Q-waves’ TV streaming gear isn’t just for slinging video from your laptop to your flatscreen. It’s perfect for gaming too, without the hassle, expense and endless software updates of a next-generation console. And we don’t just mean a few blasts of Minesweeper: we’re talking first person shooters and blockbuster titles. Using Q-waves’ simple USB wireless networking set up, our guide will show you how to take your favourite games from your computer and play them on your telly, without the need for yet another set top box cluttering up your living room.
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Set up
You’ll first need to grab a Q-Waves Wireless USB AV Kit, a much cheaper, smaller set up than any home console. It takes just minutes to install from CD, and will work on any Windows 7, Vista or XP laptop: once that’s done your computer will handle all the wireless networking automatically and seamlessly. All you need to do is plug the dongle in to the PC, the receiver into an HDMI port on the back of your telly, and watch your desktop appear in front of you. Then when you’re ready, fire up a game and see it pop up in fullscreen on your TV.
Ditch the keyboard
There’s no need to perch on the couch with a keyboard balanced on your knees. Pick up a USB gamepad, and you can replace any console once and for all, lean back and blast your way through a new game with dual thumbsticks, just like a PS3 or an Xbox 360, but via the magic of TV streaming instead. Top quality pads are available online for well under a tenner, and even offer vibration feedback, replicating the console experience completely. The only difference with Q-waves’ kit is that when it’s time to head out, you can take the laptop with you and carry on playing after a simple pause.
Expand your library
You don’t just have to play Games For Windows titles this way. Q-waves’ wireless networking tech slings the screen to your TV, so there’s nothing stopping you from firing up any emulator you like and merging all the consoles from yesteryear you owned – so long as you own the original titles. And if you install the free XBMC media centre software, you can browse through all your games with a clean and easy to use design, far back from the screen and in the comfort of your armchair.
Take it further
If you’re looking for something a little less frantic than a Call Of Duty multiplayer fragging session, the same Q-waves Wireless USB AV Kit will let you relax with online video on your big screen instead, straight from your sofa. You could fire up BBC iPlayer of course, but there are plenty more vast libraries of free, high quality movies available on the web too, and we’ve got the best video sites for them rounded up in our guide. And should you need to get some work done in between catching up on all those Corrie episodes, it’ll even have your lowly netbook doubling up as a desktop machine with a much larger screen.
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