The Nvidia Shield, an upcoming handheld game device that can both play Android games and stream games from your PC, will launch in June for $349.
The price tag puts in the same range as home video game consoles like the deluxe Wii U, and is $50 more than a 3G PlayStation Vita handheld.
The device was revealed at the start of the year as a 720p 5-inch, multi-touch display device, powered by the Tegra 4 processor. It has integrated speakers, and runs Jelly Bean, the latest Android operating system.
Today, the company said that pre-orders will open on May 20, although those people who already signed up to Shield email notifications can pre-order from today.
Apart from ordering the Shield directly from Nvidia, you'll also be able to find the device at Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers.
Notably, the Shield will not initially ship with the final GeForce game streaming in place -- rather, this functionality will launch as a beta feature. Nvidia says it is currently working on making sure titles available on Steam will stream correctly to the Shield.
You'll find all the information you need about the upcoming launch on the Nvidia blog.
Earlier this year, I reasoned that Nvidia's attempt at bringing together both Android gaming and PC game streaming has left the handheld a confused mishmash of current trends.
If this non-portable nonsense had the form of a Vita I'd buy it. I can not see anyone for the life of me pulling out a controller AND a phone and playing them at a bar. Angry Birds bar ready? Check. Candy Crush? Check. Samsung Note? Check. This thing? That's a big negative chief.
Today it seems that a bar is my end all, be all, litmus test for all mobile gaming related issues. If you can't comfortably game and drink with it in a social setting... it just won't succeed.
I agree, Mike. Now it's a confused and costly mishmash of current trends.
And some things aren't trending strongly enough to justify this configuration and expense.
Plus, it really shouldn't ship without its second screen capabilities being live.
To me, that gives it a major "in" with curious PC gamers and significantly adds to its feature set.
The second screen streaming should have been prepared (at least with a few dozen PC titles, irrespective of SKU or service) for release day. Odd that they've elected to fast-forward release without this feature in place, relying entirely on the device's Android play.
Do they at least have a significant Tegra 4-based "exclusive" or other launch day Tegra 4 game premieres to sort of give the device a hook?
I'm not sure who their market is at any price. The shield seems like the solution to a problem few people ever had. Especially so in a year when multiple new consoles are (probably) launching, how many people with hundreds of dollars to spare will see this as the best way to play games with a controller on a TV?
Wait...... did i read correctly? The streaming service won't work right out of the gate? What the hell? I can play android games already. They are setting up themselves for failure.
Better specs than the Vita, but it'll be a long time before it has the games the Vita does - Nvidia doesn't have the studio support the Vita does. There's nothing on Android that'll match Vita launch games like Uncharted, Wipeout and Unit 13, amongst others. $350 is a _lot_ to play for something that only plays Android games, and incredibly overpowered for the vast majority of them.
It's Marketed to a very small niche of people, it captures the interests of those who are into open handhelds. I've paid about $500 dollars to get the OpenPandora from being part of that community, which grew from the GP32 community before it. After spending quite a bit of time playing with it during GDC and in a meeting, I'd say it's more than worth it for open-handheld heads like me. Plus from the Developer side of things, this may be the best thing to test/present the game demos and prototypes, I'm working on, on the go. Better then my Pandora currently. $349(~$361 really for shipping) is out of the reach for the main stream- even some of the Nvidia guys actually though it would be in the 200-300 dollar range. The one thing I can give it to the guys over there is that how realistic they are about who they are targeting, they could have pulled a N-gage, or a Tapwave Zodiac, and try to market to the wrong crowed.
The only one they marketed to are the ones that knew since the announcement, and mainly those that followed since.
I wish them all the best with it, but who is gonna lug that thing around with them? Nobody wants the DS or the Vita either, but this is the thing that'll succeed?
"Nobody wants the DS or the Vita either, but this is the thing that'll succeed?"
In fact many millions of people wanted the DS, it is the best selling handheld of all time, maybe you mean the 3DS, but this machine too is selling very healthy ammounts of units.
Never made it into a final product and it was aimed at a different market, it was considered to be a mobile MMORPG machine and was planned to have a full keyboard.
Today it seems that a bar is my end all, be all, litmus test for all mobile gaming related issues. If you can't comfortably game and drink with it in a social setting... it just won't succeed.
DOA
And some things aren't trending strongly enough to justify this configuration and expense.
Plus, it really shouldn't ship without its second screen capabilities being live.
To me, that gives it a major "in" with curious PC gamers and significantly adds to its feature set.
The second screen streaming should have been prepared (at least with a few dozen PC titles, irrespective of SKU or service) for release day. Odd that they've elected to fast-forward release without this feature in place, relying entirely on the device's Android play.
Do they at least have a significant Tegra 4-based "exclusive" or other launch day Tegra 4 game premieres to sort of give the device a hook?
If you bought a Vita and a 16 gig card, you'd be at $300, at least list price. This has better specs than the Vita.
Of course, the Vita isn't exactly doing well.
The only one they marketed to are the ones that knew since the announcement, and mainly those that followed since.
I wish them all the best with it, but who is gonna lug that thing around with them? Nobody wants the DS or the Vita either, but this is the thing that'll succeed?
Why.
In fact many millions of people wanted the DS, it is the best selling handheld of all time, maybe you mean the 3DS, but this machine too is selling very healthy ammounts of units.