nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

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Friendly
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nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Friendly »

http://shield.nvidia.com/
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Because we don't have enough handhelds yet!
(I actually kind of like the design (not stylish/slick but looks ergonomic), though it could be a bit large to carry around in a coat pocket, which would defeat its purpose)

Making Android consoles seems to be a new fad. I'm sure this is going to go well.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Skykid »

There must be some scissors lying around here.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Jeneki »

This looks like thumb bumper cars on the analog sticks, similar to issues I had on the original Wii Classic Controller before the Pro came out. Also I'm not sure why controller designers are so fascinated with completely smooth d-pads. Give it some texture to grip your thumb.
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Friendly
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Friendly »

Fwiw, the "I'm sure this is going to go well" part of my post was irony.

Shield will feature Tegra 4, so it's going to be the strongest of the android players yet. Problem is that only very few Android games have native support for buttons and analog sticks. So unless games are specifically designed to take advantage of the controller, it will do little good. Furthermore, this doesn't exactly look inexpensive, so one has to wonder who the target audience is.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Jeneki »

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/7/384528 ... ing-system
In addition to supporting all of the games available to Android devices and the games in the Tegra Zone, the Shield also has the ability to stream games from a home Windows PC equipped with a GeForce GTX 650 (or higher) graphics card to the handheld device over Wi-Fi, letting users access their library of PC games, including games in the Steam library, while on the go. It access the games on the home PC and run them virtually on the Shield.
That would make it a bit more interesting. Although streaming windows games is not really the same thing as playing windows games.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Vexorg »

Not sure what to think of this. The ability to stream video off a PC (and subsequently output it to a TV) seems like an interesting feature, but I can't see it being all that useful in the long run. I also can't see the feature working all that well outside of a home LAN with the lame upload speeds most Internet providers provide. Given the fact that it requires a $250+ video card to work doesn't help much.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Udderdude »

Everyone's jumping on the Android console/handheld bandwagon! Woohoo! This won't totally flood the market and fragment/crash it at all.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Hagane »

Well, it's the first handheld ever to come with what looks like a decent controller out of the box. Dunno if it will have good games made for it but at least that is nice.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Friendly »

It's only the first 7 days of the year and we got 2 new annoucements already. Seems Ouya really hit a nerve.
Anyone dare to estimate how many more Android consoles we'll see in 2013?

Fortunately when some (or most) of these bomb, it will have no bearing on Android (and games for Android) as a whole.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by BryanM »

Looking forward with baited breath for nVidia's first party answers to Mario, Zelda, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Doodle Drop, and Final Fantasy.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Stormwatch »

Friendly wrote:Problem is that only very few Android games have native support for buttons and analog sticks.
Android supports gamepads natively since 4.0, so it will become more widespread; and similar devices have tricks to make the buttons simulate signals to the games' virtual controls.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by trap15 »

Udderdude wrote:Everyone's jumping on the Android console/handheld bandwagon! Woohoo! This won't totally flood the market and fragment/crash it at all.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Khan »

I wonder just how far nvidias stock will dip after this fails
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Stormwatch »

trap15 wrote:
Cat got your tongue?
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Vexorg »

Khan wrote:I wonder just how far nvidias stock will dip after this fails
Can't imagine it will have much effect. This seems to be more of a proof-of-concept type product than something they're intending to try to sell to the mass market. Tegra 4 is going to make into plenty of other products, and it's not unlikely that they'll license the technology in Shield to their technology partners at some point as well, so you might see similar things from other companies.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by linko9 »

I just can't imagine how they thought this would be a good idea. It's bulky, has a damn heatsink, and looks ugly as sin. And that's ignoring the fact that Vita is a complete failure, and ought to have scared them away.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Looks interesting at least. Hagane is right about the controller.

But lol: "Your games have never looked so good," "5-inch 720p"

"retinal," sure. I guess you could make 240p "retinal" if it was small enough, too.

Marketing / laggy Droid aside, it seems like a fun thing to fool around with.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Friendly »

linko9 wrote:And that's ignoring the fact that Vita is a complete failure, and ought to have scared them away.
From my point of view as a consumer the important difference is that Vita isn't a failure for those who actually own one. Too bad if Sony isn't making any money with it, but that doesn't directly concern me; it may in the long run if they stop supporting it, but by then I'll have gotten my money's worth in the form of entertainment (actually, I feel I already have).

Shield may turn out to be disappointing in both regards: I just read that nVidia isn't going to sell Shield at a loss (obviously; they are in the hardware business, not software), which means it's not going to be cheap. However, I wouldn't mind buying one for <$100 after it has flopped and hit the bargain bin.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Ex-Cyber »

Udderdude wrote:Everyone's jumping on the Android console/handheld bandwagon! Woohoo! This won't totally flood the market and fragment/crash it at all.
Market fragmentation is probably the point. There are already "Tegra-exclusive" games and builds with extra effects (which in turn, have been run on rooted non-Tegra devices via a wrapper driver that can translate texture formats, lie about the hardware, and such other tomfoolery). They've done deals with developers for Nvidia-exclusive effects on PC games in the past, to say nothing of the handful of games that outright require a GeForce.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by ZellSF »

I don't think any singular Android device is going to make an attractive market for game developers. If there's MANY Android gaming devices out there with somewhat similar specs then it could become interesting.

I hope this is just a mock-up btw, that screen seems very unprotected from the controller.
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Hm, the "plays PC games" thing is kind of silly if you don't have a powerful PC capable of streaming to the device (and of course even if you do, lag).
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Re: nVidia Android Handheld "Shield" to be released in 2013

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Just saw a demo unit of this at a store and fiddled with it. The D-Pad looks and feels pretty much the same as the stock Xbox 360 controller's D-Pad, which is to say not very good. Oh well, means that it won't be so useful for older games, but I guess there's still the analog sticks for more modern games...
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