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Futursu · Nov 15, 2017

So I recently bought a Chromebook (an Acer 15, 2017 model) for non-gaming use. I decided to see what it's gaming capabilities were, and was pretty surprised to see that it could install a whole bunch of Android games from my existing library that were optimized for tablets.

I connected my Switch pro controller via Bluetooth and that worked great. My model is also touchscreen so that helped raise the compatibility for other games that didn't support the controller. Fired up Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions and it plays amazingly well. I tested Asphalt 8 (there was a promo for free unlocks for buying the Chromebook) and that looked and played pretty good too on the 15.6 inch 1080p screen. I tried a few other games briefly and didn't experience any issues although I've read about a few hiccups on some games loading on Chromebooks.

All this to say that the new Chromebooks are basically big Android tablets with attached keyboards that typically have a bit more horsepower in them than most phones. Something I thought wouldn't see any gaming use is now a pretty awesome lightweight gaming setup, so I thought I'd share my experience.

Spukc · Nov 15, 2017

Now imagine what amazing things you can do on a windows 10 tablet like the surface pro

cwistofu · Nov 15, 2017

Bully on my Shield Tablet is fantastic with a controller

RoboFu · Nov 15, 2017

Alwaysed like chrome books. Always felt companies were not doing them justice pumping out the cheapest hardware the could.

blitz64 · Nov 15, 2017

I thought chromebook was just a browser. How do you install the games? through the beta appstore? do you have a link to where one can buy your model of chromebook?

BibiMaghoo · Nov 15, 2017

I feel like this is not surprising because those android games are built to run on the lowest possible spec. If you were playing non android games (as I foolishly assumed with the title) then I would be amazed and rightly so.

Futursu · Nov 15, 2017

blitz64 said:
I thought chromebook was just a browser. How do you install the games? through the beta appstore? do you have a link to where one can buy your model of chromebook?

The newest Chromebook models have access to the Android Play Store, so installing them is identical to how they're installed on an Android device.

This is the one I bought. Again, I wasn't really looking at "gaming performance" but my requirements and reason for buying this particular one was the 1920x1080 resolution and the touch screen. I also didn't want to pay $999 or more for Google's own offering.

BibiMaghoo said:
I feel like this is not surprising because those android games are built to run on the lowest possible spec. If you were playing non android games (as I foolishly assumed with the title) then I would be amazed and rightly so.

Sorry I wasn't trying to be click-baity with the title I just couldn't fit all the relevant info in.

I wasn't really impressed that the specifications were high enough on the laptop to play these games, but more that from a software standpoint it was even possible. The number of Android APIs they're either implementing or are emulating here to get everything to work like it does is pretty incredible.

bevishead · Nov 15, 2017

Yup, i have to agree. I've had an android tablet for the last 7 or so years. My current Dell Android tablet has gotten old and slow. I'm disappointed to see that most new android tablets are less than 10.1 inches and have very low end processors. A lot of android tablet makers have jumped ship. I recently started looking at chromebooks because they can now run android apps. With this ability to go into tablet mode, chromebooks scratch my large screen mobile gaming itch. The specs are nice too with fast ARM processors and even some Intel M3s. These are perfect for playing gmes, media watching, and productivity.

Spukc said:
Now imagine what amazing things you can do on a windows 10 tablet like the surface pro

Yeah I have a Lenovo Win 10 tablet and the windows 10 app store is still severely lacking compared to android play store.

BibiMaghoo · Nov 15, 2017

Futursu said:
Sorry I wasn't trying to be click-baity with the title I just couldn't fit all the relevant info in.

I wasn't really impressed that the specifications were high enough on the laptop to play these games, but more that from a software standpoint it was even possible. The number of Android APIs they're either implementing or are emulating here to get everything to work like it does is pretty incredible.

It was my poor assumption. The device you link to has this GPU listed, which as you can see is capable of running some older games on low settings, a couple like the Sims 4 at >60fps. So actually it is not bad at all for what it is. If it ran windows with the same resource consumption as Chrome OS you could play loads of indie games on it.

Greatest Ever · Nov 15, 2017

Oh Android gaming? Sure.

kingbean · Nov 15, 2017

I've got a medium spec'd hp chrome book and it runs emulators and YouTube well. Thus it is a success.

Glad you're happy with yours op.

Taliban Stan · Nov 15, 2017

Ahh, I thought you had Steam up and running or something.

Spukc · Nov 15, 2017

bevishead said:
Yup, i have to agree. I've had an android tablet for the last 7 or so years. My current Dell Android tablet has gotten old and slow. I'm disappointed to see that most new android tablets are less than 10.1 inches and have very low end processors. A lot of android tablet makers have jumped ship. I recently started looking at chromebooks because they can now run android apps. With this ability to go into tablet mode, chromebooks scratch my large screen mobile gaming itch. The specs are nice too with fast ARM processors and even some Intel M3s. These are perfect for playing gmes, media watching, and productivity.

Yeah I have a Lenovo Win 10 tablet and the windows 10 app store is still severely lacking compared to android play store.

Bluestacks

Futursu · Nov 15, 2017

Spukc said:
Bluestacks

At this point you're about as helpful as the people who show up in the NES Classic threads and recommend getting a Rasberry Pi.

