nVida bringing portable gaming out of the ghetto - SHIELD

[pilonv1]

Tegra 4
5-10hrs gameplay on 38watt batteries
24hrs HD video
HDMI out
MicroSD/audio jack
5" 720p
Multi-touch

[Joe Molotov]

Looks awesome!



Oh....

[Joe Molotov]

But seriously though, it looks a little bit...uh...huge. Like gaming on a portable DVD player. How does it compare in size to a 3DS XL?

[pilonv1]

This is going to tear Andrex apart.

09:49PM PST - It's not clear but it sounds like Shield is rendering this game at 4K

09:48PM PST - All of these games are available on Android and optimized for the controller

[Eel O'Brian]

not as heavy as andrex's heart right now

[pilonv1]

Looked like what I would have expected an Xbox (original) handheld would be in 2004. No idea how those sticks can be comfortable.



Why isn't he looking at the display?

[cool breeze]

I don't expect this to be cheap, but if it were to be sold at a low cost, it could be a cool portable emulation thing.  The Razer-esque styling

But seriously though, it looks a little bit...uh...huge. Like gaming on a portable DVD player. How does it compare in size to a 3DS XL?

size comparison made it seem like a narrower 360 controller.  thicker than the 3ds xl, but not much bigger in terms of footprint, probably.

edit:



360 pad, this thing, and the wii tablet peripheral.

[Joe Molotov]

not as heavy as andrex's heart right now

It's like when mommy and daddy got a divorce and you had to decide which on to live with. 

[pilonv1]

09:53PM PST - Running very smooth on Tegra 4/Shield

09:53PM PST - Looks like a mech game

09:52PM PST - Hawken, UE3.0 game, being demoed now

[pilonv1]

09:56PM PST - Google Talk requests are coming in while Jen-Hsun is running the Shield demo

Andrex must be getting salty

[pilonv1]

Shield trying to out big picture GarryN

[Eel O'Brian]

looks to be around the size of a vita with one of those controller grips attached

[pilonv1]

This is going to tear Andrex apart.

10:02PM PST - Basically private cloud gaming

10:02PM PST - Ok so they're encoding the frame buffer from the GTX 680, sending it to Shield, which is decoding it and sending it to the display

10:01PM PST - Piece of software in GFE that is taking what's rendered by GeForce GTX 680 and streaming it to shield

[cool breeze]

So you can steam your PC games to this thing.  Doesn't sound like Onlive/gaikai, but just wireless video from your own computer to this thing.

edit:  Nvidia Shield "sixty percent of the time, it works every time."

[Himu]

[Father_Brain]

Next N-Gage, or next Panasonic Jungle?

[Don Flamenco]

aaaaaand 0/3 on the buttons, sticks, and dpad.  jesus.

kinda neat otherwise.  reminds me of xbox 1

[mjemirzian]

sidetalkin anyone?

they'd be better off just making a smartphone

[Sho Nuff]

It looks like something BenHeck hacked out of a Duke controller and an Android CrapTablet

[Momo]

So many new gaming devices recently

[Don Flamenco]

i cant get over that dpad.  its just a pathetic little blob of plastic.

[headwalk]

this is basically a lifeboat for anyone who is actually in to the whole wii u off screen play thing but has already spent enough time in 2006.

[Momo]

i cant get over that dpad.  its just a pathetic little blob of plastic.

jesus, didnt see that. looks like one of those horrible knock off Genesis float pads

[FStop7]

If I were an nVidia shareholder I'd be feeling a little nauseous.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Does MS have a patent on swapping the left analog and d-pad positions? They must. That shit is so much more comfortable that it can be the only reason why they're the only ones doing it.

[Sho Nuff]

Andrex, are you going to sign up to be the first Agent of SHIELD

[Cerveza mas fina]

Does this have access to google play?

