Well, bad news first - there is no such thing as a gaming laptop for a grand or less. Full stop.

But, you can do alright for that price if you make a couple sacrifices. First, don't get a full HD screen. I know you'll want one, but if you stick to 1366x768 then you don't need nearly the graphics power to produce acceptable framerates; then, you can go with a smaller and more portable laptop, since for some reason I can't understand a lot of people complain about laptops being too hard to carry around at 17 inches. Meh.

So now you're looking at 13 or 14 inch form factors (because 1366x768 looks pretty sharp on a smaller monitor). I'd say go with the 14" offerings because they're just big enough for internal optical drives. I even played Skyrim quite happily on an 11.6" ASUS laptop with an i7 processor and a board supporting 16GB RAM. You'll probably be using integrated graphics at that price point, so consider going Intel (their integrated graphics really beat up AMDs, right now) and getting a newer version of CPU that runs the HD4000 graphics; they're honestly more powerful than most gamers like to admit.

Avoid Sony, or Apple, or HP, or Dell, because the first two you'll pay too much for, and the latter two you'll deal with disappointing quality. I like ASUS and Lenovo and Acer. Look there. And be patient; if you can wait and watch for sales for a couple weeks, you'll almost always do better than if you have to get one today no matter what. You know what they say - Cheap, Good, Fast. Pick two.

I agree with the above poster on most parts, but I want to add Toshiba to the 'not good' list and +1 on Acer and ASUS. I have known owners of 3 Tosh machines (I was one once) and they all die horribly.
I've owned 4 Acer machines without troubles (one lasted 10 years of service as a Linux machine), and I know people who say really good things about ASUS machines.
Also 15" widescreens can give really good images with a decent Intel graphics. Before you buy check you can get the best graphics available now, it will be worth it in the end if this is only for gaming on.

The trying to help bit --->
If you look on Amazon you might find some really good deals floating about.
If not, Google 'Build a custom laptop' and choosing a reputable seller add up what you could buy for your price range, then check all the components to get the best bang for your buck.

A UK based company who do really good and reliable machines, but just off their front page I found this: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexIV-LE/
So you really should be able to find something like this where you are.

Choosing laptop for friend? I think you should rather choose human or animal. Laptops are not good friend from my experience.

That's unfortunate, my friends a decade ago all had good Tosh machines.

But, I definitely give a thumbs up to Asus and Lenovo in general. My Lenovo laptop is pretty good in general, or would be if not for the poor quality of Chinese power.

No problems with Dell - just know what you're getting. See if you can get into the XPS line for that amount of money - they seem to be a bit better built than the standard "Inspiron" or whatever name they use for the lower-level units. (I've had both chassis: the Inspiron worked fine, but the XPS feels sturdier.)

For an extra $50 on the budget, you can get a 1080-screen Sager with a dedicated GPU: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP6652 Too bad they don't let you 'downgrade' to an i5 to save some money; i7 seems wasted on a gaming machine.

I didn't think about linking specific models. If you'd like some specific guidance, here are a few options you might consider:

This one is below your price point, and will probably be able to run most modern games at minimum detail and low but acceptable frame rates.

This one, on the other hand, is a little outside your price range but should crush games really well - the 765M graphics ought to let you play, for example, Skyrim at high quality, Borderlands 2 at settings a little above medium, and Bioshock Infinite on medium, all without a stutter.

and [url=http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-V5-571PG-9814-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen/dp/B00AVYPP7S/ref=sr_1_24?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1376439872&sr=1-24]here, and here you have options within the price range that should play most games mostly ok (note the dedicated graphics on the 3000 series processors, and the integrated on the 4k series).

TigerDirect offerings were about the same, so I'm not linking anything from there, but it's another good place to go to look for computers and accessories.

If your friend can scrape together the extra two hundred bucks for that MSi laptop, I really think it's the best deal out of the lot, and should be able to support playing on external monitor, too. But, again, it's outside the price range, so maybe not. Completely forgot Sager. Good call.

A friend of mine grabbed an MSI of some description (GE630DX or something?) a year and a half or so ago for about 850 euros. It had decent firepower back then (I'm pretty sure it can run new games at medium-high-ish settings) and came with a rather nice three-year warranty, so that might be a manufacturer you may want to check out. Their prices seem to be on the steep side around here, though, but you do get rather a lot for your money as far as I can tell. Mind you, said friend does most of his gaming on a PS3, and mine is an exclusively desktop household, so feel free to ignore me as you will.

If your friends doesn't move the laptop a whole lot (as in, in and out of the building) one thing that I would advise on getting is either a separate keyboard or a laptop cooler (basically a tray with some fans and possibly integrated USB hub on it, can be had for twenty to fifty euros I think) for extra comfort. My hands are pretty sensitive to the heat produced by laptops of any size, which results in tiny little blisters all over my palm(s), and while coolers aren't exactly capable of miracles, they do make the difference between intolerable pain and uncomfortable sweating.

Look for a dedicated graphics card, if you can find one in your price range. Stick to as others have said, Asus, Lenovo, and don't forget about the Samsung laptops. I personally like the Sony's, but they are pricey for what you get. Indeed stay away from Dell, HP and Toshiba (also had friend's Toshiba's die horrible deaths...heat related if I remember correctly).

What is wrong with your friends current laptop? Not sure about Acer's, but some laptops you can upgrade the processor. It could use a RAM upgrade and a SSD upgrade and that could be enough to bring a little life back to it. Unless you are trying to run Crysis 2 or Skyrim on max resolutions. RAM Upgrades are pretty cheap and easy to do. SSD, as long as you know how to reload Windows or clone the hard drive, is also pretty easy to do. The CPU upgrade will be a little more involved, so either take it to a friend that knows what they are doing or just ignore that upgrade.