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[Durante]

Just so people understand, this is kind of like Alienware's X51 in terms of what the device is about. It's not a new platform. It's not a direct competitor to consoles, albeit it is indirect. It's a device that taps into TWO existing platforms and the games that they offer so you can play these games in ways that would otherwise be impossible or a pain to deal with.

Yes. I think some console gamers have the problem of only being able to think in console terms. They think a device is always tied to a platform, and as such concepts like "install base" enter the picture. And with that, any product that doesn't sell in the millions becomes a failure. However, none of that applies here.

Has anything new been said about the latency while streaming PC games? I'd buy it day one if they can figure that out.

By going through the Engadget video frame-by-frame, I found 1 30FPS frame of latency compared to their monitor. So 33 ms or less.

I want one of these. This is so perfect for home use. I would never take this out of my home but it is perfect for me since my PC is hooked up to my main TV for the comfy couch setup.

If the girlfriend wants to watch TV at a time when im gaming thats now going to be ok as all I have to do is continue playing on this bad boy while she watches xfactor or some shit.

Will this only work with steam or will it work with any PC games you have installed such as origin games or retail games?

From what the Nvidia guys said in the video interviews, every PC game supporting a controller should work.

 

[AstroNut325]

Any word at all on pricing? Even rumors? $299 US DOLLARS?

 

[Hellix]

A gaming handheld device brought to you by Nvidia. What could go wrong?

Spoiler

 

[LQX]

Looks awesome to me. I even like that has controller body. Works for me as my handhelds never leave the house and are couch devices really so that and the fact I can Stream my PC games is awesome. If the price is not ridiculous I may get one.

 

[Satchel]

Design wise looks like something Microsoft would have designed back in 2001

 

[GHG]

Yes. I thin some console gamers have the problem of only being able to think in console terms. They think a device is always tied to a platform, and as such concepts like "install base" enter the picture. And with that, any product that doesn't sell in the millions becomes a failure. However, none of that applies here.


By going through the Engadget video frame-by-frame, I found 1 30FPS frame of latency compared to their monitor. So 33 ms or less.


From what the Nvidia guys said in the video interviews, every PC game supporting a controller should work.

That seals it. If the price is right, day one.

 

[Durante]

Any word at all on pricing? Even rumors? $299 US DOLLARS?

That was my initial guess actually, but given how much they talk about the amazing technology they put into it, I guess it could be up to 400.

A gaming handheld device brought to you by Nvidia. What could go wrong?

Spoiler

Yeah, Dark Souls on a handheld will be awesome. (I know what you meant)

 

[1-D_FTW]

Wow! Little bit bitchy there!
If you'd like to know why its cause I don't want a big flip screen just sort of sitting there.

If am streaming to a screen, I have this thing on the end, meanwhile the tilt (it hopefully is better) isn't very good at all.

A screen built into the controller gives you a huge amount more flexibility with it.
But okay. I always find it weird when a defence team jumps in so fucking quickly; if I wasn't interested in hearing more of this device I would of pointed out how ugly it was and left.

PC streaming is a big plus to me. Hence why I'm asking about the device in connection with that.



Hm, am hoping this is just a marketing thing. Wanting to show off the device from certain angles and what not.

What? There's a defense force? Why? Because some people like the fact that adult fingers don't get twisted, bent, and put to sleep within 20 minutes in an effort to have artistic ergonomics? It's cool that you'd prefer something like the WiiU remote, but plenty of people genuinely prefer their fingers naturally wrap around things.

And this last page is full of some hardcore troll posts. There's even sugar sprinkled on the bait to get people to engage. And it's being ignored. Defense teams would never tolerate that.

 

[GHG]

People are seriously misunderstanding the purpose of the target audience of this device. This is not intended to be mainstream and never will be.

This is a niche product that most likely only PC gamers with Nvidia hardware will get so that they can PC game around the home. All of the other functionality like android will be secondary features for the majority of users.

Oh and "handheld" != portable device for taking on the train, bus, etc, etc

 

[pieatorium]

That seals it. If the price is right, day one.

Yeah this could be really nice

 

[grimshawish]

What? There's a defense force? Why? Because some people like the fact that adult fingers don't get twisted, bent, and put to sleep within 20 minutes in an effort to have artistic ergonomics? It's cool that you'd prefer something like the WiiU remote, but plenty of people genuinely prefer their fingers naturally wrap around things.

