Like many of you, I play games a lot, and sometimes my 32” TV or 22” monitor just doesn’t cut it for when I want a truly immersive experience. I’ve looked at a few different solutions (VR Goggles, Full Sized Projectors, etc) and none seemed to fit the bill, because I think it is really great to go to a friend’s house, and be able to all see the action. I looked at some pico projectors and saw that this might be the key, they’re small enough to shove in a bag, yet powerful enough to be seen by a group of people in a dimly lit room.
There are lots of things you have to consider though, if this sounds like a good idea to you. What kind of games are you playing? If you want to play Battlefield 3 or the latest Call of Duty, you might need a higher end pico projector, one capable of projecting in HD. But if you’re just looking to have a good time with Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, Mario Party, or another party game, you might be able to get away with someone a lot cheaper.
I invited a few friends over once I got my first projector to try it out, I used Mario Party on the Wii and hooked it right up and had no issues, everything was clear and it was easily playable. It was great being able to look at a huge screen and still have everyone immersed and able to see what was going on.
At home I wanted to do something different, though. I wanted to be able to put my PC Games up onto my wall and see them on the big screen, it’s a much different experience from playing on a tiny 22” monitor, and it’s definitely worth it. For this I got a more powerful pico projector, and it did wonders, it was super clear and had every input for every gaming device I own.
Some of the models I tried are listed below, these models will work great for projecting games, some will obviously work better than others for some games. If you plan on playing hardcore games (Battlefield 3, Call of Duty, etc), I’d recommend sticking with a more powerful pico projector.
3M MP220 – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824227089
AAXA P4-X – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824332011
Acer K130 – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009380
Optoma PK320 – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824219125
AAXA P300 – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824332014