We test the site on game consoles. Part I
Recently, the topic of developing mobile and responsive websites has been actively discussed in the network. But users in the West are already worried about other problems. For example, how Amazon will look on the PSP and whether it is possible to enter a mobile bank with Nintendo.
We found an article about the adaptation of sites for game consoles, and thought that it would be interesting for many of you, and even useful for some. The material is quite voluminous, we will publish its translation in two parts, and the original is here .
According to data from 2010 and 2011, more than 1/8 of Internet users in the UK, USA and France and one of four American teenagers use game consoles to access the Internet.
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And this is not news - it was possible to access the Internet through the console back in 1997 with the Game.com submission, which allowed users to download their results by connecting a modem, as well as checking email and viewing websites if they had a special Internet cartridge.
Today, all three major gaming consoles (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii) have Internet access. Of these, however, only the Xbox 360 does not have an official browser, although Microsoft has already announced the launch of IE9 for consoles. And some companies have already started experimenting with design for consoles. For example, Google in 2007 launched the Wii Reader version, which is now suitable for all TV consoles.
Add to this also portable consoles with browsers, such as the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS lines - and now we have a 15-year history of game consoles of various sizes and formats with Internet access. Nevertheless, very little is said about browsers in game consoles today.
Web navigation using various gaming consoles
Modern consoles can offer only a small selection of browsers to use, but this does not mean that they completely ignore them. After all, “we cannot predict future behavior based on the sad experience of the present,” says Jason Grigsby.
As more and more console manufacturers offer Internet-compatible devices and smart TVs continue to enter the market, now is the time to think about how our sites will adapt to these conditions. To do this, you need to study the possibilities of new devices.
Game TV consoles are not just for gamers. They are now being developed and marketed, complemented by many features, such as Blu-ray or access to Netflix. Some consoles also have applications for Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and Foursquare, so there is every chance that a user can visit your site using one of them.
According to a Pew Internet study, 80% of 12–17 American teenagers have a gaming console, and half of them also own a portable gadget. Pocket consoles are most popular among junior teenagers - they are played by 2 out of 3 teenagers aged 12-13 years.
If we talk about adults, the Pew survey shows that men are more likely to acquire game consoles, while women prefer portable consoles.
In the UK, young people aged 16-24 are more likely to choose consoles, and 20% of them use websites to visit them. Among children aged 5-15 years, 5% go online using the console more often than from any other device. In fact, this age group prefers to surf the Internet more than others through the console, rather than a mobile phone or tablet.
Among all age groups, game consoles are more popular as devices for surfing the web, unlike tablets. Perhaps this is because they are more common.
In short, all categories of people use browsers in consoles for various reasons. In families that own a computer, the console can be a convenient additional way to surf the web if there is competition for traditional devices. Pocket consoles are also popular among parents who do not want to give their child an expensive smartphone. Nintendo DS is especially popular with younger students, and in some schools it is even used in lessons .
In the past, we made the mistake of assuming that mobile phone users will solve simple tasks. But, according to thousands of eBay visitors who buy cars weekly via mobile phones, some users of console browsers are now ready to perform the tasks that we refer to as “advanced”. For example, log in to the bank via PS3.
Even if you do not have the opportunity to check your sites for compatibility with each console, it is still useful to keep in mind their existence and their features to make sites accessible to more users.
Let's look at three main types of consoles:
Due to the fact that the community testing sites arise throughout the world , we can get an idea about each type of consoles, and especially about the most functional ones.
If we talk about consoles for TV, then, for example, Nintendo Wii has a motion controller, which is useful for testing site navigation. The same applies to the release of the new Wii U, which will have a touch screen on the controller, allowing you to interact with the links on the screen. Sony's PS3 is also useful for testing the convenience of navigation with a regular game controller, while the Xbox 360 will become important for testing with the device only after IE9 is released for it.
The two most popular series of portable consoles are the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. The latest portable console from Sony - PS Vita, which has an additional model with 3G, and can also be used as a controller for the PS3. Sony's older portable Internet consoles are the PSP-1000, PSP-2000, PSP-3000 and PSP Go (the younger series of the PSP-E1000 were without internet access).
