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At its 'Made to Game' media event in San Francisco, Nvidia revealed Shield - its debut home console that takes the form of a set-top box based on the new Android TV operating system, supporting 4K media playback at 60fps. New titles revealed for the unit include Android ports of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Doom 3 BFG Edition, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - and even Crysis 3. On top of that, the Shield console also supports 1080p60 cloud streaming of high-end PC games via Nvidia's GeForce GRID services.The Shield itself is a curious, angular device hewn from aluminium, and roughly the size of an eight-inch tablet in terms of length and width - a wedge-like construction making it somewhat deeper in order to house the cooling assembly. IO options are impressive - there's support for 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports. It's powered via micro-USB, and also features a micro SD slot capable of supporting 128GB cards. WiFi Direct functionality gives Shield a low latency link with the existing game controller, which is included in the package. Based on the Tegra X1 processor, the processor features ARM Cortex A57 and A53 cores in a 4+4 configuration, along with a GPU based on the Maxwell architecture with 256 CUDA cores. System power draw is in the five to 20 watt range, making it even more efficient than the 30 watt Wii U and in the same ballpark as the far less capable Ouya.
A high quality aluminium chassis houses the most powerful mobile chip on the market, with some impressive IO and media playback functionality.
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