Nvidia Shield

[MOFLSTOMP 899]

So, I finally broke down and bought it after the price cut. I'll be posting a pretty extensive review after I get out of work.

[Wintergreen 1603]

So, I finally broke down and bought it after the price cut. I'll be posting a pretty extensive review after I get out of work.

I don't need it...

[Ichalvl 1752]

I don't need it...

I don't neeed it.........

[Wintergreen 1603]

[MOFLSTOMP 899]

Spoiler alert, be prepared for a lot of software updates. The cool part is that Nvidia runs its own flavor of android and the updates are straight from them, though plentiful

[MOFLSTOMP 899]

Okay, so after doing a bit of toying around with my network and getting the network to not saturate with the streaming of video and input commands, I was finally able to do some serious hands-on. Word of caution: You WILL need a 5GHz network to support this. The shield had some serious troubles connecting to my standard antenna and had to re-enable my 5GHz antenna for stable gameplay

Borderlands 2:

• The graphics held up amazingly, especially on the 5-inch screen
  
• Startup was without a hassle since it automatically launched through Steam
  
• Controls felt snappy, although auto-aim and sighted looking were sluggish to start
  
• No noticeable slowdown even at max graphics and 8x MSAA forced (1280x720, Shield's native res)
  

Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012):

• The game was a bit touchy starting up, and I actually managed to crash the SHIELD link while on a 2.4GHz band, but 5GHz was smooth as butter and without hiccups
  
• With regards to settings, I did have to dial down HBAO and MSAA for playable framerates (50-60fps) since the GPU also handles encoding during the link
  
• Response time did feel a little bit slow, but certainly manageable for a majority of the time
  • Other than the input lag, it felt just like I was playing with my 360 controller
    

Assassin's Creed IV - Black Flag:

• For whatever reason, the menu FPS was very erratic and I experienced 30+fps dips just going from menu to menu. Once you get into the game, there is a noticeable performance hit, but it's nothing drastic. On my 670s, the game was easily playable, but the only downside is that the screen size does make things more difficult to see
  
• Startup took me to the desktop and just started the Uplay browser, so that looks more to be a compatibility issue with Uplay itself than Nvidia's method of launching Ubisoft games.
  
• Controls were, of course, very responsive even during ship battles and while in combat with several guards at a time.
  
• Personal recommendation would be playing this game in Console mode. Stealth on a 5-inch screen is far from ideal
  

The battery on this thing is ridiculous. I put in a good 2 hours playtime, and the battery dropped all of 20%. The menus are easy enough to navigate, the Shield app is dead-simple to use, and the Tegra 4 makes this entire package that much more satisfying, especially after the April update, which enables WAN streaming.

It won't replace a laptop by any stretch, but this is as good as handheld gaming is going to get! $200 well spent

Edited March 29, 2014 by Moflstomp.mp3

[DogsGoMeow 1606]

I thought you wrote an event.

 

It's a rare sight these days.

 

Carry on xD

[Ichalvl 1752]

I thought you wrote an event.

 

It's a rare sight these days.

 

Carry on xD

 

I'll make a Minecraft event....

 

 

wait...

 

oh yeah...

[Bryan 207]

is it worth it?

[Vorpist 4]

I was thinking purchasing with a video card with the price, but I waited and I don't do much mobile gaming anymore.

[MOFLSTOMP 899]

I was thinking purchasing with a video card with the price, but I waited and I don't do much mobile gaming anymore.

The April 2nd update is going to be a gamechanger, since it's using a modified version of their GRID system to use your home PC instead of a GRID server to play games on. So if I'm at work on the 80mbps connection, and like 15 miles away from my house. I can sit in my cubicle on break and play pretty much anything I want with almost no lag