Announced in January as Project Shield, Nvidia’s intriguing new handheld now has a price, a June release window, and the promise of Double Fine’s Broken Age. Who’s ready to spend $US350 on a dedicated Android gaming device?
Now simply dubbed Shield, Nvidia’s Tegra 4-powered Android portable / streaming PC game device is now accepting preorders from folks who sign up for the newsletter at the project’s website before May 20. The unit will begin shipping next month — just in time for the Ouya — and will be available at retail from GameStop, Newegg, Microcenter and Canada Computers.
It’s a hefty price tag for an Android device, but this is an Android device like no other, powered by the next generation of Nvidia’s Tegra chips, with the ability to stream PC games from a computer outfitted with a GeForce GTX graphics card with virtually no lag.
Here’s Nvidia’s official list of eye-catching features, which you can counter-balance with my own analysis of the device.
- Tegra 4 – the world’s fastest mobile processor, Tegra 4 packs 72 custom GPU cores and four Cortex-A15 CPU cores
- Console-grade controller – dual analogue joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analogue triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
- High Fidelity Audio and Video -5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display and custom bass reflex tuned port audio system
- Memory and Storage – 2GB RAM, 16GB internal flash storage and microSD storage slot
- Android Jelly Bean – the latest Android Jelly Bean operating system
- And More! – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi , GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, mini-HDMI, micro-USB 2.0 and 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack
It’s a fair price for a luxury item, the sort of shiny new tech that no one really needs but some people can’t help but want.
Nvidia also sweetens the pot with five new games TegraZone games coming to the Shield later this year, including Double Fine’s eagerly-anticipated Kickstarter-funded Broken Age. Double Fine is also bringing Costume Quest to Shield, with Steel Wool Games’ Flyhunter: Origins, Dedalord’s Skiing Fred and Chuck’s Challenge 3D from Niffler rounding out the list.
With the Ouya going wide next month, GameStick due out sometime soon and now Shield dropping in June, it’s going to be an interesting spring for Android gaming.
You can read more about the Shield launch and the upcoming games at Nvidia’s blog.
Comments
21 responses to “Nvidia’s Shield Handheld Priced, Dated, And Double Fine’d”
That screenshot is beautiful. Not sure I want to play such a pretty game on a small screen though. (In fact, I’m certain I won’t. I’ll be PCing it up, good and proper. :D)
16gb of memory is not enough. Sure, i could stream games from my PC, or… I could just play them on my PC.
I don’t mind playing my PC games on my bed 🙂
Or on the toilet!
I still don’t understand who this is aimed at.
spewing, i just bought 2x 7950’s,
will this only work with an nVidia GTX card? if so that silly and annoying
So it’s silly for company to build a hand held for the competitors. -_-
Well that fact it is an nvidia piece of tech I would say so
Because unlike AMD, who ensure that their tech works somewhat on their competitors’ cards (Lara didn’t go bald when you turned on TressFX in Tomb Raider with an nVidia card, the framerate just tanked for a while), nVidia just doesn’t care.
…..so if it runs on Android – is it possible to use emulators so we can play NES, SNES, N64, SMS, MD, Saturn.. even Dreamcast I dare say…..?
Actually, I’m ok with that price completely, given what it’s capable of.
yeh, im with you on this,
iv been following the shield since i first heard about it over a year ago and fell in love, im 100% happy with paying $350 for it
The tegra 4 chip can pull off some impressive stuff from what I’ve seen, the streaming is really impressive, with a truly high speed connection (NBN for instance) I’m wondering if you could remote play across a truly long distance?
God the name Shield is overused in. . . damn everything these days. . . when I can make a sentence like this and it makes sense in context, then the name is overused.
The Agents of Shield
(http://www.scifistream.com/wp-content/uploads/shield01.jpg)were watching the Shieldhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NSxK1G4xPQ0/TlQowBqVFWI/AAAAAAAABrw/W9p9rDudLbQ/s1600/shield.gifon their Shieldhttp://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Project-Shield-Console-Nvidia.jpgwhen they were attacked by The Shield.http://static.sportskeeda.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/the-shield-1616083.jpgi’d be happier if it was mentioned anywhere that it will be available outside of US and Canada…
That got me too, may have to grey import…
So essentially this is a Wii U gamepad for your PC
Kind of defeats the purpose of being a handheld console if you can’t take it out of your house
I’ll Pass
thats just one feature… its a tegra 4 powered handheld gaming system running android… the pc game streaming function will be “beta” upon release… basically admitted it may not work 100% lol
I’m in Australia and ordered this morning through a re-shipping company. Amazed it worked as my PayPal address is here and the delivery is in the US at the shipping co. Probably more excited about the Shield than anything else surfacing this year.
Broken Age? Isn’t that the Kickstarter game that got 10 times the amount of money Double Fine asked for and somehow still went over budget?
Too expensive IMO, I just cant see my self ever using something like this on a regular enough basis that justifies the price… this is coming from a person who bought a Vita & a 3DS.
I already have an Andorid phone so not missing out on anything there and this isnt exactly something you can just have in your pocket. The problem is that arguably the best and somewhat unique feature (the PC streaming) can’t be used on the go.
Its the same sort of issues I have with the Ouya. Android games are fine when I have some time to kill… I already have my phone with me when I’m out so its great. But if I am at home, have some spare time I am going to play on the PC, PS3, etc. If I am going to commit to taking a dedicated gaming device with me on the road I am going to get more fulfilling experiences with my Vita/3DS.
Its a very niche product that I would be very surprised if it ends up being a success. Having said all that I am glad there are compaines out the testing the waters and trying new things.
The best points about this is that it has built in memory – which the Vita has none. This is a simple remedy that Sony should fix on their systems. Furthermore, android games are dirt cheap and there are millions of games/ROMs and the like that this will be able to support. No-one will be comparing it to the 3DS or the Vita, but they should. This should be quite successful.