I tried using the Google TV Streamer for gaming, and it was awful

The Google TV Streamer is one among the finest and most stunning Google merchandise launched this yr. It’s Google’s first non-Chromecast streaming product (the Nexus Q doesn’t rely), and it incorporates options you don’t discover in lots of different streamers, together with entry to Google Home controls and working as a Thread border router. During my Google TV Streamer assessment, I fell in love with how speedy, easy, and highly effective the machine is.

One factor the streamer doesn’t explicitly do is function as a gaming machine. However, it runs on the Android TV platform, which means it no less than has the functionality of each on-device gaming and recreation streaming too. This, after all, begets the query: Is the Google TV Streamer any good for gaming?

The headline of this text provides away the reply. Let me break down my expertise with using the Google TV Streamer for gaming so you’ll be able to see how unhealthy issues actually are.

To get issues began, I grabbed my trusty 8bitdo SN30 Pro Plus controller, particularly as a result of it can function in three completely different modes: D-input (a legacy enter protocol that works very effectively in Android), X-input (mimicking an Xbox controller), and Switch (mimicking a Nintendo Switch Pro controller). Theoretically, the Google TV Streamer ought to help all three modes since Android has natively supported all three enter protocols since Android 10. In follow, although, that was not the case.

I began first in Switch mode as a result of the SN30 Pro Plus’ face buttons are in the Japanese configuration (A on the proper, B on the backside, and so forth.). However, I couldn’t get the controller to attach reliably on this mode. The streamer noticed the controller as an out there connection possibility however refused to hook up with it. So that was a bust.

Next, I tried the X-input mode. This linked OK, however the Google TV software program didn’t acknowledge it as an out there controller. This is complicated, so let me elaborate. I might join the controller to the underlying Android TV working system simply effective, however when you pulled up video games inside the Google TV pores and skin (which exists on prime of Android TV, much like Samsung’s One UI on Galaxy smartphones), it wouldn’t let me play them as a result of it stated there was no controller linked. So that was a bust, too.

Ultimately, switching to D-input was the solely mode that each linked to Android TV and was acknowledged inside Google TV. As such, for those who do need to attempt to use the Google TV Streamer as a gaming machine, I extremely suggest making certain you might have a controller that helps D-input. The SN30 Pro Plus is an older controller that isn’t made anymore, however the newer 8bitdo Pro 2 ($49 at Amazon) presents the similar performance and is available in numerous enjoyable colours, so I would suggest that.

With my controller linked, I might use it to navigate round the Google TV interface instead of the Google TV Streamer’s Bluetooth distant. Right away, I seen one thing was amiss as using the controller to maneuver round was noticeably slower and jankier than using the distant. I famous that as a doable downside for gaming and moved on.

First, I wanted some Android video games to play. When you open the Play Store on the Google TV Streamer, there’s a piece known as “Games” that provides you a curated choice of titles that work effectively with Android TV. However, the listing of video games right here is small, and they aren’t organized very effectively. For instance, you’ll be able to’t simply discover free Android video games, nor can you discover video games which are paid however priced at a sure degree. After getting pissed off with this, I simply used my telephone. I discovered that Asphalt 8 is free and has Android TV help, so I put in it by using the drop-down menu subsequent to the “Install” button to push it to the Google TV Streamer.

Within a couple of minutes, I had the recreation up and working. It instantly labored with my controller — no configuration wanted. However, the body charges had been uneven. This is most probably as a result of the MediaTek MT8696 SoC powering the {hardware}, which isn’t a high-end piece of equipment. Regardless, it labored.

What didn’t work (or, no less than, didn’t work effectively) was my controller. As I feared, there was notable latency between when I hit the button and when my automotive reacted to it. I determined I ought to attempt one other, much less resource-intensive recreation to see if there was a distinction there, and landed on Double Dragon Trilogy. Unfortunately, this recreation had the similar downside: I’d hit the button for punching, and my character would throw the punch with a substantial delay. This downside made fast-paced video games like Double Dragon and Asphalt 8 troublesome to get pleasure from.

Thankfully, different recreation genres aren’t affected fairly as a lot by this problem, reminiscent of JRPGs like the implausible Final Fantasy III. However, you can as an alternative choose to emulate the authentic NES model of that recreation, too, which brings us to the subsequent trial.

