Does Nvidia’s Shield 2 Signal The End?

Whether it be because of poor sales or a bad design decision, we may never know. Reports suggest that the first Shield sold well to begin with but sales slumped pretty soon after. Whatever the cause, Nvidia have obviously decided that a repeat of Shield 1 with a faster processor and resigned shell was not a route they wanted to go down. I’m sure everybody is aware by now that the upcoming Shield 2 (or just Shield, according to their website) will be an eight inch tablet with a separate controller.

So is there a future in portable Android gaming? Chinese factories have certainly slowed their onslaught of incrementally upgraded handhelds recently. A couple of years ago it seemed like a new product was being released every couple of months from JXD or Yinlips. Newcomers GPD have shown some promise with their machines, but the frenzy of activity and general buzz of new products has definitely waned since 2012.

But does this spell the end, or is it merely a lull, a hiccup in an ongoing quest for portable gaming perfection. I can’t answer that, I hope it’s not the end but I would be very happy to see a move away from Android as an OS on these things. I wish Gamepark Holdings would come back.

The Shield Tablet launched in the USA on the 29th of July, and it’s 5 days until it makes its UK debut. I think it’ll fail, but I’m a pessimist. Is anyone else buying one? I suspect not.

16 thoughts on “Does Nvidia’s Shield 2 Signal The End?”

  1. Anyone have a good recommendation in the ‘around a hundred dollars or a bit more’ range for an emulator-box to primarily hook to my TV to do emulation and internet browsing?

    Reply
    • OUYA might be the best emulator box. The interface is set up for TV, the emulators don’t need to sideloaded and accessed through a separate menu like on the Fire TV, they all work with multiple controllers and support PS3 controllers, internal storage can be expanded through USB thumb drive and there are a ton of other games made for it. I wouldn’t recommend the OUYA on its own merits but if emulation is your primary goal, it’s hard to beat.

      My other suggestion would be to look at the mini Windows PCs on Geekbuying. With full Windows, you’re not going to get a better web browsing experience, it should stream just about anything including free Hulu and there should be plenty of emulators that you can run on it. The interface won’t be as TV friendly but Windows 8+ seems like it would be friendly enough for that format.

      Reply
    • I actually emailed him a day before this article came out with links to W1 and MatriMax iPlay. I’m not sure if emails/tips are not getting trough to him or he just hasn’t got to reviewing his inbox.

      Reply
  2. Not sure what your problem is with the shield tablet it but it’s a very good piece of hardware.
    I’ve had mine for a week now and it’s much better than anything that Yinlips, JXD, and GPD can ever hope of producing anytