There’s a new device vying for a prime position in your living room: Nvidia’s Tegra X1-based high-definition gaming and video console.
There’s a new console in the fray, and it comes from the hallowed stables of one of the Gods of graphics: Nvidia. At the Game Developers Conference underway in San Francisco, Nvidia has announced Shield--their Android-based TV console that plugs into your UDH TV to up your Living room’s movie and game experience.
Capable of receiving and decoding 4K video at 60Hz, this console is powered by their all-new 1 Teraflop Tegra X1 chip that was announced in January this year. Also packing 3GB of RAM, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang claimed this new-generation console has twice the processing power of an Xbox 360 while consuming just a fifth of the power when running.
The console complements their Grid game-streaming service (no need to download and install any games; all of the titles are streamed directly from their cloud service.) The Grid service is powered by a network of Nvidia’s gaming supercomputers that run a range of games and stream them as a subscription service to devices like handheld consoles, tablets and the like. Compare it to Netflix, but for gaming. Now freshly-revamped, this streaming service is called Grid X and delivers 1080p gaming at 60gps with a response time of 150ms. No word on the bandwidth requirements for using this service, but for reference the earlier version of Grid (which delivered 720p gaming streamed at 30fps) required broadband speed that could top out at 10Mbps.
At launch there will be over 50 games available, including Portal, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Half-Life 2: Episode 1. Also in the offing are titles such as Doom 3 BFG edition, and Crytek’s Crysis 3. The Shield console is slated for launch in May this year, at a price of $199. This includes a bundled Shield controller (with a 40 hour battery life) and an optional Bluetooth remote with one-touch voice search.
It is likely to be a while before these service become available in our geographies, but stay tuned--it certainly looks like cloud-based streaming is poised to the the next big thing for gaming. Now all we need is an affordable 10+Mbps broadband connection with no data caps.
[Update]
The full specifications of the Nvidia Shield console:
- Processor: Nvidia Tegra X1 processor with 256-core Maxwell GPU with 3GB RAM
- Video Features: 4K Ultra-HD Ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H.265, H.264)
- Audio Features: 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI, High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI and USB, High-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB
- Storage: 16GB, MicroSD slot (supports 128GB cards)
- Wireless: 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth: 4.1/BLE
- Interfaces: Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, Two USB 3.0 (Type A), Micro-USB 2.0
- IR Receiver: Compatible with Logitech Harmony
- Gaming Features: NVIDIA GRID streaming service, NVIDIA GameStream
- Weight: 654g
- Height: 130mm
- Width: 210mm
- Depth: 25mm
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