Soon you might have to answer this question, as multiple companies are coming out with products that fit this niche you probably don’t want. Today, the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) opened its doors, and at least two gaming devices have been shown that will have tiny screens attached to giant controllers.
The least impressive of the two comes from company PowerA (your guess is as good as mine), and it literally is controller that interfaces with your smart phone for all of those HARDCORE phone titles like Angry Birds and Words with Friends. This is the MOGA Pro:
As reported by Android Central, the MOGA Pro will have all manner of standard console buttons that will somehow be used in the stead of touch based controls. Or there might even be games that have “controller mode” or something. Who knows.
The more interesting of these two devices is from Nvidia currently called Project SHIELD.
Unlike the MOGO Pro, this does not attach to a phone, as the screen is a permanent fixture of the controller, but it is an Android (Jelly Bean) device and can access the Android store for games. Here is the standard description of generic hardware that PR people think sounds interesting:
Take your gaming anywhere with Project SHIELD, a gaming portable designed for gamers who yearn to play when, where and how they want. With the advanced processing power of NVIDIA® Tegra® 4, a full-size game controller, breakthrough Wi-Fi technology, and stunning HD video and audio, Project SHIELD redefines what gaming can be.
This thing is going to redefine gaming SO HARD.
The one interesting bit this console/handheld thing has going for it is the ability to stream games from your PC to your television. And not just any games, but Steam games, hooray! Actually, you can stream whatever, it seems, but titles in your Steam account are included in this. You do have to have certain Nvidia graphics cards to utilize this feature, but it is interesting nonetheless. Too lazy to simply move your PC tower into the living room? Or perhaps instead of that 24″ monitor you want to play Battlefield 3 on a five inch screen? Well this might be the answer you didn’t have a question to.
We will have to see how this all turns out, but for now, you can look forward to the MOGA Pro sometime in the future (who cares, honestly?) and Project SHIELD in Q2 of this year.
Update: The Verge has some hands on video now.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
CES — NVIDIA today announced Project SHIELD, a gaming portable for open platforms, designed for gamers who yearn to play when, where and how they want.
Created with the philosophy that gaming should be open and flexible, Project SHIELD flawlessly plays both Android and PC titles. As a pure Android device, it gives access to any game on Google Play. And as a wireless receiver and controller, it can stream games from a PC powered by NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPUs, accessing titles on its STEAM game library from anywhere in the home.
“Project SHIELD was created by NVIDIA engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer at NVIDIA. “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do.”
Project SHIELD combines the advanced processing power of NVIDIA Tegra® 4, breakthrough game-speed Wi-Fi technology and stunning HD video and audio built into a console-grade controller. It can be used to play on its own integrated screen or on a big screen, and on the couch or on the go.
Tegra 4 at Its Heart
At the core of Project SHIELD is the world’s fastest mobile processor, the new NVIDIA Tegra 4, which delivers enormous power from its custom 72-core GeForce GPU and the first quad-core application of ARM’s most advanced CPU core, the Cortex-A15. These, combined with its battery-saver core and energy-saving PRISM 2 technology, deliver hours of gameplay on a single charge.
Windows and Android Games
Windows and Android are the world’s most successful computing platforms, with massive ecosystems of system and software developers. While not specifically designed for gaming, both open platforms have drawn gamers by the millions. Project SHIELD is designed to allow them to enjoy Android and Windows games in a new, exciting way.
Project SHIELD can instantly download Android games, including Android-optimized titles available on NVIDIA’s TegraZone™ game store, which has already delivered more than 6 million downloads to gamers. It can also be used as a wireless game receiver to a nearby PC equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 GPU or higher.
Console-Grade Controller
Project SHIELD’s ergonomic controller was built for the gamer who wants ultimate control and precision.
Retinal Gaming Display
Brilliant gameplay and video are provided by Project SHIELD’s integrated 5-inch, 1280×720 HD retinal multitouch display, with 294 dpi. Plus, Tegra 4 with Direct Touch technology gives it touch responsiveness that is a more consistent, accurate and smooth-flowing touch input experience than a standard touch device.
Tuned Port, Bass Reflex Portable Speaker System
Deep, rich audio is critical for a great gaming experience. And Project SHIELD provides fidelity and dynamic range never before available on a portable device, through its custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system — with twice the low-frequency output of high-end laptops.
Project SHIELD can also access Android apps such as Hulu, Netflix and Slacker Radio, so users can enjoy their movies and music anywhere without expensive, clumsy wired or wireless speakers.
Support by Leading Industry Analyst
Patrick Moorhead, president and lead analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said: “The market has waited years for a breakthrough gaming device that offers the flexibility, quality and total enjoyment of Project SHIELD. Few companies other than NVIDIA have the vision, guts and deep gaming experience to have pulled this off.”
Support by Leading Game Developers
Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ubisoft, said: “Ubisoft is always excited about new hardware developments, and Project SHIELD promises to bring both mobile and PC gamers a great new gaming experience. Seeing the PC version of Assassin’s Creed III run on the device is a great example of this, and further strengthens Ubisoft’s long-standing relationship with NVIDIA.”
Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, said: “With Project SHIELD, NVIDIA brings an uncompromising, high-performance console experience to mobile devices. Amazing games including Real Boxing and Hawken, which utilize the latest Unreal Engine technology, look fantastic on Project SHIELD. This is just the beginning, and we’re truly excited to see what more Unreal Engine developers will do with so much horsepower in such a compact gaming device.”
Bill Wagner, chief production officer at Meteor Entertainment, said: “Coming from the openness of a PC platform, we love how accessible Project SHIELD is, and the flexibility it gives gamers everywhere. Project SHIELD gives us the cutting-edge ability to bring a huge free-to-play PC game like Hawken to the handheld gaming audience.”
Support by Broader Industry
“Shadowgun and Dead Trigger showed how Tegra can redefine mobile gaming on Android. Project SHIELD’s performance has allowed us to bring an even better experience with Dead Trigger 2, debuting first on Tegra 4 devices. Our fans are going to love it.”
– Marek Rabas, chief executive officer of MADFINGER Games
“Project SHIELD has changed how we approach mobile game development. Tegra 4 helped us create Bloodsword — a new game debuting with the highest resolution textures, graphics and shading we’ve ever seen on a portable device.”
– Seunghee Do, co-founder at OneQ Soft
“We are very excited to be part of Project SHIELD, and are quite amazed by the gaming potential of this device. Project SHIELD is by far the fastest mobile device we’ve worked on and it lets us put console quality graphics on a handheld device.”
– Stine Waern, chief executive officer at Ravn Studio AS
“Thanks to Project SHIELD’s performance, we’re able to use the same quality textures and shaders in Rochard as on the PC version. We’re super excited to bring Rochard to Project SHIELD, the first time it’s ever been playable on a mobile device.”
– Jan Achrenius, chief executive officer at Recoil Games
“Put simply, Project SHIELD is an amazing leap forward, enabling us to create console-quality visuals previously unthinkable on a mobile platform.”
– Arden Aspinall, chief executive officer and project lead at TickTock Games Ltd.
More information is available at shield.nvidia.com.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Today, its processors power a broad range of products from smartphones to supercomputers. NVIDIA’s mobile processors are used in cell phones, tablets and auto infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy spectacularly immersive worlds. Professionals use them to create 3D graphics and visual effects in movies and to design everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers utilize GPUs to advance the frontiers of science with high performance computing. The company has more than 5,000 patents issued, allowed or filed, including ones covering ideas essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the impact, performance and benefits of Project SHIELD and the effects of the company’s patents on modern computing are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended October 28, 2012. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
© 2013 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, Tegra and PRISM are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.
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