Nvidia's Tegra 3 Optimizations: THD Android Games, Tested

Features
By Pierre Dandumont
published

Nvidia continues to encourage game developers to add Tegra-only details to their Android titles. Is Tegra 3 the killer SoC for Android gaming? How do Tegra-optimized games look compared to the same titles on iOS? Is it all just a bunch of marketing hype?

Beach Buggy Blitz And Dead Trigger

Beach Buggy Blitz

First up is Beach Buggy Blitz, a fairly standard Mario Kart-style racing game. Beach Buggy Blitz offers a single Android version with Tegra 3 optimizations for Nvidia-powered devices. The game ran on all four of our test devices without issue.

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iPhone 5

We noticed several graphical embellishments on the Tegra 3-packing HTC One X+. One example is the more realistic headlight effects in darker areas of certain tracks, such as caves. Another example is the droplets that appear on the screen when driving through water. The screen shots don’t do these effects any justice, but the features did improve our overall sense of immersion in the game. Beach Buggy Blitz is visually identical on the iPhone 5, Nexus 4, and Samsung Galaxy S III.

Dead Trigger

Dead Trigger may very well be the best example of a Tegra 3-optimized game. This zombie-infested first-person shooter‘s lone Android package adapts to the GPU. We had no problems running Dead Trigger on any of our four test devices.

From the second Dead Trigger starts, the visual differences are glaring. Particle effects, water effects, lighting, smoke, and additional details are all visible on the HTC One X+. But while Nvidia has the exclusive on those effects under Android, Apple's hardware is also fast enough to display them all too. So, we end up with the most graphically-detailed version on the HTC One X+ and the iPhone 5. This game on the Galaxy S III and Nexus 4 is empty in comparison.

For those inclined, the additional effects can be enabled on a rooted Android smartphone, though we cannot attest to the stability or performance of the game should you do so.

Download Dead Trigger from Tom’s Guide

Pierre Dandumont
28 Comments Comment from the forums
  • aicom
    Interesting comparison. Maybe you could test if there are any differences in effects between models of the Tegra 3?
    Reply
  • darkavenger123
    Err...why bother compare with iOS?? No big deal. They should start comparing with PS VITA for some real games....hardware is useless without software....so sick of casual gaming...Angry birds runs just fine with Androids 2 years ago, doesn't need a hardware upgrade. They need to get developers to makes some real games for it or it's just pointless expensive sillicone.
    Reply
  • I own both the Nexus 4 and a Tegra 3 equiped Asus Transformer Prime. The Nexus 4 is quite a bit faster in a lot of games, especially GTA3 and Vice City. But also Dead Trigger which is supposedly optimized for Tegra runs quite badly on the Transformer Prime, the framerate is much better on the Nexus 4.
    Reply
  • gomerpile
    WTF is going on, jeez if it keep it up with the rat race of title games that have no graphics, pc gamers are all doomed. Why waste time and money on the next version of Battlefield 4 when we can develop monkey ball andriod shooters.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    Nvidia continues to encourage game developers to add Tegra-only details to their Android titles.

    Exactly what is wrong with tech today, for 30 years companies learned to embrace compatibility after the Sony Betamax failure (technically better, but priced beyond comsumer appreciation). Now everyone wants to follow Apple forgetting they too suffered from a "closed shop" for 20 years.
    Reply
  • blubbey
    Are these phones now more powerful than gen 6 consoles? Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Xbox. I would assume so.
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    I've got a Nexus 7 OCed (1.5ghz CPU, 520mhz GPU) and a stock Galaxy Note II, and I have to say that every single game you can think of in the play store runs miles better on the Note II, even the so called optimized-for-tegra titles.

    What's bothersome for me though is that some tegra optimized titles actually run on a low resolution by default on the N7 (to compensate for low memory bandwidth???) yet still play on a 30-40ish frame rate, luckily the devs have put resolution option in the setting (see Riptide, beach buggy blitz), but you'll be playing at 20-30fps if you bump it up to the max/native res.

    Another title, Horn, which is actually a Tegra exclusive using UE3, actually runs on a low res but does not provide any option to change that, and even with the low resolution, it is extremely choppy at times I can easily notice 15-20fps.

    One dev that I like is MADFINGER Games (dead trigger, shadowgun), their titles are so heavily optimized that they run at a consistent 35-45fps on my N7 and I do not notice lag nor inconsistent frame rate. still runs at constant 60fps on my Note II though...

    Meanwhile I can't think of anything that doesn't run at 60fps on my Note II, So much that wonder how much better the gpu performance is on Snapdragon S4 pro and apple A6 devices.
    Reply
  • natoco
    blubbeyAre these phones now more powerful than gen 6 consoles? Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Xbox. I would assume so.Yes, but tiny screens u put u fingers on ruin the experience of gaming, i get my old megadrive out and play or niintendo 64 for some funny simple old school games. Phones look the 'tiny' part like it but its just not the same. I bought a whole heap of games on my iphone only to put them down and never play again since the format in which u play is just not 'fun' and thats the whole point of games is it not. Oh well, consoles or pc's FTW
    Reply
  • gilgamex101
    Did anyone else notice that the Heroes Call screen shots are the EXACT same as the Soulcraft screenshots??
    Reply
  • blubbeyAre these phones now more powerful than gen 6 consoles? Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Xbox. I would assume so.
    definitely, GTAIII and Vice City were both PS2 games and the new mobile versions have upgraded textures
    Reply