If you look at a similarly priced laptop with Windows 10, you're looking at having essentially the same components. A slightly bigger HD and a slight bump to the Intel integrated graphics with a slightly higher cost but it's the closest compatible I could find from the same vendor in the same size / screen resolution category.

I have a hard time believing that this machine running Windows 10 on 4GB of RAM is going to do anything mind-blowing. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that Bluestacks (emulated Android environment) is going to run these applications better than the "native" Android support that the Chromebook has. I would even be surprised to see benchmarks indicating that something like emulated SNES or PSP games run better on the Windows box over their Chrome OS / Android counterparts.

I will concede that having access to Steam and Window's libraries of available games definitely gives you more variety, especially if you're already heavily invested into those systems. At the end of the day, it's all about finding what works best for you.

Night.Ninja · Nov 15, 2017

this is a troll thread lol

I came in expecting op to be playing pubg or rocket league not some mobile phones games lol

crazyprac · Nov 15, 2017

Night.Ninja said:
this is a troll thread lol

I came in expecting op to be playing pubg or rocket league not some mobile phones games lol

How is it a troll thread? "Gaming" encompasses a lot. So for him, having the ability to play games on a device he presumed wouldn't be able to, is great. Different perspectives.

I myself never worried about gaming on the go until recently. I was surprised what I could actually run some steam games on my old ass MacBook Air.

Spukc · Nov 15, 2017

Futursu said:
At this point you're about as helpful as the people who show up in the NES Classic threads and recommend getting a Rasberry Pi.

If you look at a similarly priced laptop with Windows 10, you're looking at having essentially the same components. A slightly bigger HD and a slight bump to the Intel integrated graphics with a slightly higher cost but it's the closest compatible I could find from the same vendor in the same size / screen resolution category.

I have a hard time believing that this machine running Windows 10 on 4GB of RAM is going to do anything mind-blowing. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that Bluestacks (emulated Android environment) is going to run these applications better than the "native" Android support that the Chromebook has. I would even be surprised to see benchmarks indicating that something like emulated SNES or PSP games run better on the Windows box over their Chrome OS / Android counterparts.

I will concede that having access to Steam and Window's libraries of available games definitely gives you more variety, especially if you're already heavily invested into those systems. At the end of the day, it's all about finding what works best for you.

Look up surface pro gaming. Hell google gpd win

Futursu · Nov 15, 2017

Spukc said:
Look up surface pro gaming. Hell google gpd win

One of these products costs twice as much as my Chromebook did on the low end - the Surface Pro can run over $1,000. The GPD Win is cool and all and in a similar price range, but doesn't meet my productivity and non-gaming needs. Again it's all about what works best for you as an individual - everyone's gaming habits, needs, and budget will be different.

Spukc · Nov 15, 2017

Futursu said:
One of these products costs twice as much as my Chromebook did on the low end - the Surface Pro can run over $1,000. The GPD Win is cool and all and in a similar price range, but doesn't meet my productivity and non-gaming needs. Again it's all about what works best for you as an individual - everyone's gaming habits, needs, and budget will be different.

Thats cute now check up prices of surface pro 1 and 2
Why do people always have this urge to buy the latest.
Surface pro 1 goes for 300.
And let me tell you that thing is a beast

Diablo 3 starcraft 2 overwatch WOW all emulators inc gamecube. Heck even wii! Even brand new games that intel hd4000 thing is amazing.

You can even tweak the throttle on the model 1

Still using my as i get a kick out of seeying what modern games this puppy can run.

Not saying your chromebook is trash but there is so much more out there

SMOK3Y · Nov 15, 2017

Spukc said:
Thats cute now check up prices of surface pro 1 and 2
Why do people always have this urge to buy the latest.
Surface pro 1 goes for 300.
And let me tell you that thing is a beast

Diablo 3 starcraft 2 overwatch WOW all emulators inc gamecube. Heck even wii! Even brand new games that intel hd4000 thing is amazing.

You can even tweak the throttle on the model 1

Still using my as i get a kick out of seeying what modern games this puppy can run.

Not saying your chromebook is trash but there is so much more out there

You really are a tosser

BibiMaghoo · Nov 15, 2017

Spukc said:
Diablo 3 starcraft 2 overwatch WOW all emulators inc gamecube. Heck even wii! Even brand new games that intel hd4000 thing is amazing.

It's better than the chromebook but no, in this context it is garbage. Starcraft 2 and D3 on lowest settings for sure, you can have that. Overwatch? It would be sub 30fps on the lowest settings. It is below the minimum spec requirements for the game. Recent games? No, not at all. You can buy a laptop for £300 with an i3 that outperforms it now. You are way overselling it.

Spukc · Nov 15, 2017

BibiMaghoo said:
It's better than the chromebook but no, in this context it is garbage. Starcraft 2 and D3 on lowest settings for sure, you can have that. Overwatch? It would be sub 30fps on the lowest settings. It is below the minimum spec requirements for the game. Recent games? No, not at all. You can buy a laptop for £300 with an i3 that outperforms it now. You are way overselling it.

Just an example what windows 10 can do.
Not saying its the bestbuy atm.

Overwatch does run steady at 30fps on surface model 1 tho. I think you have several youtube channels based around surface gaming.

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