With a tablet form factor and laptop internals, Microsoft's Surface Pro is capable of running more than just lightweight apps, it can play full PC games. While hardly a graphical powerhouse, its Intel HD 4000 processor is more than enough to run a generous array of games.
Despite running a full build of Windows 8, the current public release of EA's Origin software does not support the Surface Pro. Users have flocked to the company's forums with complaints of receiving an error message whenever trying to run Origin games on their Surface Pro. Fortunately, developers are already on the case but in the meantime, they're asking Surface Pro users to install a beta build of a forthcoming update to get players online sooner rather than later. If you're a Surface Pro owner, you can read more about the issue and download the updated client here. With the Origin beta installed, all you'll otherwise need to get started is roughly 10GB of available storage — which can be in short supply depending on which Surface Pro model you own.
As we mentioned, the Surface Pro is not intended to be a gaming machine, so you'll have to level your expectations accordingly. In order to maintain a solid 30 frames-per-second, Sim City's graphics settings need to be as follows:
- Resolution: 1280x720 60Hz
- Lighting: Low
- Textures: Low
- Shadows: Low
- Geometry: Low
- Animation Detail: Low
- Tilt-Shift: Less
- Anti-aliasing: Off
- V-Sync: Off
