Formerly code-named Project Shield, Nvidia’s concept gaming device has officially became a consumer product as Nvidia Shield. The Nvidia Shield will run on Android and feature Tegra 4 (Nvidia’s latest mobile chipset), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD), a 5″ 720p multi-touch IPS display and a fully-integrated gamepad.

I managed to get some hands-on time with the Shield at PAX East in March and was left relatively impressed by the controller layout and feel. Aside from being able to play Android-based games, the Shield will most notably allow gamers to stream their PC game to their Nvidia Shield, provided they are on the same local network and have a compatible GTX GPU. This, not the ability to play Android games, will be the Shield’s calling card.

In my time with the Shield I was impressed with its ability to play Android games flawlessly but a mobile game will always remain a mobile game. They won’t be able to offer the kind of immersion that console or PC games have been providing for decades. The ability to stream your PC game to your Shield anywhere in the house is an attractive functionality – but is it really worth the $350 asking price? We’ll have to wait and see.

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