Despite industry-wide skepticism on the viability of dedicated handheld gaming devices ever since the App Store established its world-beating dominance, Nvidia stepped to the plate at CES yesterday and revealed a new gaming portable currently known as “Project Shield.”
The device, which looks like a cross between an Xbox 360 controller and a Nintendo 3DS, features a speedy Nvidia GPU (natch) and the Android Jelly Bean OS. Project Shield’s clamshell design houses a 720p multi-touch display measuring in at five inches. In addition to playing Android games, Nvidia says Project Shield will be able to stream games from your PC to your HDTV. Furthermore, the device will feature tablet-like functionality including access to Facebook and a music player.
It’s far too early to make predictions about Nvidia’s future successes or failures in the mobile gaming sector. However, pretty much every electronics maker looking to snatch the mobile gaming crown from Nintendo has faced dire market consequences – a good case in point would be Sony’s Vita device, which has struggled since shortly after launch. Of course, even Nintendo’s mobile market share looks like small potatoes next to Apple’s iPhone juggernaut – games like Angry Birds and Temple Run have redefined how the younger generation views gaming on the go.
No word has been given regarding pricing or a release date.
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