In-Game Web Browser Round-Up 193
theodp writes "CNET takes a look at Web browsers you can run inside of the latest video games, offering mini-reviews of PlayXpert, Steam, Rogue, and Xfire. Why run these instead of your standard browser? Well, these browsers run lean and mean, play nice with full-screen apps, provide hot keys that can make them appear or disappear in an instant, and offer transparency so you can continue to play a game in full screen while chatting, reading e-mail or looking up cheat codes. So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?"
So.. the Video Game is the Computer? (Score:2)
Kind of makes sense. A friend of mine was complaining that her son spent all his free time gaming, and I told her: "he's learning the user interface of the 21st century".
So how long until video games start to offer virtual Linux consoles so I can compile and start an in-game web server to serve those in-game browsers?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Now that AIGLX lets you run any window as an OpenGL mesh and texture, it's not a stretch to map that into a surface in your game. But it would require some cooperation from the game itself, since it has to take a reasonable place in the OpenGL command pipeline unless you just want it hovering over everything.
Re:So.. the Video Game is the Computer? (Score:4, Funny)
Yep. With the way the economy is going, the user interface will be a rifle or shotgun.
Re: (Score:2)
As depicted by Doom as a tool for system administration [unm.edu]
EverQuest 2 - It's had this for a while (Score:2)
For quite some time now you've been able to bring up FireFox inside of Everquest 2 (they have the files inside a sub-dir of the EQ2 directory, so it's a "private" copy of it, not accessing what you already have installed). They mainly did it because they were overhauling their in-game support page (reporting bugs, etc) to a normal web page instead of a one-off interface window specific to the game, but I guess somebody finally had a brain and said "hey, let's just let the players use this as a regular brow
Re: (Score:2)
Tired of hitting Alt-F4? (Score:5, Funny)
These new in-game browsers are great! I used to be annoyed that I'd have to hit Alt AND F4 to switch away from my game to check my stock prices, but now with these new in-game browsers I can simply hit Shift+F4 and browse at my leisure.
This is a huge step forward in usability. I can't wait until Emacs includes a browser that can be toggled with an intuitive set of keystrokes.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
What, didn't you know? C-c M-o M-browser and you're all set. You'll need a 64-bit quad-core machine to handle it though.
Re: (Score:2)
My computer takes two whole minutes to minimize and two more to maximize, so I really like xfire browser. It even has tabs, much sooner than IE :P
Oh good. Something else to do while driving (Score:5, Insightful)
Hopefully never. People already have enough things to distract them while driving. Do they really need another one?
Re: (Score:2)
What, you don't think people will drive better if they can watch the latest porn from their favorite site on the way into work?
Re: (Score:2)
You think that's a gear stick what the guy in front of you is fingering every now and then?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I was genuinely boggled when she pulled out a nail file and started working on her nails. All the while, oblivious to the cars around her.
Re: (Score:2)
I commute long distances upstate and in NYC very often by car, here's some of the oddities I've encountered on the road:
- dozens of guys shaving with a portable electric razor while driving
- people reading books when stopped at a red light...never heard of audio books you idiots?
- people eating food...but with a plastic forks and knives out of containers at red lights
- several cab drivers drinking beer while driving...
- a guy swerving through traffic as his dog climbed under the pedals once...
But nothing to
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Sup dawg, I heard you like to browse, so I put a browser in your car so you can browse while you drive.
Did I do that right?
Re:Oh good. Something else to do while driving (Score:4, Informative)
Yo dawg, I heard you like to browse, so I put a browser in your browser so you can browse while you browse.
FTFY.
On windshields? (Score:5, Insightful)
So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?
I hope that we never see this. Not as long as there's a human steering the car. Do we really need yet ANOTHER distraction from driving? People are texting, putting on makeup, calling, eating, drinking, reading and doing too many other things than driving. Imho if a police should see you doing this they should sell your car and take your license since you're too stupid to figure out that 3000kg at 100km/h is a force to be respected.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:On windshields? (Score:4, Insightful)
I hope that we never see this. Not as long as there's a human steering the car. Do we really need yet ANOTHER distraction from driving? People are texting, putting on makeup, calling, eating, drinking, reading and doing too many other things than driving. Imho if a police should see you doing this they should sell your car and take your license since you're too stupid to figure out that 3000kg at 100km/h is a force to be respected.
The funny thing is that people are far more likely to "pull over and chat" in an FPS (where they can respawn) than in a real car (where they can't).
Re:On windshields? (Score:4, Interesting)
So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?
3000kg at 100km/h is a force to be respected.
