USB keyboard?!

what's with all this either/or BS?

The Wii's browser is perfect for watching Youtube with friends. It's also much faster to fire it up to check something online quickly, rather than the time it takes for me to bring my computer out of hibernation. Why even go to the office when it's right there on the TV?

It doesn't replace all of my web browsing by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a much more useful tool than you guys give it credit for.

You must have a ton of shitware if your computer is that slow coming out of hibernation. It's much, much faster to use the computer as compared to my Wii.

watch out console web surfers. Here comes the days of pop-up ads on the Wii and PS3.

For YouTube surfing, and for surfing with friends, and for quick hits on GameFaqs, Wii all the way

For everything else, PC. While the latest system update seems to have allowed the Wii to produce comparable PC resolutions while surfing for variable zooming, the lack of Java support really just cripples the experience for anything that doesn't run off of Flash Player 7 or below...

And this is really a poor example, its a site that caters to nerds, basically, its like saying "x% of My Opera Wii traffic is coming from Wii's!"

I would love to be able to browse on my 360. Of course it would by no means replace my computer, but sometimes in the middle of watching something, or just out of conversation, you might want to look something up, and if you're already in the family room with the 360 booted up it would be much more convenient than going to a different room to use the PC. Not everyone has a laptop in the family room or a media center PC.

My use is similar to Khan's, except I use my PS3 instead of my Wii because of the much better resolution. My PC (which I'm on now) is in an upstairs office. The consoles are downstairs in the den. So, yeah, I'll sometimes take a quick look on the PS3 browser. Either to look for news or take a quick look on Gamefaqs for a hint/answer.

I could use a keyboard with the PS3 if I wanted, but haven't yet. The browser saves previously entered sites so you just have to type the first letter or two and then select the site. Or you can simply bookmark the site. So after the first visit the lack of a keyboard is pretty much meaningless for visiting your favorite sites.

I've used the Wii a lot for watching YouTube and Google Video. Sometimes I'll bookmark videos in del.icio.us and watch them later through the Wii. The new zoom feature in the browser update makes this a lot easier.

no ... they are just a gimmick,buzz word,soup of the day market ... meaning they will be marketed to regardless so why even ask.

I've played around, on occasion, with web browsers on handhelds/consoles, but it just isn't my thing. I prefer to surf the web on a computer.

SG

Have the improved the load time for the browser? It was obnoxiously long before.

I'm typing this on a Wii right now. Lil' slow on the text entry, but it's convenient as hell for casual surfing. Would like to have a wireless keyboard at some point, Nintendo!

To BlameCanada...

I downloaded the new browser for the Wii, and yes, they have improved it.. B4 it did take a while for pages to load, but now its just as quick as my PC runnin IE7..

I dont do much browsing on the Wii yet, but it has been handy a few times.. Being the systems in my Bedroom, and Ive had to check on a few things I forgot b4 goin to bed.. It works pretty well on my 50" HD set.. Yes. I have a 50" in my Bedroom..

I use the Wii to view Youtube vidoes on my TV as well as watching music vidoes.

give me a break. those browsers are so crappy they cant even be considered "poor mans". yuck.

if i cant test web development on it, and PROPERLY handle files, then its utterly useless. not to mention they tend to load about 50x slower then good ol computers web browsers.

blech. who came up with this dreck?

LM

A great way to use browsing in a game would be say, an RPG that connects to a specific site, which has information based on where you are in the game. It would have to grab some stats from the game, but the site could mimic a real-world information retrieval system, with operators or bots inputing changing, dynamic data, relevent to the game.

But while we're doing that, why not have games like GTAIV access weather data and update the screen according to the weather that is really in, say, New York? And when it's night, it's night, and so on.

This seems like a huge untapped resource, and it wouldn't require a very fast link. For those who don't have access, it would be the way we've always done weather in these games.

This idea is valuable potentially in a lot of other ways, too.

using my wii now.... typing sucks but the wiis browser works better for the weblogs inc sites than my ps-tres.. i use it to get a quick look at updates... id watch lost episodes if the flash was supported...

I like the Wii browser for casual surfing, but what would be interesting if they integrated it with the other channels.

Think of it, you're using the News Channel and when you get to the bottom of the story where they have the reference links, you can click on them and open them. Photos you edit in the photo channel could be posted online instead oc only to your friends.

There are some cool things that could be done with it if they tried.

Uhhhh Doesn't Alexa only track IE hits?

Joystiq and ps3 fanboy,

I used to visit your sites all the time on my ps3 but for the last month or so it will just time out and I cant connect, endgadget works fine. This is a common problem among ps3 users. Please fix it so I can enjoy your blogs on my 50 inch plasma :)

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Are game system web surfers an untapped market?

Reader Comments (22)

Posted: Apr 17th 2007 6:24PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 17th 2007 6:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 17th 2007 6:30PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 17th 2007 6:34PM Lemmiwinks said

Posted: Apr 17th 2007 6:39PM Tetris said

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Posted: Apr 17th 2007 7:03PM Mr Khan said

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Posted: Apr 18th 2007 1:11AM motang said

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Posted: Apr 18th 2007 12:14AM refractured said

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