Nvidia to enter portable gaming with Nvidia "Project Shield"

[a_ump]

This is on NPU, but over there it lacks the attention i feel it deserves which it'll get here. Apparently Nvidia is going to enter the portable gaming market and compete with PS Vita and Smartphones. Full Story

Among others, such as Archos, NVIDIA realized the potential of powerful Android-driven handheld gaming consoles. At CES, it announced "Project Shield," a handheld gaming console featuring a 5-inch HD touchscreen (720p), a shape akin to PlayStation or Xbox game controllers, with a full D-pad, four action keys, triggers, and two analog thumb-sticks.

Important points
-Tegra 4 SoC
-720P Screen Resolution
-Console can connect to TV over HDMI
-Support for 4k Ultra HD resolutions via HDMI
-Micro SDHC slot

Not much else is known about it but i felt it deserved to be posted here at TPU.

Me personally, i can't wait to see what it can do, the type of games and whatnot. I think it'll be pretty dam slick and using a Nvidia GPU that has 72 CUDA cores compared to the PS Vita's GPU(w/e that is) i'm sure we'll see some kickass portable graphics. They just need to make sure they get some great developers for their games so gameplay doesn't blow.

 

[erixx]

Technologically it is state of the art, an android phone with a gamepad implanted, lol. Not sure if the world needs this. More fat kids.

 

[erocker]

I'll just wait for a Tegra 4 (or comparable) powered smart phone.

 

[Crap Daddy]

Was a little bit surprised this topic hasn't come up yet here.
I was scratching my head for 2 days to figure out what the hell was JHH thinking. Still don't have the answer. Everybody seems nowadays bound to launch some kind of a gaming console.

 

[happita]

Not a bad concept. All other handheld device gaming portables do not seem very controller friendly. This seems to mimic the xbox 360 controller which I see is a good thing. However, there are lots of variables for this thing to succeed in the market:
1. Controller must be the right size and ergonomic
2. Price must be competitive
3. Reasonable power consumption

I see this beating out Razer's Razor Edge imo if they market this the right way.

 

[Crap Daddy]

The main thing is that this will play your android games AND your PC games on the big screen.
It's not clear if it's constrained to 720p though or if you can play on that small screen your PC games while in the kitchen.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

The only thing worse than perpetuating the very antiquated analog stick gamepad, is slapping a Capt Kirk flip up screen on one.

 

[Frick]

To me the PSP (and similiar devices) are pretty much the ultimate portable gaming devices. That is too big and it looks stupid.

 

[erocker]

The only thing worse than perpetuating the very antiquated analog stick gamepad, is slapping a Capt Kirk flip up screen on one.

I very much prefer the analog stick to a pad or anything else people have come up with. I do wish there was something else though, as the "dual stick" thing can feel quite unnatural with some games.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

I very much prefer the analog stick to a pad or anything else people have come up with. I do wish there was something else though, as the "dual stick" thing can feel quite unnatural with some games.

I could probably eventually get used to the ergonomics, that's not really my issue. They've also vastly improved since the 8-way vs four way movement. What I can't stand is the lack of intuitiveness of the aiming direction in some games, and the aim toggle's speed limiter.

Why so many gamepad users struggle with mice is beyond me. You have a simple device that mimicks the direction a character looks or aims with fire button attached. It's so simple a trained monkey could do it, but give them a gamepad and they'd be struggling.

Not only that, a mouse is used by your whole hand vs your thumb. It's very natural to point and gesture using your hand, but a thumb? Have these gamepad designers never heard of the expression "all thumbs"? For as long as gamepads have been around, you'd think they'd have come up with something better by now.

 

[a_ump]

The only thing worse than perpetuating the very antiquated analog stick gamepad, is slapping a Capt Kirk flip up screen on one.

what would you have instead of an analog stick? a touch circle, similar to a laptops touch pad, for the thumbs? i would see people who have sweaty hands/fingers slipping past the sensing circle's edge, especially in FPS(MW3, BF3) with tense moment where you're trying to catch someone or run away. as for the Capt kirk flip screen...um nintendo ds(all versions), and laptops still use them. ps vita i will say has a very nice set up but for those that are going on long trips this thing would be ideal imo. instead of having to hang your head the whole time to look down at the screen, you would more forward. I remember my neck getting a cramp when i have gameboy(c,a) and PSP.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

what would you have instead of an analog stick? a touch circle, similar to a laptops touch pad, for the thumbs? i would see people who have sweaty hands/fingers slipping past the sensing circle's edge, especially in FPS(MW3, BF3) with tense moment where you're trying to catch someone or run away. as for the Capt kirk flip screen...um nintendo ds(all versions), and laptops still use them. ps vita i will say has a very nice set up but for those that are going on long trips this thing would be ideal imo. instead of having to hang your head the whole time to look down at the screen, you would more forward. I remember my neck getting a cramp when i have gameboy(c,a) and PSP.

No, def not ANYTHING sense touch. Those LT pads are even worse. First, I'd make movement and aim controls digital, not analog. Being analog only benefits one thing, driving, and more so older games that do not have hold A or D key to arc a turn steering like many race games do now.

I understand why they use thumb toggles, but it presents the problems I've exampled, plus having to lift your thumb off the right stick to hit the action or other buttons, and in fast QTE games like GoW, it's annoying as hell. I believe the reason they stick to the existing design is two fold. They want it to be a small hand held controller that people are familiar with. They also want it to be usable standing, but most sit down when using one.

Fine and good for those whom are familiar with and and not bothered by them, although even those whom claim to like them and have grown up with them exhibit noticeably clumsier control than the average KB/M player, save for a few that are very good with them.

I'm not suggesting gamepads should be replaced by something else, but that each main console platform support at least one device that somewhat sensibly offers a better alternative for those whom prefer KB/M, without actually having to use an actual KB & M, which face it, are not that portable.

Which brings me to second. I would opt for a KB/M alternative that is at least twice the size of a gamepad with extendable wings you rest on your knees, or 3 times the size with rubber pads under it that rest on your knees, which is what I'd prefer. It would have instead of mini toggles, a couple of 2" or so diameter raised rubber domes that fit under each palm. These would have a larger movement than mini toggles and digitally replicate movement and aim vs analogically.

It would leave the fingers free for forward triggers and buttons like gamepads have, but the buttons could be placed much more intuitively for index, middle, and ring fingers. Between the plam pads you could have a couple thumb buttons for each hand, or a D-Pad on one side and a couple buttons on the other. There could be two models. One aimed more toward gamepads that has a left palm pad and D-Pad, and one that uses a keypad on the left side instead of a palm pad for nav, with thumb buttons vs a D-Pad. You could also consider the pad one more for race games.

Of course this means you can't use it standing and no motion control support, neither of which are all that popular among gamepad users anyway. Kinect seems to be dominating motion sensing too, where you don't even use a controller. I understand many want triggers for gas and brake, which makes sense if they're ramped, even if digitally (though analog is the best way to go for that). That could be accommodated by making the forward middle part of the device a large V or U shape, with inset triggers placed for the index fingers.

Granted this would not really be like a gamepad or a KB/M, but I feel it's a sensible marriage of the two that might even have some die hard gamepad users wanting to try it if were made well. And btw, the Capt Kirk comment wasn't about flip up screens being bad. My argument is, are common gamepads worthy of such sophistication. After all, it's still just a glorified gamepad, with all the typical tradeoffs.