Nvidia's Project Shield - 'Android & Tegra 4 inside'

[Hồng Thất Công]

Take the shield, give it pandora's excellent dpad, add a keyboard, and 2 full sized sd slots and dualboot linux/android and the pandora 2 could be a real winner IMO.

Yep.  And now lunixbosch WINE is in the work P2 will be the ultimate machine!

 

[Jumpman]

Thanks guys, excellent reviews and or comments. I'm still super excited to take the plunge, and I'm sure I'll love it. 

I'm not really getting this to replace my Pandora, so comparisons aren't really need, but they are appreciated, as they give me a good point of reference(which I'm sure is why they where made). I always knew computer emulation would be less, due to the lack of a proper keyboard, but I actually never use those on the Pandora either, as I find them to be difficult even with the keyboard

As far as the portability goes, I don't really find any of the current devices all that portable really. My Vita, XL both have a decent size to them and with their cases, I only ever move them in my backpack anyways, so I'm sure the Shield shouldn't be an issue.

I never really thought much about PSP emulation, as I still use my PSP for those games, but N64 is a HUGE selling point for me personally. Hopefully by the time I get my unit someone will have worked out the issues and improved the Shield's performance in that area.

I'm actually really interest in Android gaming as well. I'm a handheld gamer at heart, so having the chance for high quality games, at cheap pricing, is a WIN/WIN for me. Tegra 4 games are really interesting to me. I don't look at the Shield as a replacement to my Pandora, Vita, 3DS XL, ect. I just see it as a new device that offers me a different experience to what I already have. Now this will be a replacement to my iPod Touch, as I should have never bought that to begin with. It was the only device I ever bought for games and it hardly ever got used.

@CoCoCreekFisherman

If you want one of my glossy shields, just drop me a PM with your mailing info, and I'll give you the pricing(I'll give it to you at my cost+shipping). I've got two coming, and I believe they are due to arrive Monday or Tuesday.

Chris

 

[CocoCreekFisherman]

Said I was going to do a review but as I look around at other reviews I see the same things I would mention being said over and over. I have nothing new to bring to the table other than comparing it to the Pandora. So in shy of a full review I'll just give some impressions after a week or two of using it constantly.

Feels awesome, you get used to the weight real quick, can play for hours upon hours in a row without fatigue or discomfort. Controls are fantastic, not the best of the best, but the best all in one. The Pandoras dpad is still the best but the shields other controls are all better than the Pandora. Also ergonomically it's much superior in my opinion. The pandora is more mobile because of it's size, but I don't find it to be a big challenge to carry it along with me. Durability is defiantly in favor of the shield, it's a tank and has very high quality plastics the pandora has "good enough" plastics but is completely fragile in comparison.

Get retroarch and the vast majority of your emulation (PSX, SNES, NES, GBA, GBC, VB, PCE, NGP, SMD, SMS, SGG, 2600 etc etc) will be dreamlike goodness. Drastic offers the same level for NDS. N64 & PSP are about the same level of playability with some games working remarkably well and others are just not compatible or too slow or glitchy to play. Given the brute power of the device its a much better experience on the shield vs the Pandora. I am still in the process of getting a 139 romset to test MAME but others say mame4droid reloaded is great. There's a select few ROMs that are supposed to give the system a challenge that I promised I would test. The tip of the hat to the shield for game console emulation because it has the power to push perfect framerates even with all the fancy filters and scalers enabled and even in more primitive emulators PSP, N64, Saturn etc, it can push them harder to get framerates not achievable on the Pandora.

The area the Pandora has the shield licked is computer emulation. Game computers (Amiga/c64 etc etc) and qemu are just natural fits on the Pandora where it's possible to do some of those systems with great or lots better actual performance but getting them to run is an absolute pain in the ass in my opinion and using them even worse. This is where having a on screen keyboard is no substitute. Storage is another strong suit of the Pandora with a practical max space of 256GB vs the shields current 80GB (less usable) 64GB micro + 16GB onboard. Battery life for emulation has been consistently the same 10 hours that I used to get on the Pandora with the same conditions (all radios off & half brightness) The vast majority of the emulators you find on the Pandora have similar ports on android and in some cases are ports of the same software.

