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Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

vale.rocks

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Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#21

Post by mattcasmith »

I was amazed recently by how locked down the hidden PlayStation 5 browser is.

You can’t access it as an app through the dashboard, but it appears if you click a URL from a message. So people were sending themselves “google[.]com”, clicking, and enjoying web access.

But it seems Sony have even clamped down on that. I sent a message to myself recently, the link wasn’t clickable, and I got a message to say my PlayStation Network account had received a warning and could be suspended if I did it again!

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#22

Post by AdamConwayIE »

lxgr wrote: post #3

The browser on the Wii was amazing. I didn't use it all that often, but I was a big Opera fan back in the day, and it was amazing to see how well their engine scaled to all kinds of systems. As far as I remember, there were even some games that supported the Wiimote natively? I don't remember if this was via Flash or Javascript, but there seems to be a library for the latter: https://github.com/ryanmcgrath/wii-js I u…

I remember using Orb on the Wii way back then for media streaming. Good times!

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#23

Post by Wowfunhappy »

mattcasmith wrote: post #21

I was amazed recently by how locked down the hidden PlayStation 5 browser is. You can’t access it as an app through the dashboard, but it appears if you click a URL from a message. So people were sending themselves “google[.]com”, clicking, and enjoying web access. But it seems Sony have even clamped down on that. I sent a message to myself recently, the link wasn’t clickable, and I got a message to say my PlayStatio…

> I got a message to say my PlayStation Network account had received a warning and could be suspended if I did it again!

What?!? Really? Did they cite what rule you had violated?

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#24

Post by bschwindHN »

lxgr wrote: post #3

The browser on the Wii was amazing. I didn't use it all that often, but I was a big Opera fan back in the day, and it was amazing to see how well their engine scaled to all kinds of systems. As far as I remember, there were even some games that supported the Wiimote natively? I don't remember if this was via Flash or Javascript, but there seems to be a library for the latter: https://github.com/ryanmcgrath/wii-js I u…

Yep, I remember a brief period of time where I would play Flash games on the Wii browser, I think there were indeed some that were explicitly made for the Wii browser. Fun times!

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#25

Post by Wowfunhappy »

lxgr wrote: post #3

The browser on the Wii was amazing. I didn't use it all that often, but I was a big Opera fan back in the day, and it was amazing to see how well their engine scaled to all kinds of systems. As far as I remember, there were even some games that supported the Wiimote natively? I don't remember if this was via Flash or Javascript, but there seems to be a library for the latter: https://github.com/ryanmcgrath/wii-js I u…

If only the Wii had supported 1080p or even 720p output, it could have been a great way to browse the web in your living room. Many companies have tried this, but none of them had the correct input device. I think this could have changed the overall direction of technology.

Unfortunately, at 640x480 everything was too small, even back then.

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#26

Post by Wowfunhappy »

KeplerBoy wrote: post #5
lxgr wrote: post #3

The browser on the Wii was amazing. I didn't use it all that often, but I was a big Opera fan back in the day, and it was amazing to see how well their engine scaled to all kinds of systems. As far as I remember, there were even some games that supported the Wiimote natively? I don't remember if this was via Flash or Javascript, but there seems to be a library for the latter: https://github.com/ryanmcgrath/wii-js I u…

I bought the NDS version back in the day and let me tell you it was not worth the 40€ of my pocket money.

I remember how, if you wanted to swap the top and bottom screens, it would spin and spin and spin… definitely a painful experience.

I actually think it was worth the money though, at least for me, because having a pocketable device that could access the internet was so special at that time.

Also, the DSi’s web browser was legitimately good. In addition to being fast enough, the zoomed out bottom screen and zoomed in top screen was great for browsing designed-for-a-desktop websites.

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#27

Post by mattcasmith »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #23
mattcasmith wrote: post #21

I was amazed recently by how locked down the hidden PlayStation 5 browser is. You can’t access it as an app through the dashboard, but it appears if you click a URL from a message. So people were sending themselves “google[.]com”, clicking, and enjoying web access. But it seems Sony have even clamped down on that. I sent a message to myself recently, the link wasn’t clickable, and I got a message to say my PlayStatio…

> I got a message to say my PlayStation Network account had received a warning and could be suspended if I did it again! What?!? Really? Did they cite what rule you had violated?

“Sharing malicious URLs, including those that may harm another player.”

The URL was google[.]com.

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#28

Post by luma »

Uncle_Brumpus wrote: post #20
alhadrad wrote: post #6

My first experience with porn was the Dreamcast browser.

It's funny that this was my first thought, too. I am sure game console browsers were an entry point for whole generations of kids. Mine WOULD have been through the Dreamcast, but because my parents were early adopters of Broadband internet, we never had a dial-up connection to hook the modem up to. I did a bit of curious searching on the family PC, but one time I forgot to wipe the history, and the game was up. The f…

Later in its life, the Dreamcast release the "broadband adapter", a 100mbit Ethernet replacement for the modem. Worked great, but very limited support in games. That plus a DC keyboard and mouse made me BRUTAL in quake 3... until someone worked out how to join DC games from the PC.

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#29

Post by charcircuit »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #25
lxgr wrote: post #3

The browser on the Wii was amazing. I didn't use it all that often, but I was a big Opera fan back in the day, and it was amazing to see how well their engine scaled to all kinds of systems. As far as I remember, there were even some games that supported the Wiimote natively? I don't remember if this was via Flash or Javascript, but there seems to be a library for the latter: https://github.com/ryanmcgrath/wii-js I u…

If only the Wii had supported 1080p or even 720p output, it could have been a great way to browse the web in your living room. Many companies have tried this, but none of them had the correct input device. I think this could have changed the overall direction of technology. Unfortunately, at 640x480 everything was too small, even back then.

I found even the 256x192 resolution of the DSi browser to be a fine size to use. I don't think 640x480 was too small.

Re: Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles

#30

Post by kotaKat »

I'm actually frustrated we lost web browser access on gaming consoles, especially in the era of people calling for technical support to their internet providers for "it's too slow" and we can't run a proper speedtest to the world from the console to figure out if it's the gaming provider or the Internet connection...

Throw some of us in support a bone, will ya?

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