For the DS line, the DSi and 3DS models are useful because they have different browsers. Older DS and DS Lite models require a cartridge instead of a pre-installed or downloadable browser, so it’s likely that there are far fewer people who view web pages with their help.
A large TV screen does not mean better quality. The text can be “pixel” and hard to read, especially when the content of the browser is scaled. Despite the fact that television screens are usually larger than desktop monitors, viewers sit farther away from them, which makes them seem smaller.
On PS3, there is a NetFront browser, based on WebKit. Its width is fixed and narrower than the TV screen.
The joystick moves the cursor and scrolls through the page. L1 (in the upper left corner) is the return button, R1 (above right) is the forward button. Pressing the triangle brings up a menu of actions, such as search and bookmarks, and the D-Pad allows the cursor to focus on links.
Multiple windows can be opened using L3 (pressing the left stick), and scrolling through using L2 and R2 (bottom left and right buttons).
Browser support :
HTML5 support: 68/500 ( html5test.com )
CSS3 Support: 38% ( css3test.com )
Wii has an Opera 9 browser with a 800px width (the height varies depending on the screen). The console, used as a laser pointer, vibrates when you hover over a link. Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen and clicking on the “trigger” scrolls the page. The + and - buttons scale the page. Pressing button 1 adds the site to your favorites; 2 shows the page version without markup styles.
After a few minutes of typing and trying to get right on the link, your arm gets tired. It is convenient to perform such actions only if the links are large enough. If the site has many small clickable regions and they are close to each other, navigation becomes a problem.
Often the site will start downloading, “break” and immediately return to the main console screen without any warning or error.
Browser support :
HTML5 support: Could not start
CSS3 test: Failed to run
You the second part will be considered portable consoles and console phones. And in conclusion, the author of the review will tell us what to do now with all this knowledge)
We found an article about the adaptation of sites for game consoles, and thought that it would be interesting for many of you, and even useful for some. The material is quite voluminous, we will publish its translation in two parts, and the original is here .
According to data from 2010 and 2011, more than 1/8 of Internet users in the UK, USA and France and one of four American teenagers use game consoles to access the Internet.
')
And this is not news - it was possible to access the Internet through the console back in 1997 with the Game.com submission, which allowed users to download their results by connecting a modem, as well as checking email and viewing websites if they had a special Internet cartridge.
Today, all three major gaming consoles (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii) have Internet access. Of these, however, only the Xbox 360 does not have an official browser, although Microsoft has already announced the launch of IE9 for consoles. And some companies have already started experimenting with design for consoles. For example, Google in 2007 launched the Wii Reader version, which is now suitable for all TV consoles.
Add to this also portable consoles with browsers, such as the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS lines - and now we have a 15-year history of game consoles of various sizes and formats with Internet access. Nevertheless, very little is said about browsers in game consoles today.
Web navigation using various gaming consoles
Modern consoles can offer only a small selection of browsers to use, but this does not mean that they completely ignore them. After all, “we cannot predict future behavior based on the sad experience of the present,” says Jason Grigsby.
As more and more console manufacturers offer Internet-compatible devices and smart TVs continue to enter the market, now is the time to think about how our sites will adapt to these conditions. To do this, you need to study the possibilities of new devices.
Who uses browsers in game consoles?
Game TV consoles are not just for gamers. They are now being developed and marketed, complemented by many features, such as Blu-ray or access to Netflix. Some consoles also have applications for Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and Foursquare, so there is every chance that a user can visit your site using one of them.
According to a Pew Internet study, 80% of 12–17 American teenagers have a gaming console, and half of them also own a portable gadget. Pocket consoles are most popular among junior teenagers - they are played by 2 out of 3 teenagers aged 12-13 years.
If we talk about adults, the Pew survey shows that men are more likely to acquire game consoles, while women prefer portable consoles.