Full support of Android vs Linux is the obvious difference here and could honestly be changed or converged upon on either device with either device fully supporting both OS's in a dual boot situation. All it takes is a community project or dedicated skilled developer on either or both devices. Full controls (analogs especially) in android games that support it is a major tip of the hat to shield in that respect. The Pandora has a lot of exclusive games that haven't been ported to android yet so the shield lacks a bit with the sheer number of games and apps that actually take advantage of all the controls and would benefit a lot from Pandoras software catalog if a Linux port were to be done. But the android games that the shield does play natively are unplayable or nowhere near as good on the Pandora with its unfinished android port or lack of power, or a combination of both.

As far as comparisons of the two devices aside from the price difference where I won't talk about because of the production scale of the two. This feels to me what the pandora 2 should be, or at least share a lot of the same qualities. Lots of

things people have been asking for in the pandora 2 are what are already in the shield. I'm not sure if this is a positive, but this looks like what craig's Pandora 2 would be if it had a keyboard attached. HDMI, rock solid wifi, higher def screen, R2 trigger buttons, microsd slot (not sure if a positive) Real analog sticks, quad core cortex a15 processor, 2GB ram (I think he wanted 8GB) these are all things people have been asking for and this has those things. This already has a lot of the things the pandora has as main selling features and does a lot of them one better. Minus the keyboard, and the OS it runs, this shares a hell of a lot of the similarities as the pandora even down to the clam shell design. That can't be overlooked.

Haven't gotten a chance to use the PC streaming yet or the miracast but those add a whole other aspect to the functionality that the pandora doesn't have. One allowing the shield to display what another machine is processing, and the other being another machine displaying what the shield is processing.

Think that sums up the subject at least in my opinion.

Nice review.  I wish Pandora 2 will come soon and beat the shit out of the Shield.  I think NVidia browsed the web (boards.openpadora.org) before making the shield to see what gamers want and built the Shield around these suggestions.

wow Shenmue you really dislike the Shield I gather!!

 

[Klumpen]

Nice review.  I wish Pandora 2 will come soon and beat the shit out of the Shield.  I think NVidia browsed the web (boards.openpadora.org) before making the shield to see what gamers want and built the Shield around these suggestions.

Of course they did. They would have been ignorant if they didn't.


It's obvoius, that they gathered some of the main selling points of the Pandora, which are not existent enywhere else in this combination or at all.

Long battery life over formfactor, decent gaming controls/dpad rather than some weird new design, clamshell with single touchscreen,

good audio quaility, emulation as a key factor, etc...

Of course they still got some disadvantages, but that's mainly because of wanting to have more of a gamepad than a physical keyboard and

no company can gather a community like this one at all.

 

[SNESFAN]

As far as the portability goes, I don't really find any of the current devices all that portable really. My Vita, XL both have a decent size to them and with their cases, I only ever move them in my backpack anyways, so I'm sure the Shield shouldn't be an issue.

I never really thought much about PSP emulation, as I still use my PSP for those games, but N64 is a HUGE selling point for me personally. Hopefully by the time I get my unit someone will have worked out the issues and improved the Shield's performance in that area.

I find it the same. I can technically carry my pandora in my pocket, even though it's sticks out and takes up all my pocket real estate, the shield I can not at all, it is significantly bigger. But without a bag it would be hand carried and not really an option even though I've done it to and from my car at work. Same as the Pandora, so for me personally the requirements for portability of both devices are similar.

N64 (mupen64 plus ae) is a more advanced port of mupen on the pandora. (a pandora port of the same software was promised a while ago but no progress is reported) It shares a lot of the same compatibility issues, but performs better because of more/different video cores options and raw performance. PSP (PPSSPP) is the same port the pandora has and has with it the same niggles as far as compatibility, performance is better because of the hardware difference.

Both softwares may reach a fully compatible fully playable state on both devices in the future with some love. The performance gains in software optimizations should in theory ( looking at you paul ) benefit both devices as they are the same titles, and there's nothing saying that both won't be perfect emulators someday.

 

[CocoCreekFisherman]

All I can say is that ZOMBIE DRIVER for the Shield is a Tegra 4 optimized game and if this is a sign of what is in store to come we are in for quite a thrill!!!!!!!!!

It is fabulous!!!!  Bloody great time!!

Going back to play now.

 

[IceBurn 3000]

Some people are already selling theirs on ebay guess its just a quick thrill device

Yeah I just ordered a used one on ebay, cost an extra 100 or so Euro, but that's mostly import and shipping. Cheapest way I've seen to bring one into Ireland so I jumped on it.

Oh, and I got a T-shirt with it!

