Netbook Games List

tags: netbooks, Gaming, Acer Aspire One

This is the master list of all the games I have managed to get installed & running under my netbook, an Acer Aspire One 8.9" in onyx black, purchased December 2008.

This is not a definitive list or guarantee that any particular game will run under any particular machine. Many of the newer (3rd gen+) netbooks are capable of playing much more modern games than these, this list is for the 2nd generation netbooks, with an Intel GMA950 GPU and an Atom N270 or N280 CPU.

My netbook specs;

  • Acer Aspire One (Model # AOA150-1049)
  • 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
  • 1.5GB DDR2 533MHz[1]
  • 8.9" 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
  • 160GB 2.5" 5400RPM Western Digital Hard Drive
  • MS Windows 7[2]

1. upgraded from stock 1GB
2. upgraded from Windows XP SP3

If you've got another game to add to the list, or a question about these games? Feel free to leave a comment below.

The working games

Some of these games are stated as "installed & working", this basically means I've installed the game and it's running fine so far, but either I haven't had enough time playing it, or I haven't had enough time to do a proper write-up on it yet. The notations indicate whether the game was tested on Windows XP, Windows 7, or both.

The non-working games

  • Torchlight - awesome game, however it's totally unplayable on a 1st or 2nd gen netbook (I imagine even the ION netbooks would struggle due to the crappy Atom CPU), despite the vaunted "netbook mode".
  • Port Royale 2 - installed fine, played one game fine, now freezes at main menu.
  • Far Cry - installed fine, cutscenes OK, games plays OK when not outdoors, outdoors/jungle drops to single digit frame rates, GMA booster running at 400Mhz shows little improvement.
  • Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , game installs fine, but the Intel GMA video card is too weak and the game crashes on start.
  • Children of the Nile: Alexandria - installs fine, game always crashes after opening cutscene.

Looking for the old Netbook Gaming spreadsheet from Google Docs?
This is what I have: Netbook_Gaming.xls. It looks like the wiki page mentioned in the docs never came to fruition.

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Neal's Avatar


Well, I've tried these things and it still won't work for some reason. I think I'll try the League of Legends forums again and try and really exhaust that resource. Thanks for all the help though Matt, I'll let you know if I find the answer.
Matt's Avatar


That is rather strange as I know others that have run LoL on similar spec'd netbooks, the FPS isn't that great, but it ran. I figured the OC'ing was over-stressing it & causing it to error out. Anyways, best of luck, and definitely update here if you find the solution. Thanks!
Anonymous's Avatar


Hello! I am just wondering if GTA 4 (Grand Theft Auto 4) would work on and Acer Aspire One netbook with an itel atom 1.66GHz processor?
Thank you!
SCOTT's Avatar


I HAVE A NEW COMPUTER AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PLAY THE TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR GOLF GAME SINCE I GOT IT. I COULD PLAY ON MY OLD COMPUTER ALL THE TIME. I DON'T KNOW A WHOLE LOT ABOUT COMPUTERS BUTI GET BY AND I'M TRING TO LEARN. I'M NOT SURE BUT MY OLD ONE MIGHT HAVE BEEN BETTER OR MORE CAPABLE ,MY OLD ONE WAS AN HP 6375 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT AND MY NEW ONE IS AN HP 2000-239DX MY OLD ONE WAS USED WHEN I BOUGHT IT SO I DON'T KNOW IF I NEED TO ADD SOFTWARE OR A PROGRAM OR WHAT, BUT THE GAMES HOME PAGE COMES UP BUT WON'T LET ME PLAY CAN YOU HELP MY IGNORANT ASS ?
Shotgunfred's Avatar


I have a Toshiba NB550d-G it has:
Radeon 6310,
4GB DDR3
1Ghz AMD C-50
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
To use the full screen in gaming I use ATI GPU Scaling Fix v1.1 for Windows 7
by AgentGOD - this scales any games into fullscreen (run ad aministrator)!

I also recommend Iobit Gamebooster or Advansed System Care 5 which has the same boosting option!

Also if you run AVG Tuneup full version it'll give you a list of all the unnecessary services you have running and give them the option to turn them off permanently

SRS Audio Essentials COMPLETE will also really increase the sound quality of your netbook speakers

The scaling software works for netbooks that use ATI Catalyst not just the 6310
Matt's Avatar


Thanks for the detailed info Shotgunfred!
mridul's Avatar


i had installed gta vice city in my samsung netbook n150+ ...its was workin perfectly fr a few months.... n nw suddenly wen i click d gta play button or start d game....its askin fr inserting d gta CD !! i really dnt knw wat to do....i am worried :( plzz help me sir
mridul's Avatar


