Nvidia's SHIELD Handheld Drops To $299

[IanDavis]

Nvidia's SHIELD Handheld Drops To $299

The android-based, PC-streaming handheld drops $50 before launch.

Back in January, graphics card manufacturer Nvidia announced that it was leaping into the portable market with the [a href=http://shield.nvidia.com/]SHIELD[/a]. The device has a controller with a five-inche screen, capable of playing android titles and streaming games from a PC. While the device is set to launch on June 27th, Nvidia's making one last change: it's lowering the price [a href=http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2013/06/20/shield-gets-final-touch-before-its-release-a-better-price/]down to $299[/a].

Along with Microsoft's [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125220-Xbox-Ones-Policy-Reveal-According-To-Microsofts-Whitten]recent alterations[/a], Nvidia is responding to feedback as well. It made the announcement on its official blog, stating: "Feedback from gamers is why SHIELD's triggers have the perfect throw length. Why SHIELD's buttons have just the right amount of give. Why SHIELD's thumb sticks are so satisfying to flick. Why playing games on SHIELD's pure Android software feels so slick. Now it's time for one more change. We've heard from thousands of gamers that if the price was $299, we'd have a home run. So we're changing the price of SHIELD to $299."

Regardless if that's an actual reaction or simple PR-speak, the SHIELD just got that much more affordable. Those who have pre-ordered the device will only be charged $299 when it ships out later this week.

The shield is equipped with fancy Nvidia Tegra 4 chips and will be running Android Jelly Bean software. It will have access to the Google Play store, as well as Nvidia's own TegraZone shop. Gamers with [a href=http://shield.nvidia.com/play-pc-games/]the right hardware[/a] on their PC can stream games straight to the handheld via wifi.

Source: [a href=http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2013/06/20/shield-gets-final-touch-before-its-release-a-better-price/]Nvidia[/a]

Permalink

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

... or I could just plug a controller up to my pc.

I'm really curious as to whether this will sell. I mean no disrespect towards the product, but the feature I most often hear about is the ability to stream my PC games onto a smaller screen. Why would I want that? I guess it's main competition would be against the Ouya, GameStick and the like due to Android? But then the most important feature would be portability, but it'd be trying to make something more portable than a phone... I'm lost.

 

[Covarr]

the feature I most often hear about is the ability to stream my PC games onto a smaller screen. Why would I want that?

I can think of a dozen reasons. Maybe the computer's in one room and you wanna play in another. Maybe you want to play in bed, and can't reach your computer. Maybe you want to be able to move around while you play.

Now, none of these cases are compelling enough for me to get this thing, at least not at $300. But I can imagine some people may find it quite useful.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Drop another $150 and you'll actually be competitive with other handhelds. It's android based, finally an android based handheld, but it's bulky, expensive, and can't make calls. It's basically a tablet that manages to be less portable and have a smaller screen than other tablets.

But I'd buy it for $150, because I have faith that Android, or a platform like it, is the future of handheld gaming. It's just going to take a game company with the balls to push for it. Sony kind of did with the Xperia Play, but they didn't go all in with it. Somebody needs to go all in.

 

[Doom972]

Still not really worth it. I don't get who this is for either. For the Android games, there are already multipurpose tablets, and requiring your PC to be Wi-Fi range to play PC games, makes PC games on this thing redundant - Who would invest in a gaming PC and rather spend another $300 just to be able to play it with a small screen on the toilet?

 

[Vie]

I was actually starting to get interested when I read that price drop. Sure, it would be rather expensive. But not totaly unreasonable for a device I can play my PC games remotely on.

Then I saw that they were making it dependant on using NVidia's video cards.

Nuh-uh, not after last time boys.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Not directly on topic but I hate the stupid pricing system companies use these days. Why $299? Just make it freaking 300 and be done with it. You're not fooling anyone into thinking it costs less. It just looks dumb backing up 1 cent to make the number appear smaller.

 

[Covarr]

I was actually starting to get interested when I read that price drop. Sure, it would be rather expensive. But not totaly unreasonable for a device I can play my PC games remotely on.

Then I saw that they were making it dependant on using NVidia's video cards.

Nuh-uh, not after last time boys.

Last time? If it was a driver issue, then yeah, it's NVIDIA's fault. But they largely don't actually make their graphics cards, just the designs for them; the cards are manufactured (and the cooling is designed) by companies such as EVGA, MSI, and ASUS. If the card flat out failed, I'd wager it overheated, and the manufacturer is to blame.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. Everything I just said largely applies to AMD also. Pretty much the only time the card's creator actually makes the things is when they're integrated right into the processor, as with Intel, as well as AMD's APUs.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I'm on this site every day. I love games.

How the heck am I just hearing about this now?

I mean, I have my galaxy for android games. And the fact that this is only streaming from my pc makes me shackled to my pc. Making me feel I should Just Go To My PC. I would honestly be more interested if I could just somehow load a game from my steam library onto it via micro sd cards, as I have a lot of those. Borderlands anywhere in the world and I don't have to have a laptop sit on my lap on a flight? Yes. Yes, I am interested.

The fact that I step out of my house and Borderlands goes away? No. No, I am less interested.

Now, obviously this has the capabilities to play real games, or at least good simulations. but what kind of games can you play? I'm thinking RTSs will be horrible on this.

This is the problem with advertising. We get soundbytes, not answers.

