Nvidia Project Shield - Handheld Console

[Robin]

While everyone expected Nvidia to announce the much leaked Tegra 4 processor featuring an A15 quad-core, 72 GPU cores and 4G LTE (which would have made it quite the boring press conference), the company pulled out a new handheld console called Project Shield.

Like most handheld gaming devices, Shield comes with its own controller and sports a 5-inch "Retinal" display that has a 720p resolution. It is powered by said Tegra 4 processor, and runs stock Android. Nvidia also demoed other features such as 4K playback on a Ultra HD LG TV, as well as the ability to connect to a PC and run games that support Valve's Steam Big Picture function.

Shield will also run Android games from Nvidia's Tegra Zone, which is no surprise, as the company has long pushed its curated app store as the place to go to for games that are optimized for its Tegra platform. Shield comes with standard micro-USB and HDMI connections and supports microSD storage expansion.

Nvidia CEO Huang Jen-Hsun said that the company had for the "last five years, wanted to create the pieces necessary for video games," and Shield looks to be one part of the equation. The company also announced GeForce Experience, a cloud-based solution that automatically detects and applies the right settings for PCs with Nvidia GPUs for maximum performance and quality. An OnLive-ish service called Nvidia Grid was also highlighted, which would allow gamers to easily play PC games on TVs without the need for an actual PC.

Finally, Shield's just the prototype name, the company will announce the official name when it launches. Roger Cheng of CNET tweets that Nvidia has confirmed a Q2 launch of the gaming handheld. We're guessing we're likely to see this launched in June at Computex in Taiwan, which would make a lot of sense for Nvidia.

So Nvidia will be entering the handheld console market.... I feel this move is questionable to say the least seeing how the Vita is struggling and how traditional portable gaming as a whole is in a steep decline. However they might bring a PC gaming angle to it which might be something different.

Behold what history has taught us when you either do something bonkers or don't have any IP clout behind you....

Robin.

 

[Samus]

It's going to need to be VERY reasonably priced not to flop. Even then it probably still will.

 

[LaBounti]

It's going to need to be VERY reasonably priced not to flop. Even then it probably still will.

Agreed. If its more than $250, it just won't have a good market. Biggest feature seems to be the PC game streaming. But who wants to sacrifice the keyboard? The touch screen looks awkward to use with the controller.

 

[sesselpupser]

Oh, I thought this was a joke.

 

[dhandeh]

This looks doomed from the start, unless it is ridiculously cheap. It just isn't portable enough, for the market it is aiming for (3DS etc).

 

[Robin]

It does look like it fell out of the 90's But yeah the price will have to be right if its to get any sort of market share. Even the 3DS couldn't sell till they halfed its price!

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

I am personally not interested in this; nor do I see it doing well.

Smartphones and tablets, Nvidia.

 

[Lain]

Sweet I always wanted to play Temple Run with a controller... not.

That's the problem with these Android gaming devices... almost all Android games aren't made for a controller. Unless Nvidia is expecting developers to start making a lot of great controller-centric games for their device, which is highly unlikely, this thing is gonna flop. Hard.

 

[Sharky.]

It's not just an Android gaming device, you can stream PC games to it meaning it's also a full-fledged Windows-based gaming device.

Of course, therein lies a problem with that because you're restricted to the typical console method of control, but being able to play games like Brink or Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing while you're on the toilet is so badass it more than makes up for it. Games that were designed for console to begin with (ie optimised for thumbsticks) would play pretty well though, and if the buttons are fully pressure-sensitive racing sims like rFactor and pCARS would work brilliantly.

It's a unique idea and if they managed to pull it off, nvidia has a masterpiece on their hands.

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

I don't see a lot of PC gamers spending money on this so they can inefficiently stream their game to a tiny screen while they squeeze one out.

 

[Lain]

It's not just an Android gaming device, you can stream PC games to it meaning it's also a full-fledged Windows-based gaming device.

Of course, therein lies a problem with that because you're restricted to the typical console method of control, but being able to play games like Brink or Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing while you're on the toilet is so badass it more than makes up for it. Games that were designed for console to begin with (ie optimised for thumbsticks) would play pretty well though, and if the buttons are fully pressure-sensitive racing sims like rFactor and pCARS would work brilliantly.

It's a unique idea and if they managed to pull it off, nvidia has a masterpiece on their hands.

It's hardly a unique idea. It's basically PSP/PSvita remote play but for the PC instead of the PS3.

Not really a valuable enough feature (IMHO) to warrant making or buying an entire device for... especially considering that this functionality could probably be pulled off on just about any decently beefy Android device already on the market. Sure, there's the issue of control... but there are control add-on devices. So why would anyone buy a whole new $250+ for another Android device dedicated to gaming when they could by a $50 (or less) controller add-on for their current Android smartphone?

 

[dzidza]

It's hardly a unique idea. It's basically PSP/PSvita remote play but for the PC instead of the PS3.

So you're saying that I can play GT5 on Vita???? I don't think so. Shield works the other way around also.
But if Sony dev aren't so lazy then vita/PSP could be used for so many things in the games as they have remote option. But unfortunately Sony doesn't want to do this.

Imaging having Vita as a rear view mirror in GT5?

