Nintendo has revealed that the Wii U will come with web-browsing functionality, via a Netfront Browser.
The browser will be able to run either on your TV or on the Gamepad screen, and will support single-touch screen functionality (multi-touch won’t be supported).
The browsing experience itself is pretty limited – you won’t be able to download or upload pictures of videos (sorry Instagram fanatics), and plug-ins also won’t be supported, such as flash. This means live streams and other media will be a no go.
However, the browser does support HTML 5, and has posted some impressive benchmarks, beating out current consoles and IE 10 on a PC.
AAC codecs will be supported for sound, as well as the video formats H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC Video) and MP4, among others.
One nifty feature is the ability to multi-task the browser with games, so according to Nintendo you will be able to “pause a game, launch the browser to search for tips on the game you’re playing, and then re-enter the game right where you left off”. But i know MyGaming readers aren’t the type to resort to walkthroughs.
The Wii U has US release date of November 18th, but only November 30th in Europe, which means us South Africans will have to wait a little longer before we can be browsing on our Gamepads.
Source: CVG
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I think it’s a pretty relevant article – the Xbox 360 just got a browser after being on the market for years.