When it was announced that the Google Nexus 7 was going to have the nVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a multi-core high-performance GPU, I had a very simple thought go through my mind: mmmmmmmm Games …
Now that I have the Nexus 7, I was able to put it through the gaming paces – and within a few hours I noted performance good enough that I decided to do a separate look at several games rather than just embed it into my overall review.
Here are the games I looked at along with links to Google Play:
– ShadowGun THD
– FieldRunners
– Avadon The Black Fortress
– Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation
– Grand Theft Auto III
– CrossWorlds: the Flying City
With each game I show loading times, graphics, gameplay and make some comments based on what I am experiencing and how the game ‘feels’ compared to other platforms (none of these are ‘exclusives’). Check out the video:
As noted in the video there are some good and bad elements about the gaming performance. The optimized ShadowGun showed the best graphics and performance, but suffered a bit of audio stuttering. GTA III was also quite solid, and once I managed to get Modern Combat 3 running it also worked well. Fieldrunners and Crossworlds I expected to perform well – and they did. Avadon was rather disappointing, and honestly performed WORSE than the Kindle Fire. It is a reminder that all things being equal … all things are NEVER equal!
One thing I didn’t mention in the video but HAVE discussed before is that I have always thought that a solid 7″ tablet running iOS or Android would totally destroy my need for any PSP or DS style system. I tend to use my iPad like a ‘gaming laptop’, but with the Nexus 7 I have found the first Android tablet worthy of being a full-time gaming replacement!
Of course, even THAT needs a caveat – games such as Mass Effect: Infiltrator and several GameLoft games are not compatible with the Nexus 7 … yet. All I can hope is that the popularity of the device lead developers to tweak their games to work on the tablet. Because if something with this much power and buzz can’t galvanize developers then I don’t think anything will.
If you are looking for a solid gaming device for $200, the Nexus 7 is a worthy alternative to the DS or PSP.