What do you do with your Wii?

For the past few gaming console cycles both Microsoft and Sony have been using the concept of convergence as a selling point. I like the idea of only having one box (Xbox or PlayStation) to do all my gaming, DVD playing, TV recording and music playing with… but that’s not the topic of this post. This is about the convergence of my gaming console and the internet.

With the launch of the current generation of gaming consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii) I think we finally have legitimate contenders for converging day-to-day web browsing with our gaming systems. Part of this is from the increasing number of web accessible software (Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Other stuff Google made or bought, etc…), but the rest is in this latest generation’s embracing of the internet. Two of the main 3 players in the space have more advanced navigation and browsing which we’ll look at below. Surprisingly, (or is it not surprising at all?) Microsoft’s Xbox is the only one that leaves out a web browser, and they are the ones that have lead the way in “convergence” marketing.

PlayStation 3

• The PlayStation 3 uses a version of the NetFront browser by Access Co. as its internal web browser. It is the same browser used in the PlayStation Portable (Sony-branded NetFront 2.81) with the same interface, menus and virtual keyboard.
• Some of the unique features are that you can have six browser sessions active at any given time, you can punch in addresses and text using the controller, a usb keyboard or a bluetooth keyboard.
• Still uses regular game control pads to navigate, but will emulate a mouse with one control stick and let you scroll with the other. See video of it in action.

Nintendo Wii

• The “Internet Channel” is a version of the Opera web browser for use on the Wii by Opera Software and Nintendo.
• The Wii browser allows users full access to the Web and supports all the same web standards that are included in the desktop versions of Opera, including CSS and JavaScript.
• Opera Software designed the Wii browser to suit a “living room environment”; in contrast to the appearance of the Opera web browser on computer monitors, fonts are larger and the interface is simplified for easier use.
• Uses Wii remote to control mouse, but does not currently have drivers to support a full keyboard.

After seeing these two browsers and looking at the price tag of my Wii ($250) vs. the price of my wife’s Dell Laptop ($700), I started to think we may actually be close to a better, cheaper alternative. If she is only using the computer for communication (email, IM), photo viewing, and money management, then a “terminal” with usable controls (not there yet) and full browser capabilities is all she would really need. I haven’t seen stats on how much browsers are used in gaming consoles, but I have to believe that with 1.5 mill PS3’s and 1.8 mill Wii’s and counting, that eventually we are going to see other moderate web users do the math I did above and realize they can get everything they need from one outlet.

As web marketers we will have to continue to watch the way in which users actively browse through these (and future) gaming systems. From a technical point of view it will be important to understand the browser’s rendering capabilities. Looking at usability we’ll have to understand the input devices better (joysticks, wands, etc). And from the behavioral aspect we’ll have to grasp how the user is transitioning from their gaming environment to our web sites.