Having just downloaded the final release of Wii’s internet browser, I thought it was worth investigating just how good it is. And considering the buzz around Web 2.0 services in recent months, I thought they’d provide a good test.

So, I chose 15 Web 2.0 sites, taking in social networking sites like MySpace and Bebo, user generated content sites like YouTube and Vox, blogging platforms like Vox, through to whizzier services like Google Maps, Digg, Twitter and Last.fm.

For each site, I’ve given a score. 0 means it doesn’t work at all, 1 means it works with limited functionality, and 2 means it works well. Take it as read that entering text using the Wiimote is a pain in the arse, mind. Read on for all the details.

eBay (www.ebay.com)
The world’s favourite online auctions site. The homepage looks fine, it’s easy to search for items and navigate through the lists, and bidding for stuff is a cinch. A+, in eBayer parlance. 2 points.

Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)
The books behemoth is just as smooth as eBay, benefiting from the fact that it’s mainly text and pics, rather than whizzy AJAX malarkey. Slick and quick to use. 2 points.

MySpace (www.myspace.com)
How does social networking fare on the Wii? The core site is usable enough, switching you into a basic text editor to create blog posts. What about features like the music though? I was sure the embedded players wouldn’t work, but whaddya know, they do! They look a bit weird on the page, but you can play the tunes. I’ve just been on Mark Ronson’s profile listening to his album, which is up this week as an exclusive. It’s no go on the videos though, sadly. 2 points.

Bebo (www.bebo.com)
Another social network, and again, tweaking your profile to the nth degree. Music is a big factor on Bebo too, and it works just as well as MySpace – I’ve been on the Siobhan Donaghy profile (you know, Her Out Of The Sugababes) listening to tunes. Once again, videos won’t play, because the Wii’s browser doesn’t support Flash 8. Bah. 2 points.

Facebook (www.facebook.com)
It’s stolen MySpace’s zeitgeisty Web 2.0 buzz, but how does social network Facebook shape up on the Wii? Very well. It looks good, you can do all the editing and surfing you would on a PC, and because there’s no videos, it all works fine. The text is a bit small, mind. Squinty. 2 points.

YouTube (www.youtube.com)
Surely it won’t work… It does! YouTube clearly doesn’t use the latest version of Flash, so it works like a dream on the Wii, searching for vids and playing them without fuss. You can’t upload your own videos, mind. 2 points.

Flickr (www.flickr.com)
One of the biggest photo-sharing sites, and a leading light of the Web 2.0 generation. Browsing your photos (and those of friends/strangers) is no problem, and it all looks fine on-screen. However, you can’t upload new photos – the option to search for them on your computer (i.e. Wii) is greyed out when you go to it. 1 point.

Vox (www.vox.com)
Six Apart’s blogging-cum-social networking site is okay on Wii, although it’s a bit too wide for the screen, and there’s some weird-ass white space going on occasionally. Uploaded music files baffle the Wii browser, and the default body text isn’t comfortable to read on screen. It works, but it’s not perfect. 1 point.

Gmail (www.gmail.com)
I use Gmail constantly, for work and personal emails, both on my Mac and mobile phone. How does it shape up on Wii? Well, it works, but it’s not very useful. You can read emails fine, and compose new ones. But if you try and reply to someone, when you go to type, it pastes all the quoted email into the text-entry box, making you scroll laboriously back to the beginning of it to reply. Boo. 1 point.

Twitter (www.twitter.com)
The current Hot New Thing in the Web 2.0 world, Twitter is about micro-blogging – posting pithy 140-character updates on what you’re doing, and reading a feed of your friends’ doings. It works seamlessly on Wii, largely due to the fact that the service is stripped-down anyway. 2 points.

Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)
How about an RSS feed aggregator like Bloglines? It lets you keep track of stories from a bunch of blogs and websites. And it works beautifully on Wii, with its two-panel interface transferring to Nintendo’s console like a dream. I’d still love Nintendo to launch a full-blown RSS Channel, but for now this’ll do. 2 points.

Digg (www.digg.com)
Ace tech news site where stories are submitted by users, and you rate (or Digg) the ones you think are good. Again, it’s a bit too wide for the Wii browser, but looks fine on screen. You can search for stories and Digg them with no problems, although due to a lack of copy’n’paste functions, you can’t submit your own without memorising a long URL. 2 points.

del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us)
Groundbreaking social bookmarking site that lets you store your favourite sites, and check out what other people are bookmarking too. You can browse bookmarks, but you can’t install the browser plug-ins required to create your own bookmarks – although you can add new items by searching to see if anyone else has already added them. 1 point.

Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk/)
God’s own online mapping service works marvellously on Wii, just as it does on a PC or Mac. You’ll be pinpointing streets and dribbling over Satellite shots within no time. 2 points.

Last.fm (www.last.fm)
This social music service lets you listen to personalised radio streams, and find people with similar music tastes to you. Again, I was convinced this wouldn’t work, and again I had to eat my words. As I write this, my Wii is blasting out my Last.fm recommendations channel. Top stuff. 2 points.

CONCLUSION
In its final incarnation, Wii’s Opera browser performs creditably. Aside from turning its nose up at sites using Flash 8, it handles the cream of the Web 2.0 crop with ease. You’ll have problems uploading your own content though, which is why Flickr and YouTube’s scores may seem a bit harsh.

Occasional formatting flaws – the small text for example – shows there’s scope for fully Wii-ised versions of these sites, which is something the designers will hopefully get round to as the install base of Wii consoles grows. But in the meantime, Opera for Wii handles near enough everything you can throw at it.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 3:28 pm by Stuart Dredge
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