Just recently a website launched to provide links to dozens of free HTML5 games playable on the PS4 web browser, and the same group has now launched an equivalent Wii U website to give you easy access to these games.
Similar resources existed for the Wii, in which pointer controls — for example — were supported. With this Wii U example the games should all support the GamePad, with the button inputs and touch screen typically doing the job; as the tweet shows below, all you need to do to play is visit playboxie.com on the console's web browser.
We've tried a few of the games and there are some key points to highlight. These are primitive games, and in the performance can be underwhelming — single digit framerates are a bother in some cases. High profile examples such as Cut the Rope and Doodle Jump are playable — the former is laggy but does work with the touch screen, while the latter runs far smoother if you zoom out the browser using the Select button.
There are certainly a decent number of games to try if you're looking to pass time, though iffy performance and a lack of sound shouldn't come as a surprise. We are streaming these games via a browser and paying absolutely nothing, however, so there are no complaints from us.
HTML5 is a programming option supported by the Nintendo Web Framework for formal Wii U eShop releases, of course, and that's something we've covered before and will continue to do so. These games aren't utilising the framework, however, so the fact they're running off the browser hampers performance. Yet still, free games.
If you give these a whirl then by all means share your opinions and experiences in the comments below.
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 30
Does it run smoothly?
@FishieFish "We've tried a few of the games and there are some key points to highlight. These are primitive games, and in some cases the performance is underwhelming — single digit framerates are a bother in some cases."
@FishieFish I just tried pacman, started fine and then fell to pieces and stopped registering the d-pad
I wonder if Nintendo will improve media support for the WiiU browser - wavesounds, midi and mp3 support is almost essential for most HTML5 games.
I still have games in their wrap for my Wii U, so I don't think I will even check these out, judging by Tom's impressions.
When I first saw this article in the main page, it only read "Playbo" so I clicked, wondering if there would be a Y at the end. It happened to be Playboxie!
@FishieFish @Nintenjoe64 I can confirm Pacman plays terribly so slow so very very slow.
@sinalefa lol "Playbo(y)" XD
..you and I both Are we bad people?
I'll pass. I have a tablet for shallow games, I don't need to play them on my Wii U.
What would be nice is a way to stream music from spot iffy or pandora.
@Goginho
I am pretty sure we are the first ones, but hardly the only ones!
Free games to me is a way for me to pass the time at work, not at home. Unless my boss is reading in which case I never play games at work. I still don't play these sorts of games at home though.
All in all though, thanks to Playboxie for not segregating the WiiU! This instantly makes you a better company than EA. Well done.
If I want to play a quick time-waster game on the Wii U, perhaps during an advert or something, I'll play something like Mario Picross.
Sorry, but you could already do this before the ps4 could.
I wish the 3DS browser was as good as the Wii U one !
Lol, Nintendo is in a bad spot. Some Wii U owners are complaining because they can play free games on the WIi U.
@Baum897 Hm, according to that site, the WiiU browser has better support for practical elements, but the XB1 browser has a higher overall score. Still kinda pathetic that Microsoft's Internet Explorer on XB1 can't barely win against a low-memory browser from ACCESS company (which are known to be fast, but lacking).
And sadly, there's no mp3 support from Nintendo at all, despite NetFront NX not only supporting mp3, wav, and avi, but also allowing advanced JavaScript/AJAX operation, which is kind of a given on HTML5 games to provide recources and media playback.
So Nintendo is actually blocking that for the most part - not cool.
Why doesn't the sound work? I'm looking for a technical answer, not trolling. The eShop has some nice music, I think it was even Christmas like music over the holidays. And Youtube has sound obviously. And HTML5 on the web has sound. Just seems weird, sound takes up so little bandwidth compared to video.
I'll try it out tonight, my kids are monopolizing the tv today. I owed them for the NFL playoffs.
Some of these games could be pretty fun on the gamepad if they worked better. Hopefully they improve compatibility over time.
A great feature for kids that love those kind of games but all them HTML 5 games sucks imo so I probably won't bother.
The Wii had something like that called "WiiCade" where you could play games using the Internet Browser. A lot of stinkers, but there were a few gems tucked in there.
@Kaze_Memaryu Access are perfect when it comes to stuff involving codecs. Nintendo wanted it like that. Access DNLA is basically flawless and supports absolutely everything. They should have had the graffiti input method as well it is much faster with a small amount of effort learning to use it. Only reason they don't have support for those things is because Nintendo didn't want to pay.
They even manage to get stuff right that stuff like VLC doesn't do right without messing around with the configuration. (Like working out the best type of DTS to send to an amp). Even the obscure stuff always works. Like h264 with ogg audio in mkv. Or DRM'ed (Plays for Sure) wmv which even Windows 8 / Xbox 360 / Xbone don't handle properly. (They only do Zune DRM).
cut the rope and doodle jump are the only ones that are actually good on there
It does not matter if there is no music, because i can just open up youtube on the gamepad and listen to my own music
So we get SUPER SHOVELWARE for our WiiU and it don`t even work...
This is pretty neat! Played Onslaught Defense and it wasn't bad at all. And zero Gamepad required!
Hm, it seems like Playboxie is less a site with games, and more a site with links to games.
It's not hard to Google html 5 games, there are countless ones out there, many of which will work with the gamepad well enough.
its a good idea to make more inovative wii u
Lmao! I thought it was gonna say playboy in the thumbnail!
I tried this on my PS4 its a quick little time waster if nothing more. The only thing is I couldn't get any sound.
SOOooooo... Does this happen to have N/N+?
You can find free HTML5 games on http://yodan.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/
It is a website dedicated to html5 games on Wii U.
It is developed with my Padawans to introduce them to programming, in a fun way.
For example, the game sliding numbers is a free HTML5 game for Wii U and uses the touch capabilities of the gamepad.
http://yodan.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/sliding.html
Tap here to load 30 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...