Thread: Nvidia 'Project Shield' console

At CES in Las Vegas, Nvidia has thrown the gauntlet down in front of Sony and Nintendo by unveiling its own games console -- "Project Shield".

The handheld system, which bears a striking resemblance to an Xbox 360 controller with a five-inch touchscreen glued to its face, features the chip-maker's just-announced Tegra 4 mobile processor inside. It runs on the Android operating system, making it compatible with the vast catalogue of games and apps available on Google's platform, and it can connect with compatible Windows PCs so gamers can play Skyrim and Assassin's Creed on the couch.

It was a complete surprise when Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang unveiled it here in Las Vegas, but in so many ways it's an exciting new system for gamers and Android users alike. It takes some key attractions of Android -- low-cost games, an open ecosystem for developers, an established marketplace -- and blends it with Nvidia's most powerful mobile processor inside a chassis that's designed for gaming, rather than on-screen D-pads and buttons.



That combination opens the doors to developers who want to make high-end games for the Android platform, but feel creatively restricted by the touchscreen controls offered by smartphones.

Project Shield (it's a codename; a real name hasn't been decided upon yet) has the potential to sidestep Sony's dilemma with the PS Vita -- reasonably priced high-end hardware, but with costly games -- and marry it to the established Android community of developers and publishers. That's a win-win scenario for customers.

Or it could be a big dull dud. But a big dull dud that inspires competing manufacturers to make their own Nvidia-powered gaming hardware with similar form factors, which the sceptic in me believes is the more realistic outcome. Project Shield, in its current form, strikes me as a brilliant proof-of-concept product, but something that exists to show hardware makers what such a product could function like. Microsoft did it with the Surface tablet because it felt it needed a flagship product to show the world what Windows 8 could do; Google does it with its flagship Nexus smartphones for similar reasons.

What the real deal-breaker will be is price, which is currently unknown. Release dates are similarly vague -- sometime in the summer is likely. But Project Shield is certainly causing a stir at CES and it's a stir I'm looking forward to getting in on when I have the chance to play with one on the show floor later this week. Watch this space.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/...project-shield

Something similar to Valve's upcoming "Steam Box" has been unveiled by Xi3Corporation at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The grapefruit-sized Xi3 Modular Computer is a system optimised for computer gameplay on large high-definition television monitors, according to the company.
The device is specifically designed to support both Steam and its Big Picture mode "for residential and LAN party computer gaming on larger high-def screens", said Xi3.
The Xi3's aluminum case houses an AMD Athlon 64 processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and a power/video card, and all the required inputs and outputs, all spread across three easily-switched boards.
Only eight screws stand between the system's owner and its innards, so it's obviously made to be modified or upgraded.
The surprising news is that the system received investment from none other than Valve itself.
"This new development stage product will allow users to take full-advantage of their large high-definition TV displays for an amazing computer game experience," said Xi3 CEO Jason A. Sullivan.
"As a result, this new system could provide access to thousands of gaming titles through an integrated system that exceeds the capabilities of leading game consoles, but can fit in the palm of your hand."
The base model of the Xi3 features a 1.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of flash storage, and retails for US$850 (NZ$1016). Its aluminum case is available in several bright colours.
It doesn't ship with an operating system, Xi3 stating that its intended audience is cloud computing customers and "the embedded market".






No word on the exact specs & performance but for what's listed and the price they're charging I think they're taking the piss.

Archos gamepad is now available in the US $170-180 USD

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&....1.xdrh9kYtiBg