![[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR](./core/images/default/default_avatar_medium.png "[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR"){kind=avatar}
Tweet
One of these devices comes out ahead, far ahead
One of the biggest launches to come out of this year's GDC was NVIDIA's Shield console. Showing the device off to a packed audience, CEO Jensen Huang demonstrated a console that was a combination of both cloud streaming and local Android-based entertainment. Out of all the Android TV style devices that have been announced, the Shild is the most interesting.
Shield can do several things: play Android games, play triple-A Android games made for Shield, handle your online media needs, and stream from NVIDIA's Grid streaming service. Grid has been in the making for several years, and NVIDIA hopes to be first to deliver a playable, lag free experience. At launch, NVIDIA will have roughly 50 playable titles, all of which should be the most recent PC hits. NVIDIA's vision is to deliver all games, at maximum graphics settings, without the requirement for having a high-end gaming rig.
Backtrack several months and you have Razer's Forge TV, a device that's mean to allow you to stream all your games to the living room, lag free. Forge TV is also an Android device, but it doesn't have the power that NVIDIA's Shield has. For reference, Forge TV is equipped with an Adreno 420 GPU, while the Shield's graphics duties are handled by NVIDIA's own Tegra X1, which is based on its current flagship Maxwell architecture. Specs aside, the Shield can do everything the Forge TV can do, and much more. Shield is also 4K ready, while Forge TV is not.
We get our hands on both at GDC. What's our impression?
Well, put it simply, the Shield is where it's at. We tried both local content made for the Shield as well as streamed content. The real deal though is what's possible when NVIDIA's Grid grows as a platform. Trying out several games from platformers to big titles like Saints Row 4, and Batman: Arkham Origins, we honestly couldn't detect any indication that the games were actually being streamed from Grid. It was impressive. Local games were equally impressive too, and were of much higher quality than your typical library of Android games.
NVIDIA's Shield playing Saints Row: 4 over GridMany who watched NVIDIA's keynote over Twitch's livestream indicated that Shield was dropping frames. But I think it had to do with the setup and the stream rather than the actual Shield itself. During the keynote, it appeared like frames were dropped during gameplay of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but NVIDIA told us that the game was buggy and the dropped frames were due to the game, and not the Shield.
Moving over to the Forge TV felt a like a downgrade. Granted, NVIDIA has quite a lot more invested in Shield than Razer does in its own platform, but at the end of the day, both products are vying for your attention. The games on Forge TV are nowhere near as crisp and bold as on the Shield, and the titles aren't big hitters, but this has a lot to do with the two company's ability to negotiate deals with publishers. I'm sure as these devices become more popular, better titles will be released. However, the Maxwell based Tegra X1 is an order of magnitude more capable and powerful than the GPU inside the Forge TV, and NVIDIA's ability to get native content on the Shield to demonstrate its GPU capabilities are worth noticing. The Shield has a huge lead in graphics, compared not only to the Forge TV, but basically any other Android device.
Razer's Forge TV playing Asphalt 8: AirborneStreaming wise, both the Shield and the Forge TV are capable of streaming all your local PC gaming content to the living room. However, to get local streaming working over the Forge TV, you'll have to invest another $40 to get Razers's Cortex: Stream, a proprietary solution that handles encoding duties. The NVIDIA Shield costs more from the get-go though, launching at $199.
NVIDIA's Grid streaming service has provides a significant advantage to the Shield, removing the hardware requirements of a PC, and in fact, removing the need for a PC period. You can literally just get a Shield as a primary gaming system, if entertainment is all you want to do. We're looking forward to testing Shield and Grid in different networking situations, so look out for a report on that later. But for now, Grid works, and it works really well.
