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Real World Gadget, Gaming Possibilities

chromecastI recently got a little gadget I was looking forward to, the Google Chromecast. It’s a handy little widget that allows you to stream video and images via WiFi from your computer, Android tablet or phone, to your TV. I’m not here to sell you on it, let Google take care of that! However I am here to tell you of the gaming possibilities I see.

There are lots of people out there using projector and flats screen TVs for mapping during their gaming, and while I love the idea, I have not fully embraced it, for various reasons, including expense and transportability of the hardware  necessary. However most places you go will have a TV and WiFi…

You could take a Chromecast with you, set it up with the local WiFi and voilà! The TV is a map… Of course it has to be a Hi-Def TV and there is the set up process, but if you get one just for the game room, problem solved.

Recently some of my players have missed games and have joined us via Skype, but combat using miniatures and a map was a hurdle. With something like Chromecast I could use Roll20 to create the map and the long-distance player would see the map of his or her computer, while the face to face players see the map on a television. Any browser based map can be shared with your players, even a Google Drive drawing, as simple as that. If you’re looking forward to buy new games and play online, see at Unplugged Gaming which has various options.

I run all my games from a laptop now, so integrating this tool into my game would be fairly simple. I have not tried this yet, but I plan to as soon as I can…

Have you seen the Chromecast, and do you see any gaming possibilities for it? Are there any similar tools out there you already used and I missed? Let me know…

Some pictures so you get an idea… (Sorry for the quality, not the best lighting!

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Sunglar

Welcome, reader; thanks for taking the time to discover who I am! My name is Roberto, although I usually go by Sunglar online. I am a longtime tabletop RPG player, primarily a GM for the better part of that time; some will say that’s because of my love of telling a good story, others because I’m a control freak, but that’s debatable. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean with a small but active gaming community. I’ve played RPGs for almost 40 years, and for most of that time, I played D&D in all its permutations, including Pathfinder and D&D 5th edition. Other games our regular gaming group plays include Mutants & Masterminds, Castles & Crusades, Savage Worlds, Stars Without Number, Alien, and more. I have played many games through the years and plan to play many more. I am a compulsive homebrewer and rarely play a campaign I have not created myself. You can follow me on social media as Sunglar, and I’m regularly active on Facebook where you can find me posting regularly in the Puerto Rico Role Players group. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

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Bill Olander

Thanks for the screen shots. I’ve been looking at getting it but have been holding off because as of right now it only works with the Chromebook pixl and my main personal computer is one of the Samsung Chromebooks.
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