Mobile Games Available to Play on PC?

[wolfdeer]

Google Play Games Beta: a new downloadable extension that allows you to play mobile games on your PC. As a mobile gamer, this sounds awesome. Not exactly sure how it works, but it definitely sounds like something to look into!

https://play.google.com/googleplayg...ZsUylQLDYx8JvEuvBWBoCvKQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Arantor]

Between Bluestacks and Windows Subsystem for Android, this has been getting easier and easier for a while.

 

[Crims]

Between Bluestacks and Windows Subsystem for Android, this has been getting easier and easier for a while.

Bluestacks is awful though.

 

[wolfdeer]

Between Bluestacks and Windows Subsystem for Android, this has been getting easier and easier for a while.

True. Personally, I'd prefer to use something like Windows subsystem or Google Play beta that's actually made by the same companies, as opposed to BlueStacks.

Fun fact: you can use Google Play beta with Windows 10, whereas Windows subsystem only works for Windows 11 and newer models.

 

[Tiffany]

My daughter and her boyfriend got me playing Fire Emblem Heroes on my cell. Thanks for the link, @wolfdeer ....indeed, worth a look!

 

[wolfdeer]

Haha, we don't blame you! You're welcome!

 

[Uncrowned]

I did love the Tencent launcher when we could DL Call of Duty Mobile on PC and connect a controller to vs the players using their touch screen. Oh the good days.

 

[wolfdeer]

Ah, whoever invented the ability to use a controller with PC is a god. I've never used it or anything because we have a console but for PC gamers it seems like heaven.

 

[Arantor]

Controllers on computers isn't that surprising; I remember that it wasn't particularly hard to wire up a Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) to an Amiga back in the day; I think the directional pins were even the same pins on the D-9 connector.

 

[Uncrowned]

I love controllers. My most significant factor in not moving to PC gaming for most of history was the poor controller support. Now it is my singular gaming platform.

 

[Crims]

I love controllers. My most significant factor in not moving to PC gaming for most of history was the poor controller support. Now it is my singular gaming platform.

Ditto, though I agree here that old consoles by comparison are better for controller - a more fun game reward.

 

[Retro]

I'm gonna be the awkward one and say I prefer a keyboard and mouse. The main reason is that it's much better for taking aim in shooters than a controller with its fixed rotation speed. I find controllers much better in other ways though, especially for driving cars.

 

[wolfdeer]

We've always had consoles so moving to a PC would definitely be an adjustment for me. I do think a lot of people prefer a PC for gaming. They're much cooler, too. LOL.

 

[Retro]

I prefer PC gaming too. I know you've seen my article below, but posting it here for those who haven't as it's relevant to this discussion given the high price of a decent gaming rig.

RTX 4090 enormously fast, enormously expensive: is building a new gaming rig worth it, or go console?

Judging from these benchmarks, the upcoming RTX 4090 is a very desirable graphics card that will breeze 4K gaming and likely not be bad at 8K either. However, there's something wrong when, at an eye watering $1600, a top end card may require a loan to buy it. Something that will be replaced with...

nerdzone.uk

 

[wolfdeer]

Yes, I have. It looks awesome.

 

[Retro]

I think you write even meaner articles and I'd love to see more!

 

[wolfdeer]

That's totally not true but I really appreciate that! I'd love to write more on here. I started one about the differences between F1 racing and Indy Car, but I haven't really gotten anywhere on that.

 

[Retro]

Thanks wolfdeer, but seriously, you know how to write. I'd be interested in that one as I watch a bit of F1.

If it helps to get over the writers' block, perhaps start a PM thread with me so we can brainstorm it? I find that sometimes the mere act of explaining something to someone helps to clarify the issue in my mind and get things moving.

 

[wolfdeer]

Thank you! Cool! I personally prefer F1 over Indy Car, even though I am American.

Yeah, that sounds good! Thanks.

 

[Arantor]

the mere act of explaining something to someone helps to clarify the issue in my mind

Also known as rubber duck debugging, or teddy bear debugging. It works very well.

I don't actually think PC gaming would necessarily be a huge adjustment to console gaming, incidentally - at least not in more recent years. The era of 'put the thing in the box and turn it on' is long since gone with the day 1 downloadable patches, such that buying from Steam is not really very different from buying from the online stores, and I believe Game Pass exists on PC (not sure, don't use it), and even PS games are making their way to PC now.

XBox controllers 'just work' on PC, it's possible to get PS controllers to work with a bit of fiddle. Heck, I've used Wiimotes with Wii emulators on a PC with no extra hardware (PC must have Bluetooth)

I will note that there is a pretty wide line between PC and mobile, if only because mobile games lean harder into the touch-first arena, though there are plenty of very successful mobile games that don't care (e.g. the average match-3 game works equally well between a finger or a mouse)

 

[Retro]

Also known as rubber duck debugging, or teddy bear debugging. It works very well.

That name cracks me up, first I've heard it.

Consoles, besides the massive hardware cost advantage, are still usually much more hassle-free to get going properly, even with all those updates. There's fewer options to set for a start which can make it run funny when set wrong.

Note, I still prefer PC gaming, but the advantages of consoles mustn't be overlooked, especially with the graphical power that they now have. Heck, even games on my PS4 still look the part and that's decade old hardware.

 

[Arantor]

That name cracks me up, first I've heard it.

Mostly because the way you practice it is to have a rubber duck or a teddy bear and explain it to them. The same process works.

As for PC vs console... I dunno - I've been gaming laptops for the last decade and I can keep up with the latest AAA games without too much difficulty, and if anything they might look better on PC than on console, but I'll concede it's not as cheap.

As for the general hassle, honestly Steam makes this a breeze - the only games I have had any trouble with on Steam are the ones that are approaching 15-20 years old for earlier versions of Windows and the packagers haven't tidied that away, but for games in that era I'd probably be looking for a GOG release anyway.

 

[Retro]

Steam indeed makes it a breeze in terms of installation and updates. I'm talking about adjusting the driver settings to make the game run at its best, as I often find that the default settings are considerably less optimal than they should be. This has improved in recent years, though.

 

[Uncrowned]

Mostly because the way you practice it is to have a rubber duck or a teddy bear and explain it to them. The same process works.

As for PC vs console... I dunno - I've been gaming laptops for the last decade and I can keep up with the latest AAA games without too much difficulty, and if anything they might look better on PC than on console, but I'll concede it's not as cheap.

As for the general hassle, honestly Steam makes this a breeze - the only games I have had any trouble with on Steam are the ones that are approaching 15-20 years old for earlier versions of Windows and the packagers haven't tidied that away, but for games in that era I'd probably be looking for a GOG release anyway.

Ya, this really helped PC gaming for me. Overall there is very little difference in how gaming feels on PC vs Console anymore. Perhaps a few extra steps get the clients and launchers set up, but once you have a setup running, it is really the same click-and-play as a console offers. Granted the big difference can be Graphics and settings, but anymore most AAA and many indie games are getting good at auto setup and stuff to remove the hassle for gamers that don't want to deal with it (plus software like Nvidia Experience).