Nvidia Shield Launches This June For $350

At CES 2013, Nvidia announced Project Shield – an Android-based handheld that could also stream PC games onto its 5-inch display. Now it’s been five months since its reveal, and Nvidia is almost ready to unleash its stab at the dedicated Android gaming machine market.

Nvidia announced today that Project Shield is now simply called Shield. The GPU maker also announced that it would be available this June for $350. For the price, you’ll be getting what is essentially a luxury item among Android devices.

So, has anything changed from when Nvidia first announced the device? Not at all. Here’s the full spec sheet from Nvidia:

Tegra 4 – The world’s fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM

Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons

Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals

Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD’s sleeper feature

Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming

Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps

There’s more – We put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack.

The high specs make for a device that will be able to handle pretty much anything developers can throw at it. In fact, Nvidia has lined up a few major titles for its new handheld, including Double Fine’s Broken Age and Costume Quest. The former will also be available on the competing Ouya Android console, but the latter will be making its Android debut on Shield.

Shield is available for pre-order now for those who are on Nvidia’s mailing list. For everybody else, pre-orders will open on May 20 on Nvidia’s online store as well as Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers.

Nvidia Shield Launches This June For $350

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