Let me begin by explaining one thing that got here up a couple of occasions throughout my preliminary assessment of the Google TV Streamer. There is a solitary USB-C port on the machine, and Google informed us that it was solely used for delivering energy to the streamer. After the assessment embargo lifted, although, folks stated that this lone USB-C port could possibly be used for storage, too, for those who join a powered USB-C hub to it. We did our personal testing with this, and it seems that is form of true, form of not. Yes, some powered USB-C hubs will work, however some received’t, and there doesn’t seem like any rhyme or purpose as to which of them work and which of them don’t. Also, for the Google TV Streamer to see your linked storage, it have to be formatted in exFAT, not NTFS, which isn’t perfect. In different phrases, though customers can add expandable storage to the streamer, it may be very clear that Google had zero curiosity in making it simple.

I point out this right here as a result of getting your recreation ROMs onto the Google TV Streamer so you’ll be able to play them in an emulation app isn’t simple with out expandable storage. Even for those who use an Android TV-supported internet browser to obtain ROMs to the streamer itself, Google eliminated the native file explorer inside the Android TV working system. This occurred again with the launch of Android TV 12, and I am at a loss to elucidate why. Regardless, the lack of a local file explorer causes issues as the emulators are trying for your ROMs in the system however can’t discover them as a result of, effectively, there isn’t any file explorer. Even putting in a file explorer from the Play Store doesn’t repair this.

In the finish, my workaround was to open the ROM immediately. The Android system then requested me which app to make use of to open it, and the solely emulator I put in that appeared on this listing was Snes9x EX+. This allowed me to fireplace up Super Mario World with out problem. It seemed nice on the massive display screen, particularly when I switched on a CRT overlay to make it look extra like it would have again in the 90s.

However, do not forget that controller latency downside? Hoo boy, it was even worse right here. Getting Mario to leap when I wished him to was mainly not possible, making the best-ever platforming recreation a frustratingly unplayable expertise.

I tried different emulators, too, however some don’t help installations on Android TV units (Dolphin, for instance), whereas others merely wouldn’t open a ROM due to the file explorer downside (Lemuroid, for instance).

At this level, I was too pissed off to proceed. Even if I might hack collectively a technique to get a big selection of emulators and ROMs working effectively sufficient on the Google TV Streamer, the controller latency would stay. The entire time I was doing this, I thought to myself that if I hooked just about any of the finest Android telephones to the TV, I would have a greater emulation system than this.

The solely factor left now was to attempt streaming some video games.

My most popular technique to recreation is on PC, so I have a reasonably respectable rig for that. Because of this, I opted to run Moonlight for this recreation streaming take a look at. If you’re not conscious of Moonlight, it’s an incredible free and open-source service that permits you to play your PC video games from anyplace, assuming these video games are put in on a linked PC. Its setup process is a bit convoluted, however when you get it going, it works nice.

I acquired this all arrange on the Google TV Streamer and, surprisingly, discovered that this was the finest gaming expertise I’ve had to this point. I streamed Horizon Forbidden West, and the visuals, gameplay, and sound high quality had been all nice. There was some slight latency with the controller, however it wasn’t almost as unhealthy as all the different video games I had tried up up to now. Even in a fast-paced recreation like HFW, the latency was brief sufficient that I might get pleasure from myself. If I needed to guess, streaming video from my PC left the streamer free to course of my button presses a bit faster than when working Android video games or emulating even outdated titles like Super Mario World.

After a irritating afternoon attempting to get the Google TV Streamer to be a gaming machine, I gave up. It’s clear that this machine is just not going to be anybody’s most popular technique to get pleasure from video games on their tv. Unless you’ll be able to reside with the controller latency points whereas concurrently accepting that emulation is actually not an possibility, this isn’t the gaming machine you’re trying for.

Honestly, the best different could be to make use of your telephone. A variety of Android telephones, significantly newer flagship fashions, help DisplayPort, so that you simply want a USB-C-to-HDMI cable, and increase: your telephone is now a gaming console of kinds. This permits you to play an enormous vary of video games — native, emulated, or streamed — with stable body charges and broad controller help.

Of course, using your telephone won’t ever prime the comfort of a streaming machine completely hooked up to your tv. If that’s what you need, then your subsequent finest guess could be to put money into the dearer NVIDIA Shield TV Pro ($199 at Amazon). You’ll have a greater expertise throughout the board with this, thanks to raised controller help, a way more highly effective processor, and a number of USB ports for immediately attaching storage.

I need to shut this out by saying I nonetheless suppose the Google TV Streamer is superb — simply not for gaming. As a typical media streamer with some specialised sensible house tips, you’ll be able to’t do significantly better than this, particularly for the $100 value. Maybe if Google launches a follow-up in a couple of years, it will probably be higher for gaming. Until then, seize this to observe films and TV, however skip it for video games.