^ you made a wise choice . Make sure you check out the FPS Conduit....the first 2 levels are free. The second I played Sonic Episode 2 my jaw dropped    . Dead Trigger is free and looks and plays amazingly and I am anxiously waiting for the sequel. Oh yes and if you like jet ski games [my favorite] Riptide 2 is amazing and has great water physics.

Congrats !!

Yeah I like to think so. I'll defo check out those games, I looked into the Conduit, looks pretty good! I could have waited for a reveal on European release and then wait some more for the launch but I think I made the right choice!

 

[Jumpman]

 I could have waited for a reveal on European release and then wait some more for the launch but I think I made the right choice!

Yeah, I think you made a good call for sure. I always used to import handhelds and systems, especially before region locks became the issue that they are today. As long you have the funds, I would say to anyone, why wait? No telling when this might reach your region, and with the exchange rates, it could cost close to what you paid anyway.

Every system I've ever imported, I was very happy with. Some gave me only a few months lead time, while others gave me more. Early adoption is not for everyone, but I enjoy it when I can.

Chris

 

[vcoleiro1]

ED should import some Nvidia Shields and sell them in his shop catering to Europe.

The profits could be used to fund Craigs Pre-Orders. 

Just an idea

 

[xiongxioi]

ED should import some Nvidia Shields and sell them in his shop catering to Europe.

The profits could be used to fund Craigs Pre-Orders. 

Just an idea

Nah, that would take like forever. Even selling things like pandora with such a big profit margin, he still needs to vendor hundreds of them.

I doubt he can earn even 70 bucks for every shield.

 

[vcoleiro1]

^ People are selling the Shield for $450 on ebay.  Remember that ED sells more than the PAndoira on his site, he also sells other consoles like the GCW etc.  What better console to sell in Europe than one that's not available there and has some demand .  

 

[xiongxioi]

^ People are selling the Shield for $450 on ebay.  Remember that ED sells more than the PAndoira on his site, he also sells other consoles like the GCW etc.  What better console to sell in Europe than one that's not available there and has some demand .  

yeah, I see where you are coming from. It's certainly doable, may be even profitible. But just how much demand there is for the shield, that is an unanswered question.

People are selling it for 450 bucks, but that doesn't give an indication about its profit margin. It's quite expensive for a ugly brick that can't make phone calls and is marketed heavily on "future potential". We all know how well tegra 2, and 3's performed.

ED did ordered a lot of GCW zeros, though that's more to show support for his open brothers than trying to make any money out of that. He does sell ever drives and such niche products, it's more like a hobby than he having any intention of making quick bucks.

However, I do agree with you that I jumped to the conclusion a bit too fast, as I'm a big hater for android, and I can't tolerate the idea of an android gaming system.

 

[Jumpman]

To my knowledge, demand seems pretty good overseas, especially since there is no exact release dates for anywhere outside of US/Canada. Since Nvidia isn't officially selling them in other regions yet, I doubt Ed could get any form of "wholesale" pricing, and depending on a few other factors, this could be more trouble than it's worth, but the potential is there.

Here's another cool unboxing/review clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49y3YEi6yP4

The more I see, the more I WANT Currently, September 1st is my to buy date, so hopefully I'll be joining you guys soon.

Chris

 

[alucart1984]

To my knowledge, demand seems pretty good overseas, especially since there is no exact release dates for anywhere outside of US/Canada. Since Nvidia isn't officially selling them in other regions yet, I doubt Ed could get any form of "wholesale" pricing, and depending on a few other factors, this could be more trouble than it's worth, but the potential is there.

Here's another cool unboxing/review clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49y3YEi6yP4

The more I see, the more I WANT Currently, September 1st is my to buy date, so hopefully I'll be joining you guys soon.

Chris

Thought you might want to see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l51Qfd5dkn4

It is a video I made of Daggerfall running on the Shield.  Why is Sept 1st your to buy date?

 

[fusion_power]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

 

[Jumpman]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

Well, this is a new product by a company that has never really done something like this, so I'm not surprised by the limited roll out. Hell, Nintendo and Sony both released their last 2 handhelds in one region first, and then elsewhere. I've heard their customer service has been top notch, and consumers only have nice things to say, so I would hope they continue down this road and will hopefully roll out to the UK and other regions ASAP.

To my knowledge, demand seems pretty good overseas, especially since there is no exact release dates for anywhere outside of US/Canada. Since Nvidia isn't officially selling them in other regions yet, I doubt Ed could get any form of "wholesale" pricing, and depending on a few other factors, this could be more trouble than it's worth, but the potential is there.

