NVIDIA's Project Shield (Handheld)

[6souls]

Spoiler: show

NVIDIA today announced Project SHIELD, a gaming portable for open platforms, designed for gamers who yearn to play when, where and how they want.

Created with the philosophy that gaming should be open and flexible, Project SHIELD flawlessly plays both Android and PC titles. As a pure Android device, it gives access to any game on Google Play. And as a wireless receiver and controller, it can stream games from a PC powered by NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPUs, accessing titles on its STEAM game library from anywhere in the home.

"Project SHIELD was created by NVIDIA engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play," said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer at NVIDIA. "We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do."

Project SHIELD combines the advanced processing power of NVIDIA Tegra® 4, breakthrough game-speed Wi-Fi technology and stunning HD video and audio built into a console-grade controller. It can be used to play on its own integrated screen or on a big screen, and on the couch or on the go.

Tegra 4 at Its Heart

At the core of Project SHIELD is the world's fastest mobile processor, the new NVIDIA Tegra 4, which delivers enormous power from its custom 72-core GeForce GPU and the first quad-core application of ARM's most advanced CPU core, the Cortex-A15. These, combined with its battery-saver core and energy-saving PRISM 2 technology, deliver hours of gameplay on a single charge.

Windows and Android Games

Windows and Android are the world's most successful computing platforms, with massive ecosystems of system and software developers. While not specifically designed for gaming, both open platforms have drawn gamers by the millions. Project SHIELD is designed to allow them to enjoy Android and Windows games in a new, exciting way.

Project SHIELD can instantly download Android games, including Android-optimized titles available on NVIDIA's TegraZone™ game store, which has already delivered more than 6 million downloads to gamers. It can also be used as a wireless game receiver to a nearby PC equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 GPU or higher.

Console-Grade Controller

Project SHIELD's ergonomic controller was built for the gamer who wants ultimate control and precision.

Retinal Gaming Display

Brilliant gameplay and video are provided by Project SHIELD's integrated 5-inch, 1280x720 HD retinal multitouch display, with 294 dpi. Plus, Tegra 4 with Direct Touch technology gives it touch responsiveness that is a more consistent, accurate and smooth-flowing touch input experience than a standard touch device.

Tuned Port, Bass Reflex Portable Speaker System

Deep, rich audio is critical for a great gaming experience. And Project SHIELD provides fidelity and dynamic range never before available on a portable device, through its custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system -- with twice the low-frequency output of high-end laptops.

Project SHIELD can also access Android apps such as Hulu, Netflix and Slacker Radio, so users can enjoy their movies and music anywhere without expensive, clumsy wired or wireless speakers.

Support by Leading Industry Analyst

Patrick Moorhead, president and lead analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said: "The market has waited years for a breakthrough gaming device that offers the flexibility, quality and total enjoyment of Project SHIELD. Few companies other than NVIDIA have the vision, guts and deep gaming experience to have pulled this off."

Support by Leading Game Developers

Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ubisoft, said: "Ubisoft is always excited about new hardware developments, and Project SHIELD promises to bring both mobile and PC gamers a great new gaming experience. Seeing the PC version of Assassin's Creed III run on the device is a great example of this, and further strengthens Ubisoft's long-standing relationship with NVIDIA."

Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, said: "With Project SHIELD, NVIDIA brings an uncompromising, high-performance console experience to mobile devices. Amazing games including Real Boxing and Hawken, which utilize the latest Unreal Engine technology, look fantastic on Project SHIELD. This is just the beginning, and we're truly excited to see what more Unreal Engine developers will do with so much horsepower in such a compact gaming device."

Bill Wagner, chief production officer at Meteor Entertainment, said: "Coming from the openness of a PC platform, we love how accessible Project SHIELD is, and the flexibility it gives gamers everywhere. Project SHIELD gives us the cutting-edge ability to bring a huge free-to-play PC game like Hawken to the handheld gaming audience."

Support by Broader Industry

"Shadowgun and Dead Trigger showed how Tegra can redefine mobile gaming on Android. Project SHIELD's performance has allowed us to bring an even better experience with Dead Trigger 2, debuting first on Tegra 4 devices. Our fans are going to love it."
- Marek Rabas, chief executive officer of MADFINGER Games

"Project SHIELD has changed how we approach mobile game development. Tegra 4 helped us create Bloodsword -- a new game debuting with the highest resolution textures, graphics and shading we've ever seen on a portable device."
- Seunghee Do, co-founder at OneQ Soft

"We are very excited to be part of Project SHIELD, and are quite amazed by the gaming potential of this device. Project SHIELD is by far the fastest mobile device we've worked on and it lets us put console quality graphics on a handheld device."
- Stine Waern, chief executive officer at Ravn Studio AS

"Thanks to Project SHIELD's performance, we're able to use the same quality textures and shaders in Rochard as on the PC version. We're super excited to bring Rochard to Project SHIELD, the first time it's ever been playable on a mobile device."
- Jan Achrenius, chief executive officer at Recoil Games

"Put simply, Project SHIELD is an amazing leap forward, enabling us to create console-quality visuals previously unthinkable on a mobile platform."
- Arden Aspinall, chief executive officer and project lead at TickTock Games Ltd.

[Cantih]

THE STICKS ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACES!

