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Nvidia Shield Thread

sk3tch

Member
I have my PC's HDMI out going to my home theater receiver. Big Picture Mode, bitches.

So do I. In fact I have a gaming HTPC dedicated to my big screen (aside from my main gaming computer) and I still find the Shield to be a great option and incredibly useful.

I'd argue that the Shield is priced too low, even. Crazy powerful for the price.
 

sk3tch

Member
I was checking out the Wikipad (7" tablet with controller add-on included, powered by Tegra 3 for $250) and I found a link that will likely be useful to those of us looking for controller-compatible Tegra games for our Shields:

http://www.wikipad.com/Games
 

Absinthe

Member
I was checking out the Wikipad (7" tablet with controller add-on included, powered by Tegra 3 for $250) and I found a link that will likely be useful to those of us looking for controller-compatible Tegra games for our Shields:

http://www.wikipad.com/Games

Not a bad list.

Played some Shadowgun Deadzone tonight and it was actually pretty fun. Basic FPS deathmatch, but with the Shield I definitely had an advantage.

Also played some PC games tonight (sorry for the crappy iPhone pics)

Sleeping Dogs:

B4K7AO1.jpg

Witcher 2:


Both ran great.
 

Joejoe123

Neo Member
I think there may be a bit of irrational exuberance about the shields emulation capabilities. I've tried a handful of n64 games with mupen64+ ae and none of them have been anywhere near PC quality emulation. Goldeneye for example will drop down to around 10fps in multiple areas. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to android emulation, but I think some of the people claiming "perfect" emulation are mistaking "playable" with perfect.

Can you please be more specific when you mention the emulators run great or perfect? To me perfect is full speed, no frame skips.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
What's the latency like when playing PC streamed games on the Shield? Also, is it possible to stream those game over the internet, and not just locally?
 
I think there may be a bit of irrational exuberance about the shields emulation capabilities. I've tried a handful of n64 games with mupen64+ ae and none of them have been anywhere near PC quality emulation. Goldeneye for example will drop down to around 10fps in multiple areas. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to android emulation, but I think some of the people claiming "perfect" emulation are mistaking "playable" with perfect.
10fps? Sounds like it's emulating goldeneye perfectly.
 

sk3tch

Member
What's the latency like when playing PC streamed games on the Shield? Also, is it possible to stream those game over the internet, and not just locally?

Yup, it's Wi-Fi only. I'm sure you could "hack" it to trick the Shield into thinking an Internet connection was LAN play - but the experience would be sub-optimal. I had hitches on my local Wi-Fi when connected via 2.4 GHz N, for example (but none with 5 GHz N).

Latency is not bad. It's good enough that you can use the Shield as a controller on your PC screen (I did it on my HDTV while playing Borderlands 2) without much in the way of issues.
 

Kurdel

Banned
Quick question, can you alt tab out of a game to use the PC screen for something else, or does it have to have the mirroring always on?
 

sk3tch

Member
Quick question, can you alt tab out of a game to use the PC screen for something else, or does it have to have the mirroring always on?

If you're fine interrupting whoever is playing on the Shield. You see everyone on the screen - not just the game, i.e. for example when you first launch a game that you installed and it does it's DirectX 9/etc. thing - you see that while waiting.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Looks like it's sold out on newegg now, too. Anyone know if there's another place to buy it?
 

sk3tch

Member
Looks like it's sold out on newegg now, too. Anyone know if there's another place to buy it?

I would sign up for "Auto-Notify" from NewEgg. They say they will get them in on Monday. You can pre-order direct from NVIDIA - ETA 1-2 weeks. Or you can go to eBay and pay $400 or more if you must have it. I'd say wait. :)

EDIT: also try your region here, there are Microcenters and Gamestops that have them...but it doesn't seem to be every one of them. My Microcenter did. They're sold out now, too... http://shield.nvidia.com/demo-shield/
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
I would sign up for "Auto-Notify" from NewEgg. They say they will get them in on Monday. You can pre-order direct from NVIDIA - ETA 1-2 weeks. Or you can go to eBay and pay $400 or more if you must have it. I'd say wait. :)

EDIT: also try your region here, there are Microcenters and Gamestops that have them...but it doesn't seem to be every one of them. My Microcenter did. They're sold out now, too... http://shield.nvidia.com/demo-shield/

GameStop doesn't seem to have one. I honestly probably shouldn't buy one, though. I've been going a bit overboard with purchases lately. In the last couple weeks I got an Oculus Rift, a Leap Motion, a new Nexus 7, an OUYA (lol why?), and a bunch of other crap. I should probably take a break.

