Earlier this year we reported on Nvidia's Project Shield. Well now the console has been officially dubbed the Nvidia Shield and it's been announced that it shall launch in June. The Shield will be available to pre-order as of May 20th and units will sell for $349.99. However those on the project's notification list can pre-order from today.
After announcing these details, Nvidia have also released the names of 5 new titles for the platform. These are Chuck's Challenge, Flyhunter: Origins, Costume Quest, Skiing Fred and Broken Age. All Nvidia Shields will also include two free games upon release, these being Expendable: Rearmed and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2.
The Nvidia Shield runs on Android 4.2.1, has a 5-inch retinal display capable of 720P and also has an internal storage size of 16GB which can be expanded via inserting SD cards into a slot on the back of the console. The Shield also features GPS, a built-in microphone and a mini-HDMI output in the back. The console can additionally stream games from your PC (so long as you have a GTX 650 GPU or better in your computer).
So what are your thoughts on this new console? Are you just itching to buy your own? Personally I'm a bit undecided on the Shield. The specs and capabilities sound interesting but the console itself looks fugly to me. Then again it does look like it will sit quite comfortably in players' hands (and like one is unlikely to get pins and needles from extended periods of play; I love my old school, brick style NDS but it makes my hands numb from time to time). Let us know what you think in the comments.
Posted 15-05-2013, 02:12
Ah, Ngage... That was a great device, I still play on mine from time to time, got like all the games. tbh, I can not quite understand why it failed so hard, as the games were really of great quality
Posted 15-05-2013, 00:49
It does show some potential. But I can see a repeat of the Ngage going on here
Posted 14-05-2013, 23:54
@Ruby - some mobile devices, like Samsung Galaxy S II of which I am a satisfied owner, have a HDMI port, allowing you to play the games on the big screen, while charging the phone at the same time. And even if one could say that such thing requires a special plug, a specific, light HDMI cable and so on, I would rather pay 30-40 Euro for these, but have a "mobile console" AND a functional phone in one. And as for the controller thing, with some skill you can get a PS3 Sixaxis controler connected to your phone by bluetooth. And it works like a dream ^^
Posted 14-05-2013, 23:41
@Kel - I think it's because some mobile games would be great to play on the sofa hooked up to a big screen as well as having the option to play on the move with a controller instead of the tiny onscreen controls that come with playing it on a phone. Plus mobile games can rape the fuck out of a phones battery.
Posted 14-05-2013, 23:12
After the example of quite much failed Razer Edge Nvidia should know better not to release this :-P Why would anyone buy an Android based handheld if they can have a phone with the same specs, but cheaper, in mobile operator's promotion or sth. Let's leave the handheld market to the awesomeness of 3DS ^^
Posted 14-05-2013, 23:01
Will see. The main difference between Shield and Vita/3DS - it is part of the mobile space and the future versions of it will come together with Tegra updates, not waiting for an another console generation. In the end the pricing will decide a lot.
Posted 14-05-2013, 22:02
If even Nintendo and Sony can't handle the market anymore (apparently dominated by mobiles), then I seriously doubt Nvidia have much further to add. Well, at least they want to focus on real games instead of hogwash and bullshit, but... I still don't see this thing catching on. Hopefully they prove me wrong.