In the UK, young people aged 16-24 are more likely to choose consoles, and 20% of them use websites to visit them. Among children aged 5-15 years, 5% go online using the console more often than from any other device. In fact, this age group prefers to surf the Internet more than others through the console, rather than a mobile phone or tablet.
Among all age groups, game consoles are more popular as devices for surfing the web, unlike tablets. Perhaps this is because they are more common.
In short, all categories of people use browsers in consoles for various reasons. In families that own a computer, the console can be a convenient additional way to surf the web if there is competition for traditional devices. Pocket consoles are also popular among parents who do not want to give their child an expensive smartphone. Nintendo DS is especially popular with younger students, and in some schools it is even used in lessons .
In the past, we made the mistake of assuming that mobile phone users will solve simple tasks. But, according to thousands of eBay visitors who buy cars weekly via mobile phones, some users of console browsers are now ready to perform the tasks that we refer to as “advanced”. For example, log in to the bank via PS3.
Testing console browsers
Even if you do not have the opportunity to check your sites for compatibility with each console, it is still useful to keep in mind their existence and their features to make sites accessible to more users.
Let's look at three main types of consoles:
- TV set-top boxes like the Nintendo Wii, Sony PS and Microsoft Xbox 360.
- pocket consoles like sony psp and nintendo ds
- console phones, designed as a phone, but having gaming buttons (as opposed to consoles with a phone function).
Due to the fact that the community testing sites arise throughout the world , we can get an idea about each type of consoles, and especially about the most functional ones.
If we talk about consoles for TV, then, for example, Nintendo Wii has a motion controller, which is useful for testing site navigation. The same applies to the release of the new Wii U, which will have a touch screen on the controller, allowing you to interact with the links on the screen. Sony's PS3 is also useful for testing the convenience of navigation with a regular game controller, while the Xbox 360 will become important for testing with the device only after IE9 is released for it.
The two most popular series of portable consoles are the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. The latest portable console from Sony - PS Vita, which has an additional model with 3G, and can also be used as a controller for the PS3. Sony's older portable Internet consoles are the PSP-1000, PSP-2000, PSP-3000 and PSP Go (the younger series of the PSP-E1000 were without internet access).
For the DS line, the DSi and 3DS models are useful because they have different browsers. Older DS and DS Lite models require a cartridge instead of a pre-installed or downloadable browser, so it’s likely that there are far fewer people who view web pages with their help.
Testing TV Consoles
A large TV screen does not mean better quality. The text can be “pixel” and hard to read, especially when the content of the browser is scaled. Despite the fact that television screens are usually larger than desktop monitors, viewers sit farther away from them, which makes them seem smaller.
SONY PLAYSTATION 3
On PS3, there is a NetFront browser, based on WebKit. Its width is fixed and narrower than the TV screen.
The joystick moves the cursor and scrolls through the page. L1 (in the upper left corner) is the return button, R1 (above right) is the forward button. Pressing the triangle brings up a menu of actions, such as search and bookmarks, and the D-Pad allows the cursor to focus on links.
Multiple windows can be opened using L3 (pressing the left stick), and scrolling through using L2 and R2 (bottom left and right buttons).
Browser support :
HTML5 support: 68/500 ( html5test.com )
CSS3 Support: 38% ( css3test.com )
NINTENDO WII
Wii has an Opera 9 browser with a 800px width (the height varies depending on the screen). The console, used as a laser pointer, vibrates when you hover over a link. Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen and clicking on the “trigger” scrolls the page. The + and - buttons scale the page. Pressing button 1 adds the site to your favorites; 2 shows the page version without markup styles.
After a few minutes of typing and trying to get right on the link, your arm gets tired. It is convenient to perform such actions only if the links are large enough. If the site has many small clickable regions and they are close to each other, navigation becomes a problem.
Often the site will start downloading, “break” and immediately return to the main console screen without any warning or error.
Browser support :
HTML5 support: Could not start
CSS3 test: Failed to run
You the second part will be considered portable consoles and console phones. And in conclusion, the author of the review will tell us what to do now with all this knowledge)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/162855/
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