What? What are you...what?
I prefer the WiiU's screen set up...it has grips too...this has nothing to do with grips.

Defence force cause am getting bitchy comments like 'how surprising' just because I made a comment. I have no idea what your on about atm.

There are no troll posts on the previous page. Please. Trolls wouldn't even bother with this.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

Well if you carry a backpack, this is totally portable. Whip it out on long train or bus rides and you're set.

 

[lolmoose]

Looks interesting. May buy if the price is right.

 

[GHG]

I don't understand all of the mentioning of the Wii U in this thread...

This device has nothing to do with the Wii U. Nvidia wont even see the Wii U as competition to this. PC gamers will not consider the Wii U as an alternative to this. No offense, but the Wii U isn't even on the same stratosphere in terms of game streaming functionality. And that's both from a gaming library and visual fidelity (provided you have a good PC...) point of view. Completely different audiences.

 

[Can Crusher]

Personally I think it's ugly as sin. Now I don't know what their sales projections or ambitions are, over there at NVIDIA, but this looks very niche.

 

[pieatorium]

I don't understand all of the mentioning of the Wii U in this thread...

This device has nothing to do with the Wii U. Nvidia wont even see the Wii U as competition to this. PC gamers will not consider the Wii U as an alternative to this. No offense, but the Wii U isn't even on the same stratosphere in terms of game streaming functionality. And that's both from a gaming library and visual fidelity point of view. Completely different audiences.

People are saying the off tv aspect is one of the better features of the WiiU so with the PC streamin I can see how there can be comparisons as to the end result but I agree that there probably isn't alot of market crossover at leat currently

 

[grimshawish]

I don't understand all of the mentioning of the Wii U in this thread...

This device has nothing to do with the Wii U. Nvidia wont even see the Wii U as competition to this. PC gamers will not consider the Wii U as an alternative to this. No offense, but the Wii U isn't even on the same stratosphere in terms of game streaming functionality. And that's both from a gaming library and visual fidelity (provided you have a good PC...) point of view. Completely different audiences.

All I did was say I'd prefer the screen to be like the WiiU's - if I were using it mostly for PC.
People want a comfortable and good gaming experience no matter what it plays.

EDIT: If others can easily replicate this tech, am not sure why they couldn't go after a better design.

 

[Eric C]

We are quickly rushing up to the point where Nvidia is going to offer the streaming tech software/apps to everyone aren't we?



...
Obviously there will be a large segment of the audience who won't pay for an expensive PC, but I can see a larger than normal collection of hardcore gamers moving over. Almost treating the prospect of buying a great PC as buying a refrigerator.

Probably but still for it to be low latency, I think you'd still need certain specific Nvidia GPUs on the PC, and possibly specific nvidia/tegra tablets/phones. Then if you just stream it to your phone/tablet you'd still need buttons for most PC games.

None of the other PC streaming options I've tried have got close to the low latency levels Durante figured this has. The Wii U gamepad is the only other thing I can think of that has this little latency.



But yeah, I totally see what your saying about people treating a gaming PC like an appliance/refrigerator.

Ok, I downloaded it. Frame-stepping through it, I see exactly 1 frame of (30 FPS) latency between the monitor and Shield in that video. So that's <= 33ms.

Maybe that should be added to the OP, since it's a real demonstration of the hardware to a third party and not just some marketing number.

I don't understand all of the mentioning of the Wii U in this thread...

This device has nothing to do with the Wii U. Nvidia wont even see the Wii U as competition to this. PC gamers will not consider the Wii U as an alternative to this. No offense, but the Wii U isn't even on the same stratosphere in terms of game streaming functionality. And that's both from a gaming library and visual fidelity (provided you have a good PC...) point of view. Completely different audiences.

I see this as basically giving all PC games the same off screen play features the Wii U has, except this can also do android stuff too as a bonus.

To me it's more of a (possibly expensive) PC accessory than a competitor to the 3DS/Vita

 

[GHG]

All I did was say I'd prefer the screen to be like the WiiU's - if I were using it mostly for PC.
People want a comfortable and good gaming experience no matter what it plays.

EDIT: If others can easily replicate this tech, am not sure why they couldn't go after a better design.

Agreed. I'd need to try something like this before deciding whether its a comfortable solution or not but I see no reason why it shouldn't be considering it has the form-factor of a normal gaming controller. If anything, its more likely to be better suited to longer gaming sessions than any candybar handheld design would be.

With regards to other designs, from what I've read, I understand that Nvidia will allow any other android devices with a Tegra 3 (not sure on this one?) or Tegra 4 processor to have this same PC streaming functionality. With the open nature of the android market, I expect a lot of alternative 3rd party designs for this, some even at cheaper price points.

Interesting times ahead. IMO Nvidia is simply using this as a way to kickstart their streaming platform (both their cloud based grid service and also the PC streaming capability from 6xx series and above GPU's) and increase market awareness of this type of thing. It is in Nvidia's best interests to also ship as many Tegra devices as possible through third party channels as well for obvious reasons.

I see this as basically giving all PC games the same off screen play features the Wii U has, except this can also do android stuff too as a bonus.

Yeh but its like comparing a 2.1 speaker setup to a 5.1 or 7.1 setup. They all do the same thing at the most basic level... but in terms of fidelity and quality, they are all on entirely different planes.

 

[NeoUltima]

The nice thing about this device is that it will not live or die by how many units it sells.

i.e. if a traditional handheld sells like shit, it will not get software support.

But since this is just an Android & PC streaming thing, it will always have software support. Even if it only sells 1,000 units. No fear of early adopter risk in that respect.

 

[Durante]

EDIT: If others can easily replicate this tech, am not sure why they couldn't go after a better design.

That depends on what you mean by "replicate this tech". The important part that only Nvidia can do at this point in time happens on the PC graphics driver side: the low-latency hardware-assisted encoding of the game's framebuffer.

Still, other than aesthetics (which are subjective) it looks like a great design to me. Far more comfortable to hold than any mainstream handheld, and the screen is protected because it folds in.

 

[Aguirre]

pardon my ignorance but is the screen fixed or adjustable?

 

[Durante]

pardon my ignorance but is the screen fixed or adjustable?

It's adjustable, it has been shown at different angles in the hands-on videos.

 

[grimshawish]

pardon my ignorance but is the screen fixed or adjustable?

To a degree. But its not clear how far back it can go.

 

[GHG]

The nice thing about this device is that it will not live or die by how many units it sells.

i.e. if a traditional handheld sells like shit, it will not get software support.

But since this is just an Android & PC streaming thing, it will always have software support. Even if it only sells 1,000 units. No fear of early adopter risk in that respect.

And finally somebody gets it! People saying "dead on arrival" or things to that ilk... well they couldn't be more misguided. If you buy one of these, as long as Nvidia continues to support streaming though their new GPU's and the cloud, you will have a PC handheld solution for generations.

From the android perspective, you could expect the lifecylce would be about 5 years IMO due to the rate that software is improving on that platform. In any case, that's still a decent stint. But if you're buying this, you're not buying it for Android!

 

[Corto]

That depends on what you mean by "replicate this tech". The important part that only Nvidia can do at this point in time happens on the PC graphics driver side: the low-latency hardware-assisted encoding of the game's framebuffer.

Still, other than aesthetics (which are subjective) it looks like a great design to me. Far more comfortable to hold than any mainstream handheld, and the screen is protected because it folds in.

Exactly. Ergonomically this should be a good design as it is a controller with a screen attached. The analogues position and screen size are the only thing that I need to feel in my hands to make my own final call.

 

[Metal-Geo]

The nice thing about this device is that it will not live or die by how many units it sells.

i.e. if a traditional handheld sells like shit, it will not get software support.

But since this is just an Android & PC streaming thing, it will always have software support. Even if it only sells 1,000 units. No fear of early adopter risk in that respect.

Well, with the slight exception of the build quality being crap. Heh. The renders do a good job of showcasing it as a costly, shining device. But in the photos and videos, the thing looks a bit cheaply put together.

But hell, it's still a prototype. So who knows. My interests for this thing have increased incredibly today, though.

Also, I actually like the sspeaker. It reminds me of Crysis' Nanosuit for some odd reason.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Still, other than aesthetics (which are subjective) it looks like a great design to me. Far more comfortable to hold than any mainstream handheld, and the screen is protected because it folds in.

Yeah, I don't get the obsession with people wanting handheld gaming devices to look "sexy". I still have my DS Phat for DS games because it's much more comfortable than any Nintendo handheld since. Couldn't care less how "ugly" it is.

I just hope this thing is actually comfortable.

 

[Fredrik]

People are way too defensive/dismissive as soon as WiiU is mentioned. If this thing have streaming off-TV play, asynchronous gameplay, touch controls, dedicated digital download store, Etc then why would it be wrong to compare it to WiiU?
As a satisfied WiiU owner I'm thrilled about this device. Latency free off-TV play is a revolution. It's awesome. I want everyone to copy it.

 

[Durante]

The central difference between this and WiiU is that this allows you to stream your existing library of hundreds of games at high quality 720p instead of a small library of new games at 480p. Also, it will have a much better battery life

 

[Jinko]

NVIDIA Project Shield Hands On | Engadget At CES 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsNhySj1Ng

That actually looks better than I thought, not as big as I thought it was going to be.

 

[Dictator93]

Just saw that this is a prototype. Awesome

 

[Alchemy]

Looking at the device more, the D-Pad looks pretty awful.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

So in an industry where the dedicated handhelds are struggling

Spoiler

some might say dying

nVidia decides to create this... device.

wut.

 

[RobotsAnger]

With all the features this has, there is no way this thing will be less than $300 especially if they are looking to make a profit. That said, it does make me wonder if someone will make a Wii U type controller but for PC, and have it be less than $99. That I'll buy.

 

[chixdiggit]

From what the Nvidia guys said in the video interviews, every PC game supporting a controller should work.

Day one for me if true (and around $300).

 

[JCizzle]

This is very interesting because of the Steam connection. However, I'd really love a device that could access offline Steam games. Still may consider based on price.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Wait so the PC Streaming will only work on Nvidia cards?

yep.

*hugs 670*

 

[chixdiggit]

NVIDIA Project Shield Hands On | Engadget At CES 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsNhySj1Ng

Sold. I would love to have this for around the house.

 

[Arcticfox]

This is a niche product, but I am very interested. I use handhelds as a convenient way to play anywhere in the house at any time. I have never used a handheld outside my home so I don't care about the appearance of the device. In fact I would prefer they made it even uglier by putting a larger screen on it.

This would be a perfect emulation machine. I love my hacked PSP but it can only handle older games. I would have bought a Vita on day one if Sony did not do everything in their power to block open development. This handheld should be able to handle PS2 and even Wii games (that support the classic controller) without any issues through a PC, and I will not have to worry about a new firmware breaking everything. My only issue is that older 4:3 games would only use about 4" of the screen.

I am sure I will not like the price. Since you can play PC games and download apps from the Google Play store, both of which Nvidia gets no money from, they will have to price the device high to make any cash.

 

[HoosTrax]

Semi-random question, but what computer (or case) is that?

I thought it was the x51 at first glance, but it's not. I wonder if it's a regular mATX case. Kind of like it.

 

[VARIA]

If NVIDIA plays their cards right, courts some good exclusives and makes PC integration seamless, they could possibly have the next big thing in portable gaming.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Depending on the price, I might have to jump in. Playing Steam games on this while on the couch while streaming the action to my TV would be sweet.

 

[f@luS]

This is > vita ? Then should be equal to ps360?

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

This is > vita ? Then should be equal to ps360?

Lol please...

 

[cheststrongwell]

Pretty ugly, but this could be an emulation beast.

 

[RoadHazard]

This is > vita ? Then should be equal to ps360?

Both the Vita and this are still pretty damn far below the performance of PS360. They may be able to present stuff that looks "almost there" on the surface, but in terms of what's really possible to create there's a pretty huge gulf. Games aren't just shiny surfaces.

 

[Yanksfan]

Depending on the price, I might have to jump in. Playing Steam games on this while on the couch while streaming the action to my TV would be sweet.

Or just have your PC connect to your TV and do the same.

 

[syko de4d]

Pretty ugly, but this could be an emulation beast.

with a good PC at home you could stream Dolphin on it...

sth. like Wind Waker with SSAA etc. xD

 

[flippedb]

I don't understand all of the mentioning of the Wii U in this thread...

This device has nothing to do with the Wii U. Nvidia wont even see the Wii U as competition to this. PC gamers will not consider the Wii U as an alternative to this. No offense, but the Wii U isn't even on the same stratosphere in terms of game streaming functionality. And that's both from a gaming library and visual fidelity (provided you have a good PC...) point of view. Completely different audiences.

Agreed, aside from graphics, Wii U is miles above anything this little thing could even dream of doing. This Shield thing can stream, but it does not offer a lag free experience or asymmetrical gameplay.