But if I find out that GameStop does have them in stock, I'll likely end up impulse buying one. I really like the idea of playing my PC games in a different room.
 

dochuge

Member
I think there may be a bit of irrational exuberance about the shields emulation capabilities. I've tried a handful of n64 games with mupen64+ ae and none of them have been anywhere near PC quality emulation. Goldeneye for example will drop down to around 10fps in multiple areas. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to android emulation, but I think some of the people claiming "perfect" emulation are mistaking "playable" with perfect.

No, the shield doesn't emulate as well as a PC, that is for sure. I'm just saying that its the best android device for N64 gaming. I'm not a tech guy but I'm not sure why the emulation for this system is so spotty. Only certain games work, some that do don't run correctly, etc. PS1 and lower work flawlessly, at full frame rates.
 

Absinthe

Member
Quick question, can you alt tab out of a game to use the PC screen for something else, or does it have to have the mirroring always on?

This is one of the frustrations I'm having so far. Not only does it highjack the entire display, but it changes my resolution down to 720p and rearranges all my desktop icons. It's also causes an issue when I need to click "ok" or "continue" on a third party piece of software like Uplay, where I have to physically be at my PC instead of using the Shield.
 
I have a compatible graphics card. So, I would pick one of these up before I would get an Ouya. But, I am saving my money for a PS4 this fall.
 

Kurdel

Banned
This is one of the frustrations I'm having so far. Not only does it highjack the entire display, but it changes my resolution down to 720p and rearranges all my desktop icons. It's also causes an issue when I need to click "ok" or "continue" on a third party piece of software like Uplay, where I have to physically be at my PC instead of using the Shield.

I hope that nvidia will sort this shit out.

I am thinking of plugging my old TV in my tower as a primary display, then use my monitor as a second display so I can watch other videos, and turn on that second tv if I need to click or troubleshoot.

But yeah, I hope there can be an easier solution in the near future.
 

Bigdrbingo

Neo Member
Nice to see the positive reaction to Shield despite all of the things said about it before launch. Now the question is do I get the new Nexus 7 or this?
 

Kurdel

Banned
Nice to see the positive reaction to Shield despite all of the things said about it before launch. Now the question is do I get the new Nexus 7 or this?

Do you already have a recent-ish tablet?

If you don't have a tablet yet, and care for second screen experiences, buy the Nexus 7.

In the pecking order of devices that furfil needs already met but a usual PC, tablets are still more relevant than the Shield.
 

Bigdrbingo

Neo Member
Do you already have a recent-ish tablet?

If you don't have a tablet yet, and care for second screen experiences, buy the Nexus 7.

In the pecking order of devices that furfil needs already met but a usual PC, tablets are still more relevant than the Shield.

The latest tablet I own is a 1st-gen iPad lmao. The thing is that I feel like I'd get more use out of the shield since I have about a 1.5 hour train commute every day and I really wouldn't have much use for the tablet without the internet.

EDIT: Can you give some examples of second screen experiences that I would get on a tablet and not on the shield?
 
I think there may be a bit of irrational exuberance about the shields emulation capabilities. I've tried a handful of n64 games with mupen64+ ae and none of them have been anywhere near PC quality emulation. Goldeneye for example will drop down to around 10fps in multiple areas. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to android emulation, but I think some of the people claiming "perfect" emulation are mistaking "playable" with perfect.

Stuff like that is due to the emulator being not up to par or still work in progress, you can emulate a lot of n64 stuff on older devices, some games however will just flat out run like crap for some reason.

Nice to see the positive reaction to Shield despite all of the things said about it before launch. Now the question is do I get the new Nexus 7 or this?

I'd say that comes down to do you want to game a lot or also read, watch and browse on a bigger screen. My ipad 3 for example is a dedicated twitch device with some web browsing thrown in every night.
 

Kurdel

Banned
The latest tablet I own is a 1st-gen iPad lmao. The thing is that I feel like I'd get more use out of the shield since I have about a 1.5 hour train commute every day and I really wouldn't have much use for the tablet without the internet.

EDIT: Can you give some examples of second screen experiences that I would get on a tablet and not on the shield?

If you are already covered with a first gen iPad, I would say get the Shield. Especially if your intention is to play games, and you bag is big enough, you will get a lot more out of the Shield. Tegra 4 makes it more powerful, and the controller might lead to more Android games supporting it.

The only reason to for a Nexus 7 in your case would be if you wanted something that is light for reading.

