NVIDIA will launch its first game console designed for the living room in May. The new NVIDIA Shield console is a box with an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor, support for 4K video, and Google’s Android TV software.

That doesn’t mean it’s just for Android games though. The system will support NVIDIA’s GRID game streaming service which means you can use it to stream games without spending money on a gaming PC.

The NVIDIA Shield console will launch in May for $199.

shield

NVIDIA will sell the console with a single controller and offer optional accessories including extra controllers, a Bluetooth remote control (with voice support and a headphone jack), and a stand.

If you’ve already got a Shield controller for one of NVIDIA’s other devices, that’ll work with the new console too.

shield remote

Like other boxes with Android TV software, you’ll be able to use the NVIDIA Shield to stream content from YouTube, Google Play, Netflix, and other online media sites. It will also come with PLEX media center software preloaded.  But its main selling point is the gaming experience.

NVIDIA says there will be more than 50 Android games optimized for the Shield available when it launches — including Crysis 3, Doom 3: BFG Edition, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. You can also use NVIDIA GameStream to load up PC games on a computer with a compatible NVIDIA graphics card and stream those titles over your home network to the Shield console so you can play them in the living room.

Or you can use NVIDIA’s GRID cloud game streaming service. NVIDIA hosts the games on its own servers and streams them to your console. That lets you buy and play newer games like the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or pay a subscription to access more than 50 PC games including Batman: Arkham Origins and Grid 2.

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NVIDIA says GRID lets you play PC games without at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second with about 150ms of latency. There will also be a cheaper option for folks that are happy with 720p game streaming.

This is actually NVIDIA’s third device to wear the Shield name. The company also offers a $199 handheld game system with a Tegra 4 processor and a $299 NVIDIA Shield Tablet with a Tegra K1 chip. You can plug either of them into a PC with an HDMI cable.

GRID streaming will be available for Shield tablet and handheld users as well.

But the new Shield console is the first with a Tegra X1 chip. It has 3GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card slot.

shield_03

The system supports 4K video and 7.1 channel audio, features dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, and Gigabit Ethernet. The system has two USB 3.0 ports, a micro USB 2.0 port, and an IR receiver that lets you use a Logitech Harmony or another third-party report.

It measures 8.3″ x 5.1″ x 1″ and weighs less than 2 pounds.

NVIDIA isn’t the only company working on an Android TV box designed for gaming. Razer introduced its own micro-console called the Razer Forge at CES in January. That device has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, support for Razer’s own game streaming technology (for streaming games from a PC on your home network — something NVIDIA’s devices also support), and a starting price of $100 (or $150 if you want a game controller).

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20 replies on “NVIDIA Shield video game console coming in May for $199”

  1. Please do remember, you cant play Actual PC games on it UNLESS you have a $200+ Graphics card for a PC to stream it, not to mention buying other computer parts so the Card doesnt Fry the System, then there is the Subscription Fee and the fee for games, so you are looking at around $500-600 dollars in spending to have everything running smoothly and play the way you want, lol
    THAT is not a good deal, THAT is Capitalism and Capitalism Means Exploitation and High Payments. not to mention It uses up bandwidth (sorry to those with Satellite internet) so that means more money out of your pocket, Along with the electricity bill due to BOTH your Computer and the Console Running at the same time.

    Trust me, as someone who has been considerately Poor for a while (but humble) I would know when something sounds too good to be true, and this my friend is not good, you will see your bank account become more Dry than a 90 year old female lesbian who just saw a naked man.

    1. No one is saying you have to use this in conjunction with another PC. Android games are just as fun and becoming more and more on par visually with their PC counterparts. Did you forget that Nvidia is also releasing Crysis 3 along side this beast, yeah Crysis 3 with no other hardware needed except for the Shield. $200 is an incredible deal for what I can only my imagine is the fastest Android machine ever built at this point. This can also be used as a desktop computer, didn’t think about that either, now that MS Office for Android has been released there is pretty much nothing that you can’t do with the Shield Console. Just install the app Second Screen so you can change the display DPI to reflect that of a normal sized desktop, basically makes Android look more like Windows in terms of the icon and text size. I just bought a new 27″ curved Samsung monitor in anticipation for this, the total cost of the machine with display, keyboard and mouse, $550. Not bad considering the step below would be some Atom box with only 2GB of RAM or a ChromeBox, at least with this I’ll be able to play games and still rock out my spreadsheets. Good job Nvidia.