 

[Vie]

Last time? If it was a driver issue, then yeah, it's NVIDIA's fault. But they largely don't actually make their graphics cards, just the designs for them; the cards are manufactured (and the cooling is designed) by companies such as EVGA, MSI, and ASUS. If the card flat out failed, I'd wager it overheated, and the manufacturer is to blame.

Driver issues out the backside like you would not believe.

At least with ATI my main annoyance is its blasted love of underscanning automatically. It's easy to fix, but annoying. While my issues with NVidia's drivers were game breaking.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I like the streaming feature... (playing around with a Wii U for long enough will teach you how cool that can be.)

But... Eh, needing to buy a whole new video card to do so, (especially an Nvidia one... I prefer ATI/AMD ones)... Kind of ruins it for me.

On top of that, I really don't like the way the screen seems to be attached. - As a handheld device, the angle between the controller section and the screen seems completely wrong.

Cool idea, but I'm not buying one if it's limited in that kind of way...

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

While the shield thing is a neat idea, slapping a touch screen on a controller doesn't exactly make it portable. Besides, the Splashtop app already lets you stream from an android device and even game with it. Making a device designed for this kind of streaming seems silly when you'd need a good connection at your house and where ever you want to stream. I may actually be able to make use of streaming like this from within my house and my job, but I'm putting my stock in doing from my psvita to a ps4. Either way, there'll probably be some lag

But I'd buy it for $150, because I have faith that Android, or a platform like it, is the future of handheld gaming. It's just going to take a game company with the balls to push for it. Sony kind of did with the Xperia Play, but they didn't go all in with it. Somebody needs to go all in.

Archos has made something like what you're describing: http://www.archos.com/products/themed/gamepad/index.html?country=us&lang=en&p=1#a

 

[RicoADF]

... or I could just plug a controller up to my pc.

I'm really curious as to whether this will sell. I mean no disrespect towards the product, but the feature I most often hear about is the ability to stream my PC games onto a smaller screen. Why would I want that? I guess it's main competition would be against the Ouya, GameStick and the like due to Android? But then the most important feature would be portability, but it'd be trying to make something more portable than a phone... I'm lost.

I could see it as something akin to the Wii U idea where you could play a game in the living room while the family uses the TV (PC hooked up to TV), or in other areas of the house. That's about all I can think of myself.

 

[Something Amyss]

Not directly on topic but I hate the stupid pricing system companies use these days. Why $299? Just make it freaking 300 and be done with it. You're not fooling anyone into thinking it costs less. It just looks dumb backing up 1 cent to make the number appear smaller.

Except that does work, so apparently they really are fooling somebody. I would guess a lot of somebodies.

 

[Nowhere Man]

... or I could just plug a controller up to my pc.

I'm really curious as to whether this will sell. I mean no disrespect towards the product, but the feature I most often hear about is the ability to stream my PC games onto a smaller screen. Why would I want that? I guess it's main competition would be against the Ouya, GameStick and the like due to Android? But then the most important feature would be portability, but it'd be trying to make something more portable than a phone... I'm lost.

Oh I'd love that. How many times have I felt like playing a PC game but not feel like being bound to my chair and desk and would rather lounge on my couch or play a bit in bed before bedtime. This actually has my attention.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

While the shield thing is a neat idea, slapping a touch screen on a controller doesn't exactly make it portable. Besides, the Splashtop app already lets you stream from an android device and even game with it. Making a device designed for this kind of streaming seems silly when you'd need a good connection at your house and where ever you want to stream. I may actually be able to make use of streaming like this from within my house and my job, but I'm putting my stock in doing from my psvita to a ps4. Either way, there'll probably be some lag

But I'd buy it for $150, because I have faith that Android, or a platform like it, is the future of handheld gaming. It's just going to take a game company with the balls to push for it. Sony kind of did with the Xperia Play, but they didn't go all in with it. Somebody needs to go all in.

Archos has made something like what you're describing: http://www.archos.com/products/themed/gamepad/index.html?country=us&lang=en&p=1#a

True, but Archos doesn't have the kind of clout with publishers that a company like Sony or Nintendo has, and that's what's really needed to get something like this into the hands of people who aren't just general gadget enthusiasts. Nvidia doesn't have as much pull with the publishers as those two, but they've probably got about as many connections as Microsoft did when they launched the original Xbox. Shame they're focusing on the way it can stream from your computer, instead of the fact that it's a high end android tablet with a built in controller.

 

[theultimateend]

Not directly on topic but I hate the stupid pricing system companies use these days. Why $299? Just make it freaking 300 and be done with it. You're not fooling anyone into thinking it costs less. It just looks dumb backing up 1 cent to make the number appear smaller.

Except that does work, so apparently they really are fooling somebody. I would guess a lot of somebodies.

I don't like it because I see the trick but its EXTREMELY effective.

People in herds act very stupid. The 99 thing is just another herd phenomena that works.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't like it because I see the trick but its EXTREMELY effective.

People in herds act very stupid. The 99 thing is just another herd phenomena that works.

It's weird, though. Like, I was literally discussing this with someone last night, and I was always taught to just round up, anyway. For some reason, however, this doesn't seem intuitive to most.

 

[theultimateend]

I don't like it because I see the trick but its EXTREMELY effective.

People in herds act very stupid. The 99 thing is just another herd phenomena that works.

It's weird, though. Like, I was literally discussing this with someone last night, and I was always taught to just round up, anyway. For some reason, however, this doesn't seem intuitive to most.

JC Penney tried to be perfectly honest with their customers and their sales fell apart.

For whatever reason most consumers like to be misled :/.

Shame because I love round numbers. Base 10 gets me so happeh.