Uh oh. NVidia have just upset the apple cart and have announced a brand new portable console at CES.
The “Shield” runs on pure Android (without any bloatware) and will play games from Google’s own Store alongside a special NVIDIA TegraZone store – Shield runs off a Tegra 4, with 72 cores, with battery life of 5-10 hours.
It’s easily the most powerful mobile console (by a mile) and can play 4K videos and even drive a 4K TV set, making it well and truly future proof.
It’s got a proper controller shape, has a 5 inch 720p screen (with 294ppi Retina-like display) with multitouch. It even has Micro SD support, HDMI out, USB etc.
It’s a monster. It’s out Q2.
colmshan1990
Could be great.
Dog ugly though.
Also, you can’t rely on streaming for a handheld console- speeds are not there in most countries, and running Android is a risk- will games be optimised for the console or for mobile phones.
Could be absolutely fantastic though.
KeRaSh
I’m sure there will be quite a lot of cell phones sporting a Tegra 4 chip coming out in 2013 so all they have to do is support controllers which can be emulated by an app anyways.
colmshan1990
But the problem is that games which are built for touchscreen first simply won’t be as good as a game built from the ground up for the console.
One half of the touch/controller divide is going to get crappier games, and surely they’ll put the vast majority of customers (mobiles) first?
KeRaSh
Wow, that was unexpected. Since nVidia uses their own chip I’d imagine they’d be able to ask a competitive price for this thing. They have to price it under the Vita because we all know how well that sells…
It’ll be interesting to see what this does to the Ouya. Its better specced and doesn’t need a TV.
Bilbo_bobbins
wow, certainly interesting. Sony need to ramp up their games otherwise they could lose out.
teflon
Are people expecting this to go up against portable devices? Because, I’m not really sure it’s able to compete against anything that can fit in your trouser pocket…
djhsecondnature
It has to really, no comparison for home console.
teflon
WiiU is the most obvious comparison, playing PC games streamed to this device and/or your TV.
My real point is that this isn’t as convenient or portable as a Vita or 3DS, both of which already push the boundaries of what can fit in your pocket.
KeRaSh
What handheld fits in your trouser pocket these days? The Vita and 3DS are way too bulky to seriously consider transporting them in your pocket and with extra games and memory cards you’ll want to have a case anyways so this would be no exception. I can see this competing with the Vita but not the 3DS. I don’t know what kind of magic Nintendo is using but it seems to work. The Vita has really good games but there are some cool games for Android that could make this interesting. Just look at Dead Space, Mass Effect, N.O.V.A. 1-3, GTA3 and VC, Dead Trigger, Final Fantasy (1-3?) and the Battlefield/CoD/GoW clones. The potential is there.
colmshan1990
The Vita and even the 3DS XL both fit in my pockets.
I’m a fairly slim 5’7″ guy, I don’t exactly wear the biggest jeans in the world here…
KeRaSh
Not saying they don’t fit in someone’s pockets. What I meant was that nobody would walk around with those things in their pockets anyways.
damoxuk
Have they got any games announced for it though? Just making it compatible with Android and being able to play some random Android games won’t make it sell.
Hell even Vita with Uncharted etc can’t sell the Vita.
Sounds like another N-Cage(gage?) to me. Although specs are nice it truly is hideous – deisgn team looks like they been using gaffer tape :)
KeRaSh
It can stream your Steam library to the device. It’s like your very own OnLive without bandwidth problems since it only needs your local wifi.
jimmy-google
So why not use your PC or steam box?
KeRaSh
My gaming PC is hooked up to the living room TV, so if the missus wants to watch TV, I can’t play. ; )
hazelam
72 cores? O_O
they make them small these days.
looks like an interesting piece of kit, though i’m going to echo many others sentiments and say not the most comfortable looking pad i’ve seen.
but hey, buttons. ^_^
if the price is right this could do well, technically it’s portable, but it’s not like you can just stick it in your pocket like many portables.
another concern i have is heat, with that chip in there is it going to get hot?
the last thing you want is the thing to slip out of sweaty hands and smash on the floor, and that screen looks pretty vulnerable sticking out like that.
and was that Hawken they showed on the screen?
KeRaSh
Yeah, it was Hawken.
Shaggy2Dope
For some reason this device reminds me of the Gizmondo
Nickboss1
This things gonna sell like a turd.
trollmonster
This is exciting! I appreciate nVidea’s role in the gaming market but it makes you wonder why the bigger compaines aren’t pushing the boundaries like this. It look like a hand held version of the original xbox. If it has hdmi and 720p I imagine plugging it in to larger screen would also be excelent quality. I’ve suddenly become interested in hand held gaming!
jimmy-google
If we’ve learnt anything from this generation it’s that great specs don’t necessarily mean great or successful consoles.
The design had several issues, size being a big one and touch screen placement being another.
The other question is what will people play on it. Games on google play aren’t designed for buttons and for all that tech it needs vita level games. Games are going to need to be specifically designed for this to make it worth buying.As many already have Android phones this needs to offer something different
trollmonster
Agreed. But now the powers there I’m sure devs will start trying to get the most out of it. It might take a while though.