Nvidia Shield Review: Tegra 4-Powered Handheld Gaming

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
I have to say that I really like the concept, but I didn't read anywhere (maybe I missed it) if this Streaming to the Shield device is for any Video Card vendor.

If it is closed to nVidia hardware only, I'll wait for the open alternative and see how it fares (if AMD or Intel want to make something like it).

I won't tie myself to a brand for $300USD, even if it seems to be decent tech. Specially with nVidia, lol.

Cheers!
 
As someone who often plays games on my lap with my laptop and an Xbox controller, I don't see the need for this, surely this money is better spent on a separate tablet. Surely, you can just stick a laptop somewhere and play on an xbox controller or am I missing something?
 


HAWKEN. Nuff said. Vita has less games coming also...So I'd say two losses :)
 


You're under the mistaken impression Angry Birds is all that's on android.
A list I've pasted before, and not exhaustive at all, no sports games etc in here really:
Demon Score (square enix)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.square_enix.demonsgp&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5zcXVhcmVfZW5peC5kZW1vbnNncCJd

Wild Blood
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftWBHM&feature=related_apps

Note the unreal engine 3 is just kicking off on mobile, a lot more in the pipe. Also Real Boxing and Hawken (hawken is coming, NV showed it running on T4 already).

Modern Combat 1-4:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftM4HM&feature=more_from_developer

Make sure you up the video to 1080p... It rocks. This is PRE-T4. These are made for current crap T3 etc...OLD, some even T2 games below.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftM3HM&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLmdhbWVsb2Z0LmFuZHJvaWQuQU5NUC5HbG9mdE0zSE0iXQ..

Eternity Warriors 2 (1-5mil installs in the last 30 days...wow):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glu.ewarriors2&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmdsdS5ld2FycmlvcnMyIl0.
WOW, no, there will be no good games on tablets/phones etc. :)

Iron Man 3 (impressive to say the least)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftIMHM&feature=related_apps

Frontline Commando
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glu.flcn_new&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmdsdS5mbGNuX25ldyJd

Nova 3 (nova 1 & 2 aren't bad either)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftN3HM&feature=more_from_developer

Dark Knight Rises:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftKRHM&feature=more_from_developer

Gangstar Rio
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftG4HM&feature=related_apps

Shadowgun (still think tablets are crap?)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.madfingergames.shadowgun_thd&feature=related_apps

Bard's Tale (hey, isn't this a CONSOLE game...LOL)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inxile.BardTale&feature=related_apps

ArmA2: Firing Range (not impressive, but this was 2011...LOL)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bistudio.a2fr&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmJpc3R1ZGlvLmEyZnIiXQ..

Again for Tegra2...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slitherine.gbm&feature=also_installed#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwNCwiY29tLnNsaXRoZXJpbmUuZ2JtIl0.

Renaissance Blood
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Bridea.NC.THD.RenaissanceBlood&feature=related_apps

Zombie Driver THD
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.exor.ZombieDriver&feature=also_installed#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwNCwiY29tLmV4b3IuWm9tYmllRHJpdmVyIl0.

Chaos Rings 1 & 2:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.square_enix.chaosrings2gp&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLnNxdWFyZV9lbml4LmNoYW9zcmluZ3MyZ3AiXQ..
Please realize it's in english when you buy it...LOL

Blazing Souls Accelate:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperdevbox.blazingsouls&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmh5cGVyZGV2Ym94LmJsYXppbmdzb3VscyJd


Final Fantasy 3 in 3d (2006 game but on current handhelds)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.square_enix.android_googleplay.FFIII_GP&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLnNxdWFyZV9lbml4LmFuZHJvaWRfZ29vZ2xlcGxheS5GRklJSV9HUCJd

Amazing Spiderman:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftAMHM&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLmdhbWVsb2Z0LmFuZHJvaWQuQU5NUC5HbG9mdEFNSE0iXQ..

Need for Speed Most Wanted:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.games.nfs13_row&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLmVhLmdhbWVzLm5mczEzX3JvdyJd

Asphalt 7
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftA7HM&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmdhbWVsb2Z0LmFuZHJvaWQuQU5NUC5HbG9mdEE3SE0iXQ..

COD Black Ops Zombie game...Who knew?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atv.blackops&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLmF0di5ibGFja29wcyJd

I think I missed Asphalt 8, and all the madden, nba, fifa etc types. My list was more interested in rpg/strategy.
 
