back to article Nvidia opens pre-orders for handheld Shield console three days early

Nvidia is now taking orders for its Shield handheld gaming console, three days early, though the Android-running Tegra-powered gadget won’t make its way into punters’ hands before the end of next month at the earliest. Shield, which incorporates a clamshell design to hold a flip-up 5-inch, 1280 x 720 “retinal quality” screen, …

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  1. Thomas 4

    Hmmm

    Read quite a few mentions of the Shield but no mentions of any launch titles....

    1. FartingHippo
      Thumb Up

      Re: Hmmm

      My thoughts exactly.

      Jaguar, anyone?

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Hmmm

      It's Android. Does that mean it can run apps from the Play Store? Or would you have to side load that on first, and then perform various bits of hackery to get anything working?

      1. GregC

        Re: Hmmm

        According to the previous article it will play "any game on Google Play" plus ones from nVidia's store.

        1. Casual bystander
          Thumb Up

          Re: Hmmm

          I think it will play "any compatible game" with compatible being the key word :)

    3. TheVogon
      Mushroom

      Re: Hmmm

      This should make the Wii-U look like a top seller.....

  2. Greg J Preece

    The games on the Android store are improving (mainly because of indie PC ports to the system rather than mobile games improving as a genre), but they're still not as good as a traditional mobile lineup for me. I really do like the design of this thing (though I'm not sure about the positioning of those analogs), but I can't justify spending way more I would on a Vita on something that only plays Android games.

  3. Charles 9
    Trollface

    But...can it play Crysis?

    (Sorry, just had to throw that in.)

    But seriously, it mentions Steam, but Steam on Android is more an extension of the Steam interface rather than a gaming portal—unless that is changing. It would be something if longtime Valve favorites like Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 were to make the jump (TF2 was the first Valve game to join the penguins, after all), but I'm not getting my hopes up.

    Also, I'd be interested to see if other powerful Android phones like the HTC One and Samsung GS4 can somehow get in on the party in some way.

    1. jaduncan

      TF2 port

      Although I think it's unlikely, the chances of it got a lot better after Valve ported the Source engine to SDL and OpenGL (with better performance even on Windows).

    2. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Charles 9

      "But...can it play Crysis?....." Crysis Schmysis, can it play Duke Nukem 3D? We need to start re-educating the current generation in non-PC thought. ;)

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's too expensive

    to justify as a peripheral, not good enough to replace a PC or one of the coming consoles as a gaming platform, and has insufficient launch titles for it to make sense as a player's only game machine. It looks nice, though.

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: mutatedwombat: It's too expensive

      "to justify as a peripheral, not good enough to replace a PC or one of the coming consoles as a gaming platform, and has insufficient launch titles for it to make sense as a player's only game machine. It looks nice, though." What about as a MOBILE gaming platform? I used to have power adapters and cables for the kids to run two laptops in the back of the car for long journeys, but when I suggested tablets the kids said "no thanks, they don't have any good games" - if this can offer some good games, and play movies and music, it will be a better long distance journey option than the iPad, Surface Pro and comparable to the other portable games devices from Sony and co.

  5. Oninoshiko

    article should mention battery life

    which, based on the prototypes, is around 20hrs while streaming.

    Battery life is the single most important thing for a handheld. How many otherwise impressive-for-their-time handhelds where soundly beaten on battery life alone?

    1. Greg J Preece

      Re: article should mention battery life

      I have to admit, if that's even remotely accurate, it's bloody impressive.

      1. Oninoshiko

        Re: article should mention battery life

        yes, if their claims are accurate it is.

        my point was not that it wasn't, just that this really needed to be in the story.

  6. jason 7
    Meh

    Just a shame that....

    ......outside the ever decreasing PC enthusiast market, Nvidia has next to zero brand recognition compared to Sony/Nintendo.

    Lot of cheaper better supported hand-held out there to keep the kids occupied on long journeys.

    It's a tough sell.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Just a shame that....

      Who are "Sony" and "Nintendo"?

    2. The BigYin

      Re: Just a shame that....

      Gamers know who nvidia are, get them first, keep the platform open (which would be a first for nvidia), let the innovation run rampant and the rest will follow with gen 2.

      Sony used to do cheap crap and Nintendo did basic game&watch things. Then they changed the game.

  7. The BigYin

    Interesting

    But how can it succeed if it doesn't run Windows 8? :-)

  8. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    "Shield"?

    It plugs onto an Arduino?

  9. Mage Silver badge

    Replaces Consoles?

    HDMI port and 2kHD?

    So a handheld portable AND Flash based Console for 42" HDTV in a controller.

    So either it will be a Jaguar or WII in Sales depending on games. People aren't going to buy a Console any more to simply to play CD / DVD /.BD (Sony PS1 / PS2 / PS3). Maybe they think Flash makes Optical Drives and HDDs obsolete for gaming.

  10. Casual bystander
    Trollface

    Looks like a clone rumour is currently circulating

    http://www.apad.tv/apadforum/content.php?218-Nvidia-Shield-Clone-Details-Leaked

  11. MJI Silver badge

    Will it sell?

    Interesting concept.

    But the slightly cheaper Vita is struggling, so how will this manage>

  12. Lamont Cranston

    I always thought that the Xperia Play

    was an interesting idea, and this looks to be an extension of that (but primarily, or solely, a games machine, rather than a phone).

    The thing that holds back Android games (in my view, at least) if the terrible controls - touch screen only is rubbish for anything beyond puzzlers like Angry Birds - so this is the obvious solution. Whether people want an Android machine for gaming, when the DS is already so dominant in the handheld sector, remains to be seen (my gut says that they don't, and this will go the way of the Lynx).

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