3000kg * 28 m/s isn't a force, it's a momentum. ;)
Now, when you hit something that makes you stop in .5 seconds...
3000kg * -56 m/s^2 = -168000 N Now THAT'S a force to be respected. *G*
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
American SUV (H3): 2223kg
Cargo Load: 300kg
Family of 5 Fat americans: 5*90kg *G*
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?
I hope that we never see this. Not as long as there's a human steering the car. Do we really need yet ANOTHER distraction from driving? People are texting, putting on makeup, calling, eating, drinking, reading and doing too many other things than driving. Imho if a police should see you doing this they should sell your car and take your license since you're too stupid to figure out that 3000kg at 100km/h is a force to be
Re: (Score:2)
Because real life is a single elimination scenario where you can't respawn.
Sure you can. You've just got to believe in re-incarnation for that to work. You'd have to redo all of school. That's enough punishment/penalty for just about anything right there.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You're fine doing all those things, until one day you discover something you're not fine with, or some jackass pulls out in front of you and your reaction time is slower because you're distracted. Then it's all fun and games.
Still, I guess some people never make it beyond toddlers. You've just gotta touch that hotplate before you figure out it's dangerous.
Re:On windshields? (Score:5, Insightful)
So what do you think would happen if a ball rolled out into the street in front of your car, followed by a laughing child?
You were a complete asshole when you drove like that. I hope you've wised up, but it sounds like you still think your masterful driving expertise allows you to control things outside your card.
Re: (Score:2)
So what do you think would happen if a ball rolled out into the street in front of your car, followed by a laughing child?
I'd be wondering why a child was playing on the freeway in the middle of nowhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, perhaps we should pray that this kind of thing happens more often. The blonde in the SUV takes minor scratches, maybe some glass in her face in some kind of poetic justice for her outrageous vanity. You, on the other hand, can be left in
Re: (Score:2)
Only partly right. First you'd kill the child. Then you'd wonder why she was playing on the freeway. Then you'd blame the child for the "accident", because clearly from your point of view, she's the one at fault.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about OP, but a laughing deer would definitely freak me out.
Re: (Score:2)
So what do you think would happen if a ball rolled out into the street in front of your car, followed by a laughing child?
Spladder bonus
To be honest, when I started to read that sentence I was thinking about meatballs with the spaghetti
I'm sorry, I'm taking my tasteless jokes somewhere else now
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The speed limit is set low in this country because we believe it is more important that a driver can parallel park that is that a driver know and obey the rules of the road. It's a trade off. I don't think people in the US would tolerate the German system of driver licensing and highway enforcement even if speed limits were done the same. They get to drive fast, we get to eat entire meals in the car, and drive in the rain without the headlights being on.
On the other hand, I have been passed on the way to DF
Re: (Score:2)
You, sir, are a cunt.
I may have been trolled, but I've seen enough of this kind of shitty driving in real life--including the horrible consequences such as dead children who won't be having an open casket funeral--and enough 100% insane jerks trying to justify their terrible driving that I doubt it.
Re: (Score:2)
This, quite frankly, is exactly the kind of behavior and attitude that causes the majority of traffic accidents in the US.
Now, I'm not afraid to admit, I drive fast sometimes. But I always try to pay attention and be aware of my surroundings, whether I'm driving slow or fast. The few times I've been caught speeding it's been because I was too intent on watching my surroundings and didn't have my eyes glued to my speedometer (in fact, that's the main reason I hate speed limits - because watching the speedome
Re: (Score:2)
it's a matter of judgement on whether or not the area was safe and if you had the ability to do it.
If I remember the statistics correctly, 80% of people think that they drive better than they actually do ("driving better" here specifically means reaction time and the general ability to evade accidents).
Re: (Score:2)
So wait... Are you saying that it should be OK for you to drive however you want because it's your car? That the government fascists are imposing on you for dictating that you actually pay attention when in control of 2000 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic moving 60-70 miles per hour? I do believe that this might be the worst personal freedom argument I've seen.