[archnemesis]

"It comes with both Google apps such as the Play Store, and it's loaded with NVIDIA's TegraZone app which will be the main place to get your games from." -- http://www.neowin.net/news/nvidia-announces-project-shield-portable-android-console

[maxy]

Sharks are smelling blood

[Tasty]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Also, analog sticks seem unnecessary, how are they exposing that to games? The trackball API? Hmm...

Would love to see it in person. Retina gaming with actual decent controls could rescue Android gaming from the ghetto.

[demi]

lol, Android. Next...

[benjipwns]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Shame about the NDA then.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Shame about the NDA then.

[fistfulofmetal]

#BELIEVEINTHESHIELD

[demi]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Shame about the NDA then.

Eviscerated

[Tasty]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Shame about the NDA then.

I don't understand the angle of this jab.

[maxy]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Shame about the NDA then.

pwned

[Tasty]

Like, is it inferring I had an NDA on my idea? That I should have had one? That this proves that nVidia had an NDA and that's the reason this was able to be made?

In any case it kinda proves my point about ideas being mostly worthless on their own.

[pickle]

Really impressive specs, but the styling conjures images of empty mountain dew bottles and week old buckets of kfc.

edit: "retinal display" 

[Tasty]

This is going to tear Andrex apart.

not as heavy as andrex's heart right now

Oh right, I guess you guys wouldn't know. I already own an Android gaming handheld. In fact, I've had it since July 2010, when the makers sent me one for free for some web stuff I helped them out with. I got it long before I got my first Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus.

It was one of, if not the, first Android handhelds: the ODROID. Actually, I think mine might have been the faster ODROID-S.



It's pretty crappy today, but back then it handled pretty much all Android games perfectly, better than almost all the phones. And the buttons were crappy but still an improvement on what was out at the time. Google engineer Chris Pruett basically said the same thing when testing his game on several devices.

There's really no reason why I'd be upset over someone making another Android handheld. I just question some of the design decisions nVidia has made with this one.

[Tasty]

In any case it kinda proves my point about ideas being mostly worthless on their own.

Generating ideas with no ability to execute them is worthless.  Being good at executing ideas with no ideas to execute is also worthless.  Neither is without value, though neither has any value by itself.  Fortunately, life rarely presents extreme situations.  You just need to find someone with the opposite Wonder Twin power of yours.

What I really need to learn is industrial and hardware design. Get myself a 3D printer and some Arduino/Raspberry Pi kit or something. From there it's figuring out how to get those dudes in China to make a bunch of my stuff.

Some day...

[Tasty]

Heh, I think I'd kill myself if I had nothing worthwhile to spend doing on my off time.

I guess kids might pop up by then and defocus me.

[Don Flamenco]

I had the idea for this years ago, only it wasn't quite as hideous and non-portable.

Also, analog sticks seem unnecessary, how are they exposing that to games? The trackball API? Hmm...

Would love to see it in person. Retina gaming with actual decent controls could rescue Android gaming from the ghetto.

mmm hmm, a dedicated handheld with dual analogs and amazing graphics is totally the thing the market is looking for right now. 

This thing looks like a retro throwback to a 90s "gameboy killer" and will sell just as well.   

Does MS have a patent on swapping the left analog and d-pad positions? They must. That shit is so much more comfortable that it can be the only reason why they're the only ones doing it.

they might, but that doesn't mean nvidia needed to place those sticks right next to each other  

or actually, they did need to place them right next to each other because that was easier than actually thinking about the design of this freak of nature. 

[Momo]

Nah, you'll just hit 30 and give up on your hopes and dreams like the rest of us.

It's not so bad, really takes the pressure off life.

I gave up at 22 man

[Don Flamenco]

and what are you supposed to do with that touchscreen?   is it just there for the occasional button tap during gameplay like for menus and such?  cause it's not viable to use in conjunction with the controls at all.  and how do you hold it when playing touchscreen only games?   Just let the bottom have dangle? 

this thing gets worse every time I look at it.

[Great Rumbler]

Man, that D-pad is some STANK.