I know I always keep my iPad mini with me when I play games, because I enjoy watching Giant Bomb or googling shit quickly. For me, that kind of second screen experience is a must, and you are covered with your iPad, so thats great!
 

kms_md

Member
Here is a link to some brief offscreen footage of Dark Souls on the Shield.

I played a bit with Fallout 3, but ran into some problems during the animations at times in VATS causing the game to freeze.
 

Bigdrbingo

Neo Member
If you are already covered with a first gen iPad, I would say get the Shield. Especially if your intention is to play games, and you bag is big enough, you will get a lot more out of the Shield. Tegra 4 makes it more powerful, and the controller might lead to more Android games supporting it.

The only reason to for a Nexus 7 in your case would be if you wanted something that is light for reading.

I know I always keep my iPad mini with me when I play games, because I enjoy watching Giant Bomb or googling shit quickly. For me, that kind of second screen experience is a must, and you are covered with your iPad, so thats great!

Good points. Although now I don't think I'd be able to use the streaming feature now... My desktop uses an AMD GPU and my laptop's 660M isn't supported (Which is stupid considering nVidia originally said that it would cover desktops with 650+ while laptops would support 660M+).

Has anyone tried using the Shield on a laptop with a 660M or better?
 

fertygo

Member
I wish they just ripoff PSP/Vita design, no problem if it 4-5 time thicker instead have this "xbox controller + screen" looks ugh..
 

dochuge

Member
Not a bad list.

Played some Shadowgun Deadzone tonight and it was actually pretty fun. Basic FPS deathmatch, but with the Shield I definitely had an advantage.

Also played some PC games tonight (sorry for the crappy iPhone pics)

Sleeping Dogs:



Witcher 2:



Both ran great.



Wow, I can't wait to try PC streaming on this thing once my graphics card arrives. I tried onlive on the shield but the latency could get pretty bad. I have pretty speedy internet with a newer router and have no problems downloading things at very quick speeds. But I'm sure things will pick up speed using wifi to stream.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Does it allow local multiplayer? It might be kind of fun if you could get it setup to play an MMO like FF15 with 2 players on one GPU both in the same room.
 

Absinthe

Member
Wow, I can't wait to try PC streaming on this thing once my graphics card arrives. I tried onlive on the shield but the latency could get pretty bad. I have pretty speedy internet with a newer router and have no problems downloading things at very quick speeds. But I'm sure things will pick up speed using wifi to stream.

The screens do not do it justice at all either. Every game I've played on it has looked great.
 

sk3tch

Member
Did some more research on the Shield and just remembered the Hawken demo for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9GVKATppmQ

Any word on that since CES?

It's not listed as supported if you have it installed...I haven't tried to launch it via Steam to see if the Big Picture mode "hack" works...as I never run non-Steam games through Steam.

Does it allow local multiplayer? It might be kind of fun if you could get it setup to play an MMO like FF15 with 2 players on one GPU both in the same room.

No. It sets your resolution to 720p and literally mirrors everything on your PCs screen.
 

Kurdel

Banned
My Shield just got shipped from Newegg!!

I will be buying a new router today to make sure my network is flawless when I receive it!
 

sk3tch

Member
NewEgg no longer has an ETA of today for the release of the next batch of Shields. Hmm...although NVIDIA says they'll ship in one week. I just kind of want one of those carbon fiber tags but I don't want to pay NVIDIA $10 (on top of the $20 tag cost) for shipping!
 

e_i

Member
Here's my quick review:

The build quality is really nice. Yes, its a bit heavy but you get used to it pretty quickly. I was able to game for hours last night in bed no problem. Analog sticks, triggers, buttons, I really like the feel of all of them. Getting head shots in Dead Trigger is so much fun and cooler than with touch controls.

The screen is beautiful. Yes, a little too small for my tastes but everything is bright and crisp. Some of the text is very difficult to see though, reading the text in a game like zombie driver is very hard since it's so tiny. Its still a very nice screen though.

Emulation is fantastic. It plays everything really well. N64 games run better than any other android device I've owned but its still hit and miss. Everything else is flawless. Actually, the only downside is that for the emulators I own the triggers and 2nd analog can't be mapped. Still plenty of buttons, you can map the L3 and R3 buttons too.

Overall I love this thing. It's not perfect but its got a very good build, beautiful screen, and nice controls. I even bought a used gtx 650 card for 90 bucks and can't wait to start streaming my steam games next week.

Mupen64 maps the c-buttons to the right analog stick.
 
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