Re: (Score:2)
So because it's your car you could, say, drive on my lawn? On the sidewalks? Hint: it may be your car, but they aren't your roads. You might call them "your" roads, because your tax/toll money went toward them, but they're not your private property like your car is. They're a common good. So it's perfectly legitimate for the public to appoint a government that limits behavior on them. There's a more abstract common good, however, than just the physical road surface: it's the ability for people to get
Re: (Score:2)
The government has a responsibility to limit potential harm, not just direct harm. As sibling points out, driving while distracted significantly increases the risk that you will harm someone. No, you won't get in an accident every time you text while driving, but texting while driving significantly increases you risk of an accident. Since that accident will likely cause harm to someone else (either financial or medical), the government tries to limit the risky behavior. There is no similar law about tex
Needs Adblock (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't like it. (Score:5, Insightful)
All it does is encourage people to multi-task more. And that is not a good thing. Our brain isn't good at multi-tasking (in terms of focusing on different things), we end up doing each job half-assed. And have a big switch when we go from one to the other. It is like a drug though because we use so much extra brain power multi-tasking we feel like we are being more productive however you are better off doing job 1 then job 2 in order. With this happening more we are training our kids not to sit down and solve a problem but jump back and forth until until we fail at all of them.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
All it does is encourage people to multi-task more. And that is not a good thing. Our brain isn't good at multi-tasking (in terms of focusing on different things), we end up doing each job half-assed.
The more you multi-task, the better you get at it - at minimum, you get better at combining the tasks that you regularly combine.
With this happening more we are training our kids not to sit down and solve a problem but jump back and forth until until we fail at all of them.
Growing up with a slow modem and a multitasking computer (1200 bps BSR modem, Amiga 500) I definitely learned to multitask. I find that I am better at it than my parents. Perhaps it's a good thing. Besides, there will always be those among us who enter a nerdly fugue state and tune out the rest of existence. And isn't Autism on the rise? Perhaps humanity is segmenting :)
Re: (Score:2)
Multitasking is not downloading a Program for 1 hour and doing something else while it is loading. (It is computer multitasking but not human multi-tasking). I remember when I installed Slackware My order for each module was well planned out I get the Core then Network first Install though then I boot into Slackware then Get the Games. Install the games module. Then I download the rest while I pay lasteroids.
Re: (Score:2)
I remember when I installed Slackware My order for each module was well planned out I get the Core then Network first Install though then I boot into Slackware then Get the Games.
You're multitasking right now, aren't you?
Re: (Score:2)
It's a good thing if the people multi-tasking are my opponents. ;-)
Re:I don't like it. (Score:4, Funny)
Speak for yourself. I'm excellent at multi
Item # Price
15876 39.99
15887 45.02
16986 25.36
12547 44.78
13698 87.54
15478 21.66
11224 12.74
1447 36.85
Some of the above prices aren't matching what we were given by the vendor. Can you verify these for me by the end of the day?
Thanks.
tasking. You obviously haven't had enough experience with it. Keep practicing and you'll be able to do 3-4 things at the same time without any major problems.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Or a great way to kill off the people. As the guy who can focus will rule the world while the rest die off from not being able to make a living.
Steam? (Score:2, Interesting)
Steam seems to still use Internet Explorer for some things. I removed IE with nLite and can easily see where Steam tries to use it. TF2 also has major problems and it forces the game to minimise and presents a dialogue asking me if I want to download an html file, it then takes 20 seconds to get back into the game. I wish there was some way to stop TF2 from making any attempts to use a browser, but I haven't found one yet.
Anyone gave security a thought? (Score:2)
Malware authors already found games as a new attack vector. Do we really have to give them an interface they're already very familiar with?
Re: (Score:2)
THIS
A thousand times THIS!
Totally with you. The world wide web is a terribly hostile place at this point. We've got so many tpyo squattres (that was deliberate), and legit but hacked web sites delivering malware/spyware, and so many idiots who really think some Nigerian interior minister is seeking their help that I predict EPIC FAILURE.
That is all.
I seldom alt-tab (Score:4, Interesting)
Usually I have all my chat windows etc open on second monitor where I can see them. Second old 17" LCD does the trick.
Roadkill takes on a whole new meaning... (Score:3, Insightful)
"...So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?"
Are you serious? We can't even keep people from crashing at 80MPH and killing innocent people because they're too busy texting on a 2x2" screen on a fucking cell phone, and you want to slap a full-blown YouTube/Facebook/Myspace portal on the windshield?
I'll tell you how much longer. When we have a foolproof autopilot system for our cars.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll tell you how much longer. When we have a foolproof autopilot system for our cars.
There's no such thing, but rail is pretty good.
We went the wrong way in this country when we let the auto companies dismantle the rail system (to the minimum level that would allow for their purposes.)
Re: (Score:2)
Another way (Score:2)
too bad linux games kinda aren't there, but I used to do this with quake4..
Just run the game in its own X11 session. Then switch between them using and .
DeathRace 2012 (Score:5, Funny)
"So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?"
just as soon as I mount those rockets, .50cal, smoke screen, oil slick, caltrop seeder, and armor on my truck.
Oh, and I need to mod the controls to let me handle steering and acceleration/defense devices with a joystick and the aiming/offense with a mouse.
I can imagine how this technology originated (Score:4, Funny)
Level pally...watch porn...level pally...watch porn...
hmmm...
EUREKA!
What? (Score:3, Informative)
Steam (and probably the others too) just uses the drop-in ActiveX Internet Explorer component. It's not mean and it's definitely not lean.
If they used Gecko or Webkit it would be a different matter.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh yeah it looks like they tested it using a site with Flash and then complained when the website performance was horrible. Even the Chrome team said they can't do anything about poor Flash performance (relatively speaking to the rest of Chrome).
Re: (Score:2)
But what would we call it...? (Score:2)
And maybe someday we will have games that run in resizable areas that take less than the full screen, so that one can run any arbitrary application (or even applications!) in the remaining space. Wow! Wouldn't that be something!
Re: (Score:2)
Do you have a death wish? (Score:2)
So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?"
Hopefully not before we get the option in our car to hit ESC and choose LOAD > This_Morning.sav after being in a fatal car accident.
What about EVE-Online's in-game browser? (Score:2)
I wonder why they didn't test EVE's IGB (In-Game Browser).
It sucks, but still...
Looking up cheat codes in the car. (Score:4, Funny)
looking up cheat codes. So how much longer before we see a variation of this on our real-world car windshields?
What's the cheat code for enabling infinite fuel in my car?
Window up, window down, window up, window down, turn signal left, turn signal right, turn signal left, turn signal right, AC, emergency brake, ignition.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're just looking for something to look up info there is no need for a browser in WoW.
Install the Questhelper and lightheaded addons and you're all set.
Questhelper points you to the quest locations and lightheaded parses all comments from wowhead on quests in a ingame addon.
Re:Thottbot (Score:4, Informative)
If you're just looking for something to look up info there is no need for a browser in WoW.
Install the Questhelper and lightheaded addons and you're all set.
Questhelper points you to the quest locations and lightheaded parses all comments from wowhead on quests in a ingame addon.
Questhelper has too large of a performance impact for me in my 3.8 GHz C2D with 4 gigs of ram. I'm glad you mention wowhead, which the GP should be using instead of thotbot. I think a good solution is cartographer and playing the game in windowed (but maximized) mode. In windowed mode, alt tabbing out is instant instead of incurring the 2 second delay of full screen. Of course, windowed mode incurs a performance penalty too, but it's less than QH and it can easily be turned off when not in need of constant reference material.
Re:Thottbot (Score:4, Informative)
Questhelper has too large of a performance impact for me in my 3.8 GHz C2D with 4 gigs of ram.
Sir...I call bullshit. I can run Questhelper fine on a crappy Compaq laptop running Vista on 1 GB of RAM.
Although TourGuide (w/ the WoW-Pro guides) is better, and I use that now anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
But does Questhelper let you browse online "art" collections during the boring bits?
I'd rather not (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, I find that trying Questhelper has pretty much killed all my interest in WoW.
Now I do appreciate having Thottbot or such, for when I got lost or couldn't figure out the directions after trying for half an hour. But just following the cube makes me feel like a bot could do the same thing, and probably better. There is no need for any more complex thought above "click on that guy because Questhelper says so" or "head that way because Questhelper says so." There's nothing left to discover (technically QH discovered it already for you), nothing worth remembering (QH already tells you whether you need to go east or west, so no point in even trying to remember where the quest told you to go), you don't even need to look at the major landmarks (if it's behind that hill, QH will tell you so.)
And you can tell. I know people who play exclusively by Questhelper (heck, mom does) and frankly, they don't seem to actually use any brainpower in playing the game. Often they won't even remember what they just did or where some major landmark is, because really there was no more thought involved than obediently doing what the bot told them to. They've run along some road a dozen times, but ask them to show you where it is, and you find that they couldn't find their own arse with a map and a compass, but without QH. Or you see them forgetting they had to use some unique item, and some whole group trying to take down some elite boss the hard way instead, because none of them bothered even reading the quest text and QH doesn't tell them, "dude, use the shreder".
Now if that still keeps you entertained, good for you, and I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. But it's just not for me. For me it makes the whole thing boring as heck, and takes away any kind of sense of achievement too.
Re:I'd rather not (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, I find that trying Questhelper has pretty much killed all my interest in WoW.
Really??
*goes to download Questhelper*
Dear Lord, please let this work...
