Microsoft has ruled out any web browsing functionality for the Xbox 360, saying browsing on the TV is a “poor experience” and rubbishing the PS3 for offering it.
Quoth Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Microsoft:
“No, we really believe that the web browsing experience on TV is a poor one, and the real magic is to take those web experiences and optimise them for the living room. That’s what we did with Netflix. So, sure, you can go on the PS3 and go to Facebook and and try to navigate, but it’s an absolute nightmare.
No disrespect, there’s things I love about the PS3, but that’s not one of them. We want the online experience to be fun and optimised for the living room, and we’ll continue to add more applications to get more richness.”
With Microsoft having already given the Xbox 360 limited compatibility with certain sites, such as Facebook, despite a “poor experience” on a TV screen, just whether this is a believable explanation is rather open to question.
It seems quite possible that Microsoft’s historical dislike for the open Internet is surfacing once again, and the company simply wishes to restrict users to selected sites, for reasons it would rather keep to itself.
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They have a point. The PS3 browser tends to freeze quite often (or at least mine does) and it's not as fast as a PC and even lack some basic functions. All that is overshadowed by the fact that this is Microsoft talking and they have to sell Windows and other PC related junk.
another reason is that Microsoft is AMERICAN, and sony is JAPANESE, you have 2 totally differnt demographic.
Americans are all about games, while asians in general want practicality and choice/selection. Thats why the PS3 sells WAY better than here in North America.
"No, we really believe that the web browsing experience on TV is a poor"
lulz i web browse on my tv lulz using my PC lulz
you all should be lucky that microsoft did not shove internet explorer into xbox
Maybe it is just because they still haven't gotten their first web browser right. Good luck on IE9 MS.
its fucking true. browsing the web on a TV is a fucking nightmare. Everything is so tiny and you have to stick ur face right up against the screen to see anything.
Web pages are meant to be read at a distance of maybe 2 feet which is much closer than the average distance between a persons couch and TV.
Browsing the web on PS3 isn't terrible at all. When things are too small, you can press R3 and then zoom In & Out with the L2 and R2 buttons. I can read the screen fine even 6 feet away from my screen.
It's funny how the fanboys who are pissing all over an extra feature that one system has over the other have obviously not even tried it.
Nobody is forcing use to use the feature, it's nice that it's there, All your arguments are moot.
Its a shit feature. Deal with it.
I have a better soulutin. Just make a fucking mouse for xbox!! Is there any fucking reason NOT to make an optional gadget - a mouse, available for Xbox users for better internet and 1st person shooter experiences? Oh, I forgot there is one: Fucking Retardness
Sure you can do it, I see it done on a Computer on a HDTV screen and even on a TV the only diffrenct is screen settings need to be adjusted.
I have my computer and tv i use for my consoles in the same room, so i dont think i would ever use the web browser feature on a console ever, but I can see were this would be useful to certain ppl who have to share 1 computer
Well, as a company that keeps pushing new features onto their system to make it the application device for the whole family, what is the importance of browsing? Then you guys forget they of course have Twitter and Facebook as apps which the PS3 could do from day one. If they can devout that many resources to Twitter and Facebook functionality and announce it at huge expo's as a ground breaking features that makes their device more family oriented, it makes this argument against browsing idiotic.
Then you have to remember many families don't have their computer (single or second) in their den/living room with their 40+ inch LCD. So this goes directly against their attempts to make the X360 more family friendly and the device for the entire family.
Finally it was like with the PS3 vs Hulu, many PS3 owners were using their PS3's to watch Hulu until Microsoft bought out Hulu and mysteriously said it didn't work when it was nothing more than a tag in their code to disable the PS3's browser. There are more people who don't have a spare computer to attach to their tv's and would like to have content, especially video on those big TV's.
This in the end is typical Microsoft business/marketing and they've been doing wish/wash like this since the early 90's. There probably is another reason they won't do it, even down to simple control of the system to even fear of exploits.
The funny thing is that Im using the PS3 web browser to type this comment. USB keyboards and mouse work too. Micro$oft is just being lazy. Its the Wii that has a horrible browser,but at least they got one anyways .
Duh, Microsoft wants you to buy a PC to browse the Internet.
^this one. Buy a PC so you can buy Windows at a higher markup and profit margin than an xbox.