No sir,i did not update d game......i hv checked fr viruses too ....i had installed d game through a video on youtube....wid d help of daemon tools lite...suddenly while startin d game as i usually do everyday ..its surprisingly askin for insertin a disc lol...i am pretty sure i hv d full version of dat game.....
Jr_BMET's Avatar


thank you sir for this... it really helped a lot... :)
stan's Avatar


Hello! I would like to ask for Your help with a game I would really like to play on my netbook. I know I might be asking for the impossible, but is there absolutely no way to make 'Children of the Nile' run on my Dell Inspiron mini netbook? I must admit that I am not much of a gamer, but I fell in love with 'Pharaoh' years ago and I would like to try out its 'sequel' now; however, as my other laptop is old and quite unwilling to play this game, now my only hope is my netbook.. By the way, 'Children..' does the exact same on my netbook that was described in some posts above: it quits before loading the game, so nothing comes after the 'please wait' sign. Do You have any idea as to what I should do? Thank you in advance.
Matt's Avatar


Hi stan,

I tried a few different things on my netbook and it was a no-go. My best guess is the intel GMA 950 just can't handle it. It's lacking Hardware T&L, which is a "minimum" listing under CotN's requirements.

I gave up on it unfortunately.
stan's Avatar


Dear Matt!

Thank you for Your help. Well, yes, I suppose netbooks are just simply not meant for playing games, so I will give up on playing Children of the Nile for now. I have also tried 'Pharaoh with Cleopatra Expansion', which on the other hand, works pretty well, that is, except for the fact that whenever I move the mouse, the music stops (and somehow the little folks are running around on the screen like crazy). I do not see it on Your 'working games' list, but You might want to add it, at least to show some hope to the netbook gamers out there. Thank you again.

Regards,
stan
Julian's Avatar


Hey, Matt! I've just installed Black & White, run INCREDIBLY well at 800x600 with everything maxed out (except draw and detail distance, I didn't mess with those). My netbook: ASUS EEEPC 1015, Intel GMA 3150, 2GB RAM. By the way, I also have Deus Ex, but it's very choppy, that's strange, because UT99 and Clive Barker's Undying (same engine, great performance) run fine. Any ideas? 'Till next time.
Matt's Avatar


Hmmm, the Dues Ex problem could be simply the age of the game and the threading, as I think your machine is a dual-core.

Trying setting the compatibility to Win 98/ME for the game.
WandersonC's Avatar


Hey, i have a Aspire One D255, with Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz, Intel GMA 3150 256 MBs, 2 GB RAM, i can play Warcraft 3 and anothers games...So, ca i play Oblivion and Fallout 3 (Just this games of "New Generation") in the low config of low, using any "helpers" (GameBooster and 3D Analyze)?
Matt's Avatar


WandersonC,

I highly doubt you'll be able to run Oblivion or FO3 with any reasonable play-ability. The GMA 3150 does support T&L and Shaders 3.0 with the right drivers, but it's still the same basic card.

It doesn't hurt to try, install a game and set everything to low and see how it goes.
Jay's Avatar


hi MAT, i have a problem why is that when i run Command and Conquer Generals on my netbook im having a graphic problem ,the game run too slow the units are moving in a slow motion ,can i not run this game with my specs???? my specs is :

Processor: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N455 @ 1.66GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.7GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Chip type: Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
HDD : 250 GB
Current Mode: 1024 x 600 (32 bit) (60Hz)

and im running Windows 7 , does my OS affect the performance of a game????????????
sorry for my bad english..
Jay's Avatar


matt??? are you still not on ???can u pls tell me wat to do mat?? i really wana play games with my new netbook T_T can u pls tell me what games i can play with my specS? and pls tell me why am i havng a slow motion grphcs ... my specs are on the ABOVE of this post please reply asap matt Thank you ! hope you can help me ...even Gods War Online , has a rough graphics whY????? does my windows 7 ultimate matterS?im really wondering my specs arent that bad though...

pls help me matt.
Matt's Avatar


Hi Jay,

Sorry, very busy at work here.

Your specs aren't bad, especially for a netbook, but as always the Intel GMA 950 & 3150's just aren't very good for gaming.

Have you tried running the game in Windows XP compatibility mode yet?
Jay's Avatar


hi matt , i havent try Windows XP yet , ... i was expctng that my netbook can handle games like Command and Conquer Generals , even Gods War Online is lagy. But how can these guys here can play games with there netbook ? i even have almost the same specs as they've mention ...

I am jst wondering if i can play games on my netbook , I can only play plants vs zombies ROFL ...

Maybe you can help me matt, give me games that can run smooth with my Netbook, Thank you matt :D
satria96's Avatar


Hi Matt!

INTEL ATOM N570 1.66 GHZ
INTEL GMA 3150
RAM 1 GB
WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE
320 HDD
10.1" 1024x600

that is the spesification of my netbook.
can you tell me what game that run on my netbook??
thank you!
Matt's Avatar


Hi satria96,

You should have the same or better results with any of the games I've listed, plus those posted in the comments. Your CPU is much better than mine, and the video card is slightly better, though not by much.

Don't expect to play extremely modern/graphically intense games though.


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