4 ms·

This is an a very strange launch and I'm not entirely sure who the target market is. Serious gamers -- I doubt they'd be happy with Android games. Kids -- no

This is an a very strange launch and I'm not entirely sure who the target market is. Serious gamers -- I doubt they'd be happy with Android games. Kids -- no killer marketing/mascots. Casual gamers -- likely wouldn't care enough, their phone is good enough. However, if this gained an install base, I'd assume it would drive the nearly non-existance premium purchase market on android games up.

thepumpkin1979 13y ago
+1... Android Games are generally free. There is no mention of how this works with your TV, so how will it compete against Ouya? I can get all this in a tablet + game controller.
- wmf 13y ago
  You can plug it into a TV with an HDMI cable.
  - Sonicrida 13y ago
    It apparently makes a surprisingly good emulator.
- mtgx 13y ago
  For starters it doesn't come with a mid-range 2012 chip (Tegra 3), but one that is high-end and competitive this year (Tegra 4), with the exception of the lack of OpenGL ES 3.0 support. #2 It doesn't have a horrible controller like OUYA, but actually a pretty good one. #3 It's portable since it has a screen. As for the game controller+tablet, first you'd need a Tegra 4 tablet to match its performance, which costs $500 or so, which may be worth it since it's a tablet, and you're getting more out of it, but you won't be getting to play Steam games on your TV with it. So I guess it depends how much of a Steam player you are, too.
dnissley 13y ago
The real killer (or at least differentiating) feature is that you can stream PC games from your desktop to the shield. Apparently it works pretty well[1]. [1] - http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573596/nvidia-shield-review http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573596/nvidia-shield-revi...
- swax 13y ago
  That's cool and all, but so extremely niche I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
- est 13y ago
  Is that Tegra 4 only that requires some kind of special hardware? Or any android device with some kind of software could do this?
  - joenathan 13y ago
    Onlive does this on pretty much any device, here is their Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onlive.client&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onlive.cli...
    - CrazedGeek 13y ago
      Well, except that it only plays games on the OnLive service, not any PC game with controller support.
      - joenathan 13y ago
        The point is nothing magical is happening in the Tegra 4 to enable this use case, this feature can be replicated with pretty much any device.
        mtgx 13y ago
        Neither of you understands what's going on here. It has nothing to do with Tegra 4 in regards to streaming. It has to do with Nvidia's PC GPU's and their streaming software. That's why it wouldn't work with AMD's chips - because you need Nvidia's software that's only available for Nvidia's GPU's.
r0s 13y ago
Gamers don't fall into perfect categories of "Serious" or "Casual". There's a big market out there, and cell phone interfaces are fundamentally inadequate for at-par console equivalence.
Andrenid 13y ago
As a 'serious' gamer who also loves casual gaming, I want one of these. I hate playing casual games on my phone. The lack of physical buttons constantly shits me. I've tried all the various clip-on controllers and have used wireless controllers tethered to the phone, it's just not right. I absolutely love my PS Vita, but wish it had better apps when I'm travelling, so something like the Shield, which has games for when i'm stuck on a plane or waiting for a bus/train, but also has full Android apps for when i'm travelling, is awesome. The fact it can run Android emulators with physical buttons is also a bonus.

thepumpkin1979 13y ago

+1... Android Games are generally free. There is no mention of how this works with your TV, so how will it compete against Ouya? I can get all this in a tablet + game controller.

wmf 13y ago
You can plug it into a TV with an HDMI cable.
- Sonicrida 13y ago
  It apparently makes a surprisingly good emulator.
mtgx 13y ago
For starters it doesn't come with a mid-range 2012 chip (Tegra 3), but one that is high-end and competitive this year (Tegra 4), with the exception of the lack of OpenGL ES 3.0 support. #2 It doesn't have a horrible controller like OUYA, but actually a pretty good one. #3 It's portable since it has a screen. As for the game controller+tablet, first you'd need a Tegra 4 tablet to match its performance, which costs $500 or so, which may be worth it since it's a tablet, and you're getting more out of it, but you won't be getting to play Steam games on your TV with it. So I guess it depends how much of a Steam player you are, too.

dnissley 13y ago

The real killer (or at least differentiating) feature is that you can stream PC games from your desktop to the shield. Apparently it works pretty well[1]. [1] - http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573596/nvidia-shield-review http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573596/nvidia-shield-revi...

swax 13y ago
That's cool and all, but so extremely niche I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
est 13y ago
Is that Tegra 4 only that requires some kind of special hardware? Or any android device with some kind of software could do this?
- joenathan 13y ago
  Onlive does this on pretty much any device, here is their Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onlive.client&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onlive.cli...
  - CrazedGeek 13y ago
    Well, except that it only plays games on the OnLive service, not any PC game with controller support.
    - joenathan 13y ago
      The point is nothing magical is happening in the Tegra 4 to enable this use case, this feature can be replicated with pretty much any device.
      - mtgx 13y ago
        Neither of you understands what's going on here. It has nothing to do with Tegra 4 in regards to streaming. It has to do with Nvidia's PC GPU's and their streaming software. That's why it wouldn't work with AMD's chips - because you need Nvidia's software that's only available for Nvidia's GPU's.

r0s 13y ago

Gamers don't fall into perfect categories of "Serious" or "Casual". There's a big market out there, and cell phone interfaces are fundamentally inadequate for at-par console equivalence.

Andrenid 13y ago

As a 'serious' gamer who also loves casual gaming, I want one of these. I hate playing casual games on my phone. The lack of physical buttons constantly shits me. I've tried all the various clip-on controllers and have used wireless controllers tethered to the phone, it's just not right. I absolutely love my PS Vita, but wish it had better apps when I'm travelling, so something like the Shield, which has games for when i'm stuck on a plane or waiting for a bus/train, but also has full Android apps for when i'm travelling, is awesome. The fact it can run Android emulators with physical buttons is also a bonus.