[Grey Jorildyn]

I just wonder where it fits in with Ouya and Gamestick on the horizon. I don't really understand the convenience of streaming from your PC's video card either. Guess we'll see how this goes. Nvidia has the money that's for sure.

[Correction]

How much does this stupid thing cost?

[Dantrag]

Battery life on that thing is going to be about 15 minutes.... <_>

[Correction]

Yeah the heatsink is not a good sign lol.

[Boyiee]

The sticks and buttons are all inside of it, underneath an edge. If the final design looks anything like that it will be uncomfortable as hell.

Gaming on the go! As long as you have a power outlet within 6 feet!

[Kaisha]

I'm getting this weird vibe that Android will be that one gaming "platform" a particular development studio was saying the future of gaming is needing, where manufacturers can produce their own hardware for the given platform like we do with DVD players, rather than completely closed environments like the 360/PS3/WiiU.

Spoiler: show

I believe it was Silicon Knights that said it? Hard to Google anything when it's all courtroom shit regarding them and Epic Games.

Do hope this comes out and is received well though. If there's one thing Android needs, it's developers adding controller support functionality for devices that support it, either via built-in, usb, bluetooth, etc.

[6souls]

Last night, videogame hardware component manufacturer, Nvidia, announced that they are developing a portable games console of their own, dubbed “Project Shield”. The device runs on the Android OS and will have the ability to play games from the Android marketplace as well as stream games from your Steam library via your PC.

While no games have officially been announced for Project Shield specifically, developers like Ubisoft and Epic have voiced their approval of the device in a press release shared by Nvidia today.

Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, stated: “Ubisoft is always excited about new hardware developments, and Project Shield promises to bring both mobile and PC gamers a great new gaming experience. Seeing the PC version of Assassin’s Creed III run on the device is a great example of this, and further strengthens Ubisoft’s long-standing relationship with Nvidia.”

Meanwhile, Mark Rein, co-founder of Epic Games, who are behind the immensely successful and widely-utilized Unreal Engine, said: ““With Project Shield, Nvidia brings an uncompromising, high-performance console experience to mobile devices. Amazing games including Real Boxing and Hawken, which utilize the latest Unreal Engine technology, look fantastic on Project Shield. This is just the beginning, and we’re truly excited to see what more Unreal Engine developers will do with so much horsepower in such a compact gaming device.”

Finally, Bill Wagner, chief production officer at Meteor Games, who developed Hawken, states: “Coming from the openness of a PC platform, we love how accessible Project Shield is, and the flexibility it gives gamers everywhere. Project Shield gives us the cutting-edge ability to bring a huge free-to-play PC game like Hawken to the handheld gaming audience.”

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/07...roject-shield/

[Kaisha]

So when did Steam have streaming capabilities? Or is this something new nVidia is doing on a driver level?

[Salodin]

Steam doing an on live type of thing...god the possibilities...

[Lucavi]

Yeah this thing has absurd possibilities.

[Krandor]

So when did Steam have streaming capabilities? Or is this something new nVidia is doing on a driver level?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....pad.thd&hl=en

Has nothing to do with Steam.

[Isiolia]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....pad.thd&hl=en

Has nothing to do with Steam.

This is actually tied to nVidia hardware, so probably more a lite version of this.

[Krandor]

It can also be used as a wireless game receiver to a nearby PC equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 GPU or higher.

Nope, same exact thing.

[Isiolia]

Nope, same exact thing.

To be fair, it's probably all the same thing. I just think it's nVidia's own implementation of it.

From what I can tell, nVidia's cards are favored for it because they've got the capability to render full screen to an H.264 stream (at least, that's how the Shield FAQ says it works). Splashtop works with other GPUs, but only in windowed mode.

[6souls]

[6souls]

Coming in June, Preorder's Begin May 20th, Will Cost $349

Back in January, Nvidia revealed a new, Android-based, mobile gaming device: the Shield. Today, the company has given the portable console a price, a release date, and released its full specifications.

According to an update on the company’s blog, the Shield will cost $349, and will start shipping in June from Newegg, GameStop, Microcenter, and Canada Computers, and pre-orders will begin on May 20. So what do you get for $349? Here are the listed specs:

• Tegra 4 – The world’s fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack.

The device will also offer a beta feature in the form of “GeForce game streaming,” which should allow you to stream your “Nvidia GeForce GTX GPU-powered computer” to the device, as well as a way to stream Steam games to the device as well.

http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/201...349-this-june/
http://blogs.nvidia.com/2013/05/shield/

[Eleven19]

Looks interesting, but that pricetag kills it for me. I don't have a gaming PC of my own and that's almost half the cost of a decent one. If its just a way of playing a convenient game on the go.. I mean you could just buy a 3DS for half that pricetag and get the same enjoyment out of a handheld for when you're not at your house, right? And they even cut the price of the 3DS to make that sell. This thing's leagues better but.. I dunno, is it? Do we really want to play PC quality games while sitting at the bus stop when we could play a few levels in Mario or level up some pokemon?

[Shiyo]

It looks really cool, but no one will buy it and it won't have any japanese game support. Also more expensive than a vita, which doesn't sell.

I'm getting this weird vibe that Android will be that one gaming "platform" a particular development studio was saying the future of gaming is needing, where manufacturers can produce their own hardware for the given platform like we do with DVD players, rather than completely closed environments like the 360/PS3/WiiU.

I will join a cult and commit mass suicide if this happens.