The resolution on a full HD TV is larger than my monitor for crying out loud, how would that make it worse?
I have a keyboard and mouse hooked up to my PS3 and the web browsing isn't bad at all.
Bad market sense?
one word... fail.
lame excuse for not wanting to MAKE it a good experience. not that i'd expect anything different from XBOX. glad i have a ps3.
The browser that comes with the PS3 does suck but you can install firefox on every version but the slim which is not a sucky browser.
MS needs to allow third party apps on the 360 and stop trying to kill linux on the console.
Most of the posts I've seen one this are one of:
1. "Sony's PS/3 browser sucks", with the false implication that ALL console-based browsers must suck;
2. "I don't need/want a console-based web browser, therefore, you should not want one either";
3. "Buy a netbook if you want web browsing, ya damn cheapskate!"
A console is nothing but a computer pretending to be stupid (limited by the manufacturer to perform only certain functions). My rebuttals:
1. If a manufacturer made a decent web browser, then it wouldn't suck.
2. Just because a console-based web browser might be of no use/interest to you, doesn't mean I don't want one.
3. I'm poor, and have to make most efficient use of my money. Fuck off, you (relatively) rich snob! I *am* a cheapskate, because I'm poor!
As to Microsoft's comment about poor web browsing experience on a TV, that depends on the TV and the web browser. Sure, it'll look crappy on the 12-inch black-and-white TV I used with my Commodore VIC-20, but that went to Goodwill decades ago. Many people have either 20+" CRT televisions, or flat-panel TV/monitors which work just fine.
And, bad software can make web browsing on ANY display "poor".
(Posting this from my used fat PS/3 - Ubuntu/XMB dual-boot system.)
This is quite the hypocritical statement since these are the same people who brought us Web TV.
I would love a web browser option, so as long as people keep pestering MS for the option, then they will be forced to take that option seriously.
That said, browsing online with the PS3 is a total disaster. The poor thing can't handle all the pop-up ads and multimedia functions and the browser itself runs on pitifully small RAM. Even for the PS3, it could do better.
Yes they could do better as firefox on the PS3 actually does not suck.
I blame the fact a complete moron is heading the PS3 product planning team.
I don't play much flash and SWFdec handles youtube etc.
Removing linux from the slim was a moronic move as it kept a lot of would be hackers from becoming crackers.
I'll admit I cracked the shit out of my Wii and 360.
I wanted a media center on the Wii and a better one on the Xbox and I did load firefox onto it.
Whats funny as hell I put linux on mine and installed a browser so it's not a technical reason.
Though MS probably tried to port IE8 and used an X86 to PPC translation layer so they did not have to port every lib and could use standard flash vs flashlite or SWFdec which of course gave expected results.
I'm almost ashamed to say this, but the guys at MS are right here.
Internet browsing on my PS3 is a novel experience, but frustrating compared to the experience of doing it in my computer.
Internet browsing on the PS3 at the moment is there just to show that it can do it.
Come on Microsoft, Poor "television" browsing experinced, I lol'd but seriously, I know a lot of folks who ethier play thier PS3 and use thier laptop/ desktop at the same time, or just simplied have their computer on another output channel on thier tv. But Sony does got them beat with that. Bad choice of words Bill Gates, bad choice.
I own a PS3 80GB Phat and a Xbox360 Arcade Modded+banned in order to play "cheap" games, or MS exclusive ones. Also a PSP 2000 GEN CFW that I use to play Project Diva and Disgaea 1, and a NDS Lite that I use to play VNDS.
I would like to try a cheap Wii for some Nintendo and RPG games.
I Have spent most of my free time playing Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, and WipeOut Fury on the PS3. And I mean, 150 hours around per game.
On the other hand, I have spend playing around 100 hours of Tales of Vesperia ENG on the 360, and 30 hours of NFS Shift. Obviously, I can't connect online (nor will I PAY for a gold Live subscription, I am happy playing WipeOut Fury free @ PSN for that).
Finally, I have spent 150 hours+++ playing Dragon's Age on PC.
What a poor excuse. I never had a poor experience when I owned my ps3.
http://www.webtv.com/pc/
That's all that has to be said. Mr. Greenberg should probably think about what products his company sells before opening his mouth and spewing F.U.D.