Re: (Score:2)
That's because quest helper is for vet players who have done 90% of the low-level content umpteen bazillion times and just want to get their alt leveled. And it's just not possible to remember every detail of every quest no matter how many times you do it. But at the same time, there's also no way they're going to be in any way new and interesting, so you just want to get them done as soon as possible. But imagining using it to level my first character, I agree with you 100%. I probably would never have hit
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, too many do use it from their first character, though.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly, which I agree is a sad state of affairs. When I started playing, no such mods existed. You could find most everything on thottbot already thanks to beta testers, but being told where something is and then finding it is a big big difference from having a bot holding your hand every step of the way. There's very few sections of Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor that I didn't become quite familiar with.
Re: (Score:2)
I seriously doubt that.
People with their first character don't even know how to turn with a mouse, let alone install addons.
Re: (Score:2)
Totally disagree.
I spent a whole year and three months levelling my first character to 70 all on my own, no guildies, no friends, just myself.
Afterwards for my alts I used Questhelper. I had already done those quests and I did not feel like wandering around for hours trying to remember each location, mob and detail. Questhelper enabled me to level up those alts quickly.
Besides, the best part of the game is the end-game raiding, and Questhelper has nothing to do with that.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not saying that WoW is some brain-gym kind of game. Far from it.
But you still have to exercise at least _some_ (minimal) brain cells, e.g., to read the quest descriptions, use the map, and figure out stuff like "oh, it said go south at the crossroads" or "wait, these are not the kinds of satyrs the quest wanted." Not IQ-test grade by any means, but there's _some_ brain activity involved.
With QH, I find that I hardly need any brain activity
Re: (Score:2)
Then quit playing. It is obviously not fun for you anymore and something you regard as a chore. Remember, this is a game and games are supposed to be entertaining. (This is exactly why I don't play any MMORPG anymore. They are all like this to me.)
Re: (Score:2)
Hilarious. When you rate a players skill at the game it is usually in pvp or a raid setting. QH will effect none of your abilities to perform in this department. Lore... Wow lore is a joke, its a hodge podge of popular culture (i like this) with a bunch of stuff tacked on from warcraft 3. There really was no lore in war1 or 2... just some vague generic stories in the instruction manual. Pretty much all the chars were added in from war3. If you've played war3, you know the story.
Moreover, not until northrend
Re: (Score:2)
This stuff happened in WoW BEFORE QuestHelper even existed. People are idiots. It's part of playing an MMO.
Re: (Score:2)
Somehow my parents heard about it from a guild-mate before either of them had even hit level 20.
I had no way to know in advance that it would kill the game for me. I mean, if I knew the future... forget WoW, I'd contact Randi about it and get a cool million dollars ;)
The killer app (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, I think the best thing to do with these in-game browsers is to play in-browser games.
Hopefully, those games will include browsers, too, so we don't get bored.
Re: (Score:2)
It's just a new version of the old adage: "All programs expand until they can read email", only now it's "browse the web".
But I'd never considered the possible recursive nature of the adage until your post.
Are there any in-browser web browsers?
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. Or there were. Wiiminder [wiiminder.com] was a site that you could go to through your Wii's Opera browser to add 'tabbed browsing'. However, I don't think it's up anymore.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yo dawg, I heard you like web browsers...
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Eve Online's IGB is a joke.
What's worse is, the joke suck!
Re: (Score:2)
This can cause a large performance hit for some games/computers though. On my 2 YO computer, running UT3 with the steam overlay cost me ~25% of my FPS without it.
Re: (Score:2)
Just think of it this way: it is a locked down version of Internet Explorer.
Re: (Score:2)
Isn't the point that the admin could use IE as a malware vector? For example, force the player's computer to open http://www.malware.com/ieexploit.html [malware.com], which then uses one of the many IE bugs to install a trojan? This also applies to the MOTD feature. Because Mani is a server-side feature, you are forced to trust the admin not to do this.
Even if you can trust the admin (and trusting him not to crack your computer is not the same as trusting him not to cheat), you can't necessarily be sure that the server i
Re: (Score:2)
Sign me up, I'd use it, I'd even reactivate my WoW account.
Re:IRC? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Do people still do ASLs?
Re: (Score:2)
I take the time on my boring drive to work to cut my toenails.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, considering that a full-screen browser display on the windshield of your car would be distracting enough to require the car to steer itself, I'm gonna go with the self-steering car as being the closest to reality. Not to mention the fact that there's places where such technology has already been successfully used, [timesonline.co.uk] on existing highways. [physorg.com] Never heard of a full-screen HUD-on-the-windshield web browser though.
So, you were implying what exactly?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)