Being a gamertag/friendcode site, I thought it would be useful to look at how the consoles represent themselves.
Nintendo firstly goes with a site that is in keeping with their current mantra - simple, clean and white. Much like the Wii is all about the gaming, intentional or not, the brightly coloured images that represent the gaming catalogue stand out a mile and really attract the eye. In this respect, it really is about the gaming. I think this is clever.
The core colours of silver/white and neon light blue all go well together, and the ability to target important areas with a flash of the blue makes these imporant links etc easy to recognise.
Information never seems overloaded, there seems to be ample white space and I think this targets thes non-gaming audience perfectly, perhaps the gaming audience too (they don't want to read, they want to play!) whilst still being able to maintain an interest of like from me, a Nintendo fanboy.
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Xbox too seems to recognise the importance of dominating images, but this time focusing on the gamers. Using an image that fills perhaps 75-80% of the screen really means they can't do anything else but pay attention. One of the key Xbox selling points is it's successful online network, Xbox Live and so this again seems a straightforward, even idiot proof choice.
On clicking through to the games section a flow animation comprising of large, impacting images of their software again instantly draws the eye. Sure there is content there should you want to read it but I am finding that visuals play a more important part - everything comes attached with an image!
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Moving onto the Playstation site, they intertwine the two premises of games, and gamers by using large coloured themed headers to promote their games which often feature the logo and then shots of players having a blast. Interestingly, when the Flash header changes, so too does the outer background colour, the body of the page. This little touch gives the whole screen a more conducive, thematic feel. I like and think this works really well.
Unfortunately, the altering themes are not transferred across the rest of the site. I can understand the reasons - load times, irritation. Yet even choosing one of those themes is better than what we see elsewhere in the site.Whereas Xbox and Wii were light coloured affairs, the Playstation site (at times, due to the changing exterior) seems to go for a darker look.
The greys aren't light as with Xbox, they are much duller and in fact do feel a little depressive. Of the three, this site seems the more traditional in keeping with web values. The content boxes use black text on white backing, with red links that are never indistinguishable. I think of all three, this one could have some more work done on it so to make it more alike to that of the PS3. Lush, tonal blacks would have worked well.
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Overall, the use of suave, sophisticated gradients and rich, vibrant images seems to be the apt thing to do in gaming sites. Noticeably though, whereas the neon light blue of Wii really helped content stand out, the lime green that Xbox use isn't as successful in comparison. Sure you see it, but it's harder to read in certain places.
One useful thing I noticed is that each bit of information has it's own sectioned and titled box across the three sites. This makes the information seem more manageable, as the self contained information is sectioned within it's own area and these are all easy to determine.
Furthermore, top nav bars were used, not left hand ones. This allowed for more content in the main area of the page, not hindered by a side bar.
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