 

[Samus]

So you're saying that I can play GT5 on Vita???? I don't think so. Shield works the other way around also.
But if Sony dev aren't so lazy then vita/PSP could be used for so many things in the games as they have remote option. But unfortunately Sony doesn't want to do this.

Imaging having Vita as a rear view mirror in GT5?

That idea (read: gimmick) was touted way back on the original PSP with the F1 game, it was dropped.

 

[dzidza]

That idea (read: gimmick) was touted way back on the original PSP with the F1 game, it was dropped.

It a shame that sony didn't see the potential of this. This kind of things would make me buy vita/psp.

 

[Samus]

It a shame that sony didn't see the potential of this. This kind of things would make me buy vita/psp.

Can I ask why? Whats wrong with the mirror on screen like every other game? I don't personally see any logic in using another piece of hardware for it.

 

[Robin]

Sony probably didn't want PSP to PS3 remote play to be a standard feature because it would likely canibalise PSP game sales which for the most part were simple ports of console versions anyway. Who would buy Uncharted on Vita if they could just stream UC3 from their PS3 for example which is why they purposely make such things difficult to do even if they are easily possible.

 

[Lain]

So you're saying that I can play GT5 on Vita???? I don't think so. Shield works the other way around also.
But if Sony dev aren't so lazy then vita/PSP could be used for so many things in the games as they have remote option. But unfortunately Sony doesn't want to do this.

Imaging having Vita as a rear view mirror in GT5?

I never said that Sony's implementation of the Remote Play idea is anywhere near a complete experience. I'm just saying that the idea is essentially the same, thus it is not new or unique.

I'm not going to buy a Android device solely to stream my PC game to while I'm on the crapper. It's a gimmick on the PSP/Vita, and even if the Shield's PC remote play isn't a joke like PS3 remote play, it's still a gimmick. And sure, the Shield can do more than just that... like play Temple Run or the rare Android game with console-level depth, but the smartphones and tablets that people already own can do that stuff too. And somebody clever could probably make an Android app for playing your PC games remotely on whatever Android device you might already have.

Basically, I think this thing's gonna be one huge failure. The only way it might have a slight chance of succeeding is if NVidia gets some major 3rd party developer support to make some truly killer Shield-exclusive games. But even then, they'd have to be some truly amazing games. And more than just a few of them.

I mean, just look at the Vita. Its game library isn't mindblowing, but there's at least 3-5 Vita games that are superb. But even with those, and the potentially amazing games that could come to the system due to it being a Sony platform (GT, Final Fantasy, etc.), it's still selling horribly.

For some reason, I can't picture this Shield thing being priced as cheaply as the Vita... and price is one of the main reasons why the Vita isn't selling.

 

[dzidza]

Can I ask why? Whats wrong with the mirror on screen like every other game? I don't personally see any logic in using another piece of hardware for it.

One reason would be, that mirrors use a lot of fps thus freeing more resources from PS3.
But it's not the only thing that can be implemented. e.g On your PSP/Vita screen you have tuning options (power limiter, suspension settings etc.), and on TV you're in the practice race, and you could change settings on the fly, while racing you could check eng temp, oil temp, tyre temp, decide on fuel stategy, everything on the fly, but in more details, you could have all of your telemetry on your PSP....

I am sure there are more things that could be implemented.

 

[dzidza]

Sony probably didn't want PSP to PS3 remote play to be a standard feature because it would likely canibalise PSP game sales which for the most part were simple ports of console versions anyway. Who would buy Uncharted on Vita if they could just stream UC3 from their PS3 for example which is why they purposely make such things difficult to do even if they are easily possible.

I never said that Sony's implementation of the Remote Play idea is anywhere near a complete experience. I'm just saying that the idea is essentially the same, thus it is not new or unique.

I'm not going to buy a Android device solely to stream my PC game to while I'm on the crapper. It's a gimmick on the PSP/Vita, and even if the Shield's PC remote play isn't a joke like PS3 remote play, it's still a gimmick. And sure, the Shield can do more than just that... like play Temple Run or the rare Android game with console-level depth, but the smartphones and tablets that people already own can do that stuff too. And somebody clever could probably make an Android app for playing your PC games remotely on whatever Android device you might already have.

Basically, I think this thing's gonna be one huge failure. The only way it might have a slight chance of succeeding is if NVidia gets some major 3rd party developer support to make some truly killer Shield-exclusive games. But even then, they'd have to be some truly amazing games. And more than just a few of them.

I mean, just look at the Vita. Its game library isn't mindblowing, but there's at least 3-5 Vita games that are superb. But even with those, and the potentially amazing games that could come to the system due to it being a Sony platform (GT, Final Fantasy, etc.), it's still selling horribly.

For some reason, I can't picture this Shield thing being priced as cheaply as the Vita... and price is one of the main reasons why the Vita isn't selling.

It doesn't have to remote play ps3 games on Vita, if they are afraid of cannibalization, but to use those devices as an extension to PS3 games.

It gives more immersion into games.

I used to have, while playing rfactor, voice commands (flight assistant- everything was controlled through my voice, didn't need keyboard at all), and HUD on my win6 phone. My friend and I even build custom head tracking device (trackIR was very expensive and unavailable in Croatia, back then).
I understand that for those features, PS3 hardware is probably limited, but some things could have been done.