Here's another cool unboxing/review clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49y3YEi6yP4

The more I see, the more I WANT Currently, September 1st is my to buy date, so hopefully I'll be joining you guys soon.

Chris

 Why is Sept 1st your to buy date?

I've actually been busy, and I was finally able to order a full body screen protector over the weekend. I never use a new device until I have one on hand, as once I check that the device function properly, I do the install. That probably won't be showing up for at least another week, and then I have to have the time to check the system and then do my install, so the 1st seemed like a good day to shoot for.

I have also been reselling some units on Ebay, and my original plan was to sell 4 and then buy mine(to cover my cost). Well, sales have been pretty good so far, so I figured I'd keep selling them until I have a reason to stop, and that seems like it may happen soon(around the 1st), but who knows? It's been really hard having units in my possession and not opening one, but I don't mind the wait.  

Chris

 

[alucart1984]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

Well, this is a new product by a company that has never really done something like this, so I'm not surprised by the limited roll out. Hell, Nintendo and Sony both released their last 2 handhelds in one region first, and then elsewhere. I've heard their customer service has been top notch, and consumers only have nice things to say, so I would hope they continue down this road and will hopefully roll out to the UK and other regions ASAP.

To my knowledge, demand seems pretty good overseas, especially since there is no exact release dates for anywhere outside of US/Canada. Since Nvidia isn't officially selling them in other regions yet, I doubt Ed could get any form of "wholesale" pricing, and depending on a few other factors, this could be more trouble than it's worth, but the potential is there.

Here's another cool unboxing/review clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49y3YEi6yP4

The more I see, the more I WANT Currently, September 1st is my to buy date, so hopefully I'll be joining you guys soon.

Chris

 Why is Sept 1st your to buy date?

I've actually been busy, and I was finally able to order a full body screen protector over the weekend. I never use a new device until I have one on hand, as once I check that the device function properly, I do the install. That probably won't be showing up for at least another week, and then I have to have the time to check the system and then do my install, so the 1st seemed like a good day to shoot for.

I have also been reselling some units on Ebay, and my original plan was to sell 4 and then buy mine(to cover my cost). Well, sales have been pretty good so far, so I figured I'd keep selling them until I have a reason to stop, and that seems like it may happen soon(around the 1st), but who knows? It's been really hard having units in my possession and not opening one, but I don't mind the wait.  

Chris

I noticed some people buying them for 500+ on ebay and thought about selling them too but didn't have enough money or time to deal with all that.  

 

[xiongxioi]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

I'm too afraid of that thing blowing up my house. Iphone 5 has a 5.45whz battery, and its explosion nearly cost some unluck lady's eyeball. The shield has a massive 28.8Wh battery, I would not be surprised if its blows up and send your car to the orbit.

 

[SNESFAN]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

I'm too afraid of that thing blowing up my house. Iphone 5 has a 5.45whz battery, and its explosion nearly cost some unluck lady's eyeball. The shield has a massive 28.8Wh battery, I would not be surprised if its blows up and send your car to the orbit.

they use standard 18650's I use these for my e-cigarettes and the ones I get are of a lot more questionable quality I'm certain... (15 for $30) and I imagine I push them a lot harder as well (6.0v @ 8.0w in short 3-5sec bursts)

and I never have had a problem with mine blowing up leaking or puffing up. They are protected cells as well... even the unprotected haven't had any issues and I plug them into a charger I got off ebay for 2 for a dollar. I leave them plugged in for days at a time.

it's the equivalent to a 7600mah battery FWIR and it's not that insane of a battery really. If you're comfortable with the pandora (obviously) when it had the puffy battery problem then you should feel safe as hell with these.

 

[hailrazer]

Strange that the Shield is not available worldwide. NVidia doesn't want to make money with this Handheld I guess? ^^

I'm too afraid of that thing blowing up my house. Iphone 5 has a 5.45whz battery, and its explosion nearly cost some unluck lady's eyeball. The shield has a massive 28.8Wh battery, I would not be surprised if its blows up and send your car to the orbit.

You are confusing Lithium-Ions with Lithium Polymer.

The Shield uses Ion's which have a protective case around them and are not prone to "blowing up"

Lithium polymer's don't have a protective casing so the are more prone to problems from heat and puncture and then yes they can "blow up" easier. 

The Shield will have no problems.