"Shoot, I can even see myself hanging out with the wife in bed while she reads on her Kindle."

married life sounds awesome.
 
the pc streaming is what attracts me to this, but i dont need it when i'm at home. if nvidia can really invest and get pc streaming into the cloud and i can stream via any wifi anywhere, then i'll take another look.
 


Hawken is available for PC , it is not an Exclusive ...
 
Awesome review. Does anyone know what monitors are pictured in tri-screen setup? They look tastey as hell.
 
Cool, innovative, not worth the price. Why would you give up a 1080+p monitor gaming for a 5" 720p at home? It is cool if you were able to harness the GPU power on the go, but at home, I don't get it, why would someone goes to the bathroom and say play Skyrim, unless he/she wants to camp in there.
 
I think many of you are missing the main point. This is basically an open Beta for the real deal to come later Tegra5 and onward. This is to learn what works and does not. Shield 2 and so on will be so much more. i am buying one to support Nvidia long term effort. Mark my words will we see with tegra5 streaming pc any where you can get a signal with 4g lte or wifi. Now that is why this will rock in the future. The whole Nvidia grid/ cloud foray should tell you where they are heading!!!
 
The feature I most like is playing remotely from the PC.

But I would prefer to do that on a laptop, or even a notebook. Playing on bed would be more comfortable if I can have the screen near of my face, but with my arms free, like on a mouse, and not bent over my chest.
 
The feature I most like is playing remotely from the PC.

But I would prefer to do that on a laptop, or even a netbook. Playing on bed would be more comfortable if I can have the screen near of my face, but with my arms free, like on a mouse, and not bent over my chest.
 
Great review. Yes, this device is for a specific user who wants to game or loves great sound from a tablet that is sitting on a surface most of the time. There are so many different ways people use tablets these days and some wants it a certain way that makes them confortable and be able to enjoy the experience. The fast SoC , of course gives this device a clear advantage and so does its wifi capability that tablets cannot match to date. It is a pity that 802.11ac was not implemented since the chipset can clearly drive gigabit range speeds without issue.
 
I am hoping that since Tegra 4 and this shield came out, that more AAA-like games will be made for Android. I am thinking that many of the devs for Vita titles aren't seeing fruit for their efforts and Android development is so much easier to jump into.
 


I am not so sure console are a "sure thing" any more. This is the first time that a console launch with weaker specs than a medium gaming PC out of the gate. Typically it is Consoles are stronger than the best gaming rig money can buy.(last 3 generations have been for sure) I have built more gaming computers in the last 6 mths for people who are getting away from consoles than I have built in 5 years. Typically they are budget rigs with 650ti boost to GTX760 Nvidia cards or comparable ATI/AMD cards. I can build 650.00 to 1000.00 game rig that does as well or much better than a PS$ or Xbone. Also you can always add a second card to upgrade later on.

Besides I am far from a hardcore geek. If anything I am a Gym rat or an ATV/Dirt Bike fanatic. Gaming is a stress relief nothing more, nothing less. That all said will the shield succeed. I feel confident it will. Nvidia is not looking to sell a billion of them. They are looking to carve out a nice slice of pie in the portable gaming market. I think they will do that with the coming models. I do not think this Shield will sell like hotcakes but as they upgrade it I feel it will outclass all other portable game systems. Besides unlike AMD/ATI Nvidia actually has money to burn...... ;-) If it fails so what. Try something else. They have the capital. They are typically smart with it. That is why they have billions of cash on hand 3.4b and have no debt. AMD/ATI on the other hand are struggling and had to sell their headquarters to get a cash surge. They now rent that building.......I hope they do make a turn around as I like their products. As with the shield....time will tell.
 


You clearly don't understand how consoles work. Consoles do not work the same way a PC does. A console doesn't have to have a big ass video card, it doesn't need a lightning fast CPU to display great graphics. To compare a console to a PC in terms of hardware is illogical.
 


It's a portable exclusive for tegra. I don't value exclusives much anyway but I'd like to see NV back some great GAMEPAD experiences that look better on their hardware to push the android platform to kill consoles for good or google can do this also with whatever console they have coming. I'd rather see NV pay small amounts to lots of devs to get them to optimize their games to fully use the T4 hardware. Exclusives clearly don't hurt if they're great. An exclusive (totally) for T4 & shield wouldn't make a ton of money if any and would just be wasted cash. I'd always rather see a ton of great experiences than just ONE thing I can't get anywhere for the same dev price. For the price of one exclusive (that probably loses money on such a niche platform for a while), NV could pay a bunch of devs to make T4 hardware have many special versions of games which they seem to be doing already. Tegrazone has new versions specially altered for their hardware just since release or maybe just a lot more content for them or combo of both (more levels and better graphics etc). Until shield sells 10mil (if ever?) an exclusive is a huge waste of money that could improve maybe dozens of games if not more. At 10mil or so selling a game at 10 to 10% of the owners should guarantee a few million on a AAA game experience. Witcher2 for instance was 7mil (wit1 also) so a $10 game makes a 3mil profit and worth developing if you can get a million sold. I can see this being doable if you have it maybe exclusive for a year then allow the rest of android to have it making sure NV gets their money back for more AAA game dev, but not without tons of sales of shield alone.