[Tasty]

mmm hmm, a dedicated handheld with dual analogs and amazing graphics is totally the thing the market is looking for right now. 

This thing looks like a retro throwback to a 90s "gameboy killer" and will sell just as well.   

If this thing made it so Android had the Vita's library I would call it a success.

[Eel O'Brian]

...or you could just pair a ps3 controller with whatever android device you have

[Don Flamenco]

mmm hmm, a dedicated handheld with dual analogs and amazing graphics is totally the thing the market is looking for right now. 

This thing looks like a retro throwback to a 90s "gameboy killer" and will sell just as well.   

If this thing made it so Android had the Vita's library I would call it a success.

if, if, if.   

it looks like shit dude

i look more at "reasons to exist" than "ifs"

[Tasty]

It does look like shit. It'll probably sell like shit when it comes out, unless it gets mercy Jungle'd before release.

I still dig the concept.

[Don Flamenco]

yeah, i will give it credit in that there are some nice ideas in there!   But it's all so slap dash.

it's scarlet johannsen in a chastity belt. 

[Tasty]

...or you could just pair a ps3 controller with whatever android device you have

That's not enough to get better games support for Android. If this device were a success, it's not hard to see games more optimized for the gaming controls instead of the current law of the land where crappy touch-only iOS ports rule, and only a fraction of them at that.

But, I'm patient, it will happen sooner or later.

[Eel O'Brian]

the only people who are gonna specifically support this are nvidia, and no one's gonna buy a $250 device for their handful of games

you can already download a small app which lets you program touch controls to controller input, that's about the best you're gonna get until (unless) google does something themselves hardware/software wise

[tiesto]

I'm not one to give a damn about aesthetics, but that looks ugly as hell (like a cheap 3rd party Xbox 1 controller with one of those PS1 television screens bolted onto it) and the dpad looks terrible too. I'll stick with my 3DS.

[Eel O'Brian]

I really don't know what they expect to do with this, other than show off the Tegra 4. There aren't enough games to make this enticing enough to drop upwards of $300 on it, you can't use it as a mini-tab because it's too awkward to hold. I just don't get it, basically. They'd have been better off making it a 5-6" mini-tab that just snaps into the controller part, and selling it as bundle-only.

[Tasty]

the only people who are gonna specifically support this are nvidia, and no one's gonna buy a $250 device for their handful of games

you can already download a small app which lets you program touch controls to controller input, that's about the best you're gonna get until (unless) google does something themselves hardware/software wise

That's different from a handheld device selling. A fraction of a percent are going to both with controller pairing (few do today), as well, a dedicated gaming device sells to those who want to use it primarily to play games. It'd be easier to prove the gaming demographic on Android if a dedicated device sold well.

It's like saying Vita + PS3 is the same as Wii U. It's similar in concept, but it's a tougher sell because few (users and devs) will go through the hassle. Where as with Wii U, it's standardized for every owner.

[Great Rumbler]

Some more pictures:

[Eel O'Brian]

this thing isn't going to sell, though, is the point i am trying to make

no one is gonna drop the kind of money they are going to ask based on a promise of games to come

a google nexus-branded convertible handheld, like a slider device? that might sell okay. or they could easily just add controller programmability support in the android settings and make it official, then release a nexus-branded controller.

[demi]

it has to get better :\

[Don Flamenco]

...or you could just pair a ps3 controller with whatever android device you have

That's not enough to get better games support for Android. If this device were a success, it's not hard to see games more optimized for the gaming controls instead of the current law of the land where crappy touch-only iOS ports rule, and only a fraction of them at that.

But, I'm patient, it will happen sooner or later.

how?  there'll always be a gigantic phone/tablet market that exponentially outnumbers any possible device with traditional controls.   

i think you're forgetting that those crappy touch-only games are currently eating away at the handheld market and are basically relegating all handhelds and home consoles to a default "niche" status for the rest of our natural lives.