What does the Nvidia Shield do? Would it be good for me?

[caseybrunet]

I've heard about the Nvidia shield for a long time but never needed or wanted to look into it. Now my situation has changed but I can't seem to pinpoint if it will do what I need it to do. Essentially I have a lot of steam games that I just don't get to play as often because it would require me sitting in the corner of my bedroom completely ignoring my family. Often while my daughter is playing with her toys in the living room (where she likes to play most of the time) I will play my console games so that I could play and still keep an eye on her but I have very few console games and don't really want to buy games for it because I like PC so much more. An ideal solution would be to play my PC games on my living room TV but at the moment would require moving my entire PC and I just cant do that. So I have a few questions about the Nvidia shield.

1) What is it and what does it do? I see that it has many amazing features regarding video streaming and smart networking but bottom line it I want to play games in my living room that run on my PC.
1a) I've seen people playing games on the tablet itself, does it run on the tablet or does it simply stream from the PC?
2) Could I stream my PC gaming to the living room TV with at least 60 FPS?
3) If so can I use my xbox controller to do it or does it require the shield controller?

I'm sorry if some of the questions seem repetitive. I am going off of assumptions I've made through random bits of information I have acquired and if I am wrong please tell me. I am quite a technical person so don't hesitate to be specific.

My other option is a steam machine simply connected in my living room, but that seems like a much more expensive option. If you believe it is the better option though please let me know.

Thank You to all!

 

[Rogue Leader]

The Shield is an android based set top box. There are android games you can download and play on your tv and also shield specific games that are like last gen PC releases (like Portal and Metal Gear Rising). if you have a PC with a Nvidia card you can stream PC games to it, I think it runs at 60fps if your computer is up to the task and your TV. It has its own controller thats very similar to an Xbox controller.

There is also a Shield Tablet that does the same thing in Tablet form, and it has an HDMI out to the TV. Its weaker than the set top box but the advantage is its portable of course.

I have the Shield Tablet and I love it, and I don't even use the game streaming. its just an excellent tablet.