Interesting times ahead as we find out in another Q how many sold. I'm hoping for a million or more (as I think that would make them 100mil on it roughly) so they can just poor that money right back into game dev immediately. With 100mil or so you can dev 25 AAA 4mil titles for next xmas or something. Whatever profits they made on sales in this Q (assuming over 100K units which I think breaks them even on the 10mil to dev it) need to be translated shortly to an announcement of a bunch of games coming.

Uncharted hasn't made me buy a PS3 (yet?). I didn't buy an xbox360 for any particular game that is exclusive either. I bought it for what I thought were far more games rated above 75 at metacritic (better experiences, and devs complaining about difficulty make ps3 games). There are not enough on PS3 to probably ever woo me. I'm not missing many games (only the exclusives) from PS3. Certainly not enough to warrant anything over $150 for me if they ever get there IMHO. I'd be buying it basically for about 15 games ps3 has that I'd like to have, and the choice of who's port is best when something new comes out. Hardly worth my purchase now.
 

Consoles are lacking this time, he is correct. This is why they will be irrelevant so fast vs. mobile that will catch them in just a few years if not sooner if someone decides to pack a few 14nm socs together in a 100w box. Consoles are dead. Mainstream will leave this time (which is the huge numbers that eventually get sold from years 3-8) and only hardcore will remain for this gen. That will kill them alone, never mind the quickly growing competition yearly.

Why do all devs say (including devs like crytek) you can't put a $2000 pc in a $500 console? Why do the graphics still look better on screenshots of PC vs. Ps4? You may be able to get away with less, but not 1/3 the power. You can't make that up no matter how you optimize. Never mind the fact you can put in too reasonably cheap cards and blow away a titan which destroys consoles already. Heck you can put in 4 cards. PC programmers can be totally lazy and output better graphics than consoles just due to the overwhelming power inside a PC. Consoles shot too low but really couldn't help it based on the losses on the last gen (8B between sony/ms)
 


A couch or bed is more comfortable? Especially after long hours on a PC all day at work and at times fat feet at home with even more hours...LOL. Not to mention I'd want it to miracast to my TV (or HDMI out to tv). I haven't seen anyone talk much about how good that works but to me that's what this is for. PC games ON my TV and using a gamepad just like an xbox etc. I want it to replace a handheld and a nextgen console purchase. Just enough fun on the TV to put those purchases off, and hardcore back on PC when it's not a gamepad game. Not to mention all the other abilities it has (movies anywhere to any hdmi or miracast tv, great tv browsing, portable netflix player no need for roku etc).

I like the device I'd just like to see them say they're funding 1Bil in AAA games for gamepads. Use them exclusive for shield for a period (6-12 months?) then sell them to all android users later to really recoup your money. They should aim them at T5 then just scale features down when the game sees it's being installed on T4 etc. I say aim at T5 power because if you start a game now it will be coming next xmas or so right? So T5 will already be in shield rev2 for 4-5 months by then.

You can make a AAA game for $2-7mil (torchlights 2mil, witcher 1&2 were ~7mil) so that's a lot of awesome games to suck people to tegra. Surely they would make 10mil+ per game in a billion unit smart device android audience (once released to everyone else). 1% of android users buy your game and you make 100mil even at $10. Every game basically can be used to fund another 10-20...LOL. This is how they can easily win the console war. Even at 4mil/game that's 250 great games (we're not talking angry birds here) over say 5 yrs (50 a year?). Smart phones/tablets that also now work with xbox360 controllers etc will make every single one profitable if they are anywhere near decent fun for $10. Vita/3DS games only cost 1mil-2mil to make (smaller assets due to low res etc), so this is very doable with the numbers I'm giving. If they don't make some announcement like this they are really wasting a great way to kill consoles quickly. More would buy a shield if they knew there were 250 great games coming over the next few years for it (above and beyond the already growing load from googleplay).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom