There are ugly seams in the plastic shell, particularly around the triggers, two visible screws, and the port arrangement feels lopsided. The bezels on the screen are ridiculously huge compared to today's smartphones, and the device's profile can seem grotesque. When opened, it's like an oversized Xbox 360 game controller mated with a giant Nintendo DS.
When closed, it's a bulbous black manta ray of a device with green lips and a shiny silver forehead. The Nvidia Shield has a face only a gamer could love. Six months later, the Shield showed up on my doorstep. Nvidia even promised it would stream games from my home gaming PC.
INFINITE TANKS NVIDIA SHIELD PORTABLE
For $299, the graphics giant promised the most powerful hardware we’d ever seen in a portable console, running stock Android, with what basically amounted to a built-in Xbox 360 controller at the helm. Then, the next best thing came along: Nvidia announced the Shield at CES. I wanted the equivalent of a PlayStation Vita running iOS. I wanted the best of both: the physical controls to explore immersive worlds, and a store to convince developers to build them. But where “real” game systems like the PlayStation Vita are struggling to build a library of game titles, the iTunes App Store continually tempts me with addictive, artsy new games.
It’s bulky, the touchscreen controls are pretty crappy for navigating 3D worlds, and the graphics are merely okay. Perhaps the saddest part is that my iPad isn’t a very good game system. The only time I actually pick up the iPad, sadly, is to play video games. I convinced myself I’d use it for everything: showing off wedding photos, reading all those neglected articles I save to Pocket, and as a second monitor for my laptop.