Hmmm I wonder why the PS3 is Sold out nation-wide in America AND Japan...Sony Can't keep up with production because of it's popularity and features
...who the fuck needs a web browser for a console? Everyone has a PC now, it's in every household now. Try harder Sony dick sucker, try posting about shit that matters.
You're a douche.
I use my PS3 Browser a lot because it's actually pretty good.
that last line is more like "adding more applications to get rich".....
Its true, have you seen how shtty the ps3 browser is? ActiveX controls aside, you cant full screen flash you have to "zoom" it in. Not to mention no ad blocking software and other crap.
Just chalk up the 'web browsing' on the ps3 another failed item that ppl who only own a ps3 try to use as a trump card over the x360. PS3 web browsing is about as useless as "HOME" and the XMB... dont fcking get me started on the Playstation store. Horrible confusing piece of trash.... I JUST WANT TO FIND DLC FOR VALKYRIA CHRONICLES! Not shtty music for rock band.
And the ps3 keyboard interface is just ass horrible. It can't even play HULU. The whole thing screams fail. And to that kid that had his "computer crash" and had no other way to access the internet is like a 1 in million chance of that happening. If you don't have a smartphone or apple handheld by now, you're probably not old enough to work and therefore your opinion is moot since you still live with your parents.
I will agree that web browsing on the TV sucks ass, but some people use it. I have a PS3, but I only bought it to play PS3 games. The fact that it is a DVD player, Blu-Ray player, web browser, and cheese grater are irrelevent to me. But I'm not everyone else, and some people use all those other functions. Microsoft is just being the typical cheap evil bastard company it is by ripping on other systems for having functions it doesn't.
Having web browser will likely be a waste of xbl development resources, as well as, memory resources on the 360 OS. It's not so much the added functionality but at what cost. If they implemented a shitty browser people would just complain about that as well, but developing a specific web interface would be costly and wasteful if only a small minority of the users cared about the option.
Good. I would much rather Microsoft put effort into features I would like than a shitty web browser that I'm never going to use.
Makes sense. I don't think anyone bothers with web browsing on a tv.
Why surf the web on your game system? You can't download or save anything.Stop crying people, use your pc to surf the web!
Have you guys ever played any of Zone's hentai flashes on a 50-inch, 1080p HD TV screen with the PS3..?
It is awesome!!!
You might also be interested to play some loli flash games with your PS3...
It's totally worth it...They look like they are actually right in front of you because of the TV size...
Leave it to Microsoft, the innovators of half written software and updates to turn your computer into a expensive paper weigh to tell people whats good or not. More than likely they made that statement because they can't figure out how to incorporate a good browse instead of the bastard child know as explorer.
I personally find the PS3's internet browser very useful. Sure, it isn't the best internet browsing experience, but being able to quit my game for a few moments and look up some advice for a difficult boss battle (something I did often for Final Fantasy XIII) is very convenient.
Mysterious Voice: "Yet another reason why the Xbox fails. Can they do no right?"
But Mysterious Voice, Windows is a Microsoft function that allows the browsing of the internet, and that's on a PC. Don't you always say that PCs are the master race?
Mysterious Voice: "Not with Windows."
Yeah but you can plug a mouse and keyboard into the PS3 making his argument entirely moot.
Microsoft has shown their hand again. They are in the works of making a "FaceBook" like webinterfaze that works with the Xbox360, I Can See It!.. maybe..
So Facebooks will be come MS-Facebook and not in just China either...
micro$oft dont like internet because it's pirate heaven
immagine utorrent on xbox360!
Me thinks awesome youtube + TV is nice, other than that I don't use my PS3 to browse much of anything else, I have a laptop that goes with me around the house...
“No, we really believe that the web browsing experience on TV is a poor one, and the real magic is to take those web experiences and optimise them for the living room. That’s what we did with Netflix. So, sure, you can go on the PS3 and go to Facebook and and try to navigate, but it’s an absolute nightmare."
They lose the opportunity to fix the internet browsing problems and the opportunity of win the sympathy of those who want internet in the tv. LAZY BASTARDS!
Maybe they're just afraid of viruses that can't be fixed easy. Something about similar OS language... :-P
I have both and can see where he's coming from. Typically console browsers are crude but (semi) effective. It's nowhere near using a desktop browser of your choice. On the other hand, it is handy to just have a browser onboard sometimes, even if it's not the latest and greatest.