  2. This is an amazing deal for a beast of a machine. Good job NVIDIA

  3. As much as I frown on nvidia for the odd bugs and quirks with their devices (owned shield tablet and tegra note 7) I get the feeling I’ll buy this nearly on release, if only to replace my chromecast which sometimes gives slightly juddery video and has no option to output audio directly over USB or S/PDIF. Gaming features would just be icing on the cake.

  4. Does this mean there will be no Shield Tablet with the x1? Was hoping for a x1 tablet so I could use it like a console such as this but with the optional ability to undock it and use it as a tablet.

    Great to see a device finally coming out with HDMI 2.0 though.

    1. No one is saying that at all, where did you come up with that. The Shield Tablet is not even a year old yet anyway.

    1. I don’t think so, you can still install Linux in a Chroot though. Works fairly well too.

  5. So, as far as devices that use the Leanback Launcher, we’ve got Nexus Player, Razer’s thing, Sony TV’s, and this. Am I missing anything? Wonder why uptake is so slow…

    1. You mean the youtube launcher? LG smart TVs use that too, but tbh that’s kinda fallen by the wayside thanks to Chromecast which iirc Android TV can act as.

      1. No, I mean the launcher that comes on Lollipop devices running the Android TV platform. The apk is called LeanbackLauncher.

  6. Just a really quick question. Will it also work like android TV which google showed off at io last year where you can search for live tv shows and movies?

  7. IR receiver ey? That’s interesting. I don’t recall them mentioning it during the presentation last night. If so it might answer one question I had. They mentioned the bluetooth remote had volume control. However they didn’t mention it having and IR blaster. I wasn’t sure if that meant it could control the volume output on the box itself (I don’t think any other streaming box does this does it?) or that it only controlled the volume when using the headphone jack on the remote.
    Also new info to me is that the two tiers of subscription for GRID are to do with stream resolution. I figured they’d have one with fewer games in the price range of Xbox and Sony subscription offerings. Then another more along the lines of Netflix pricing with more games.
    It’s an interesting value proposition. Much cheaper than the 2 console kings but they are often sold in bundles which puts their pricing much closer if you want those games. They are also more powerful I think or Nvidia would have made a big show of it.
    I wish it bundled the remote and a game controller at the price. Not that big a deal if the remote is cheap. I hope it’s not like $50 or something.
    Will also be interesting to see if either Google or Nvidia offer any kind of bundling.
    Finally I hope we learn at I/O that Google has done something to mitigate the problem of storage for these devices. Even last gen consoles could take hard drives to store a lot of big games. Android TV as a gaming platform can go nowhere on < 16GB of useful storage onboard.
    Finally + 1. I wonder if Google is getting any cut of the Nvidia app stores.

  8. Holy shit this is a beast. Chinese companies will have no way to compete with this especially at the 150 price point the are asking for these days. This is gonna be great!

    Heres a link to subscribe for updates on it – https://shield.nvidia.com/console#

    1. Agreed. Razer should have gotten the Forge TV out in Feb like they had said. At leased opens preorders.. Now it will be forgotten .. Between Steam Link and this… Not as much need for it anymore.

      1. Yes and no. This is definitely more powerful than the Razer solution BUT it depends on your primary focus. If streaming from your computer is your primary goal AND you have an AMD card (I am assuming Razer’s isn’t limited to one graphics vendor but have no idea if it works with Intel’s solutions) then you might prefer Razer’s. For anything else this will be a better solution though more expensive (a big quesiton is which accesories will be included with the 100 and 199 price tags and how much additional accesories cost since for some the cheaper option will be the winner).

    1. I don’t know jack about Android TV but the Shield Portable ran stock Android and Nvidia has provided factory images for each update they’ve released. Rooting isn’t frowned upon, they’ve honored the warranty on many an unlocked/rooted device. They seem very decent about it.

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