The question hat needs to be asked now is why not just hook up a small form-factor PC to the TV and play all my games in their native glory? Well, consider convenience and price. Both NVIDIA's Shield and Razer's Forge TV cost significantly less than a PC capable fo playing the latest games. And if you already have a PC, you can use the local streaming local streaming features of both systems to play at 1080p. NVIDIA's Shield is capable of native 4K output, but we didn't get to confirm whether or not the Shield will render games playable at 4K, and you can probably forget Grid gaming at 4K. Your network and Internet setup aside, the Shield reperesents an extremely attractive option.
If both the Shield and Forge TV were available right now, I'd put my money on the Shield.
More...
One of the biggest launches to come out of this year's GDC was NVIDIA's Shield console. Showing the device off to a packed audience, CEO Jensen Huang demonstrated a console that was a combination of both cloud streaming and local Android-based entertainment. Out of all the Android TV style devices that have been announced, the Shild is the most interesting.
Shield can do several things: play Android games, play triple-A Android games made for Shield, handle your online media needs, and stream from NVIDIA's Grid streaming service. Grid has been in the making for several years, and NVIDIA hopes to be first to deliver a playable, lag free experience. At launch, NVIDIA will have roughly 50 playable titles, all of which should be the most recent PC hits. NVIDIA's vision is to deliver all games, at maximum graphics settings, without the requirement for having a high-end gaming rig.
Backtrack several months and you have Razer's Forge TV, a device that's mean to allow you to stream all your games to the living room, lag free. Forge TV is also an Android device, but it doesn't have the power that NVIDIA's Shield has. For reference, Forge TV is equipped with an Adreno 420 GPU, while the Shield's graphics duties are handled by NVIDIA's own Tegra X1, which is based on its current flagship Maxwell architecture. Specs aside, the Shield can do everything the Forge TV can do, and much more. Shield is also 4K ready, while Forge TV is not.
We get our hands on both at GDC. What's our impression?
Well, put it simply, the Shield is where it's at. We tried both local content made for the Shield as well as streamed content. The real deal though is what's possible when NVIDIA's Grid grows as a platform. Trying out several games from platformers to big titles like Saints Row 4, and Batman: Arkham Origins, we honestly couldn't detect any indication that the games were actually being streamed from Grid. It was impressive. Local games were equally impressive too, and were of much higher quality than your typical library of Android games.
NVIDIA's Shield playing Saints Row: 4 over Grid
Moving over to the Forge TV felt a like a downgrade. Granted, NVIDIA has quite a lot more invested in Shield than Razer does in its own platform, but at the end of the day, both products are vying for your attention. The games on Forge TV are nowhere near as crisp and bold as on the Shield, and the titles aren't big hitters, but this has a lot to do with the two company's ability to negotiate deals with publishers. I'm sure as these devices become more popular, better titles will be released. However, the Maxwell based Tegra X1 is an order of magnitude more capable and powerful than the GPU inside the Forge TV, and NVIDIA's ability to get native content on the Shield to demonstrate its GPU capabilities are worth noticing. The Shield has a huge lead in graphics, compared not only to the Forge TV, but basically any other Android device.
Razer's Forge TV playing Asphalt 8: Airborne
NVIDIA's Grid streaming service has provides a significant advantage to the Shield, removing the hardware requirements of a PC, and in fact, removing the need for a PC period. You can literally just get a Shield as a primary gaming system, if entertainment is all you want to do. We're looking forward to testing Shield and Grid in different networking situations, so look out for a report on that later. But for now, Grid works, and it works really well.
The question hat needs to be asked now is why not just hook up a small form-factor PC to the TV and play all my games in their native glory? Well, consider convenience and price. Both NVIDIA's Shield and Razer's Forge TV cost significantly less than a PC capable fo playing the latest games. And if you already have a PC, you can use the local streaming local streaming features of both systems to play at 1080p. NVIDIA's Shield is capable of native 4K output, but we didn't get to confirm whether or not the Shield will render games playable at 4K, and you can probably forget Grid gaming at 4K. Your network and Internet setup aside, the Shield reperesents an extremely attractive option.
If both the Shield and Forge TV were available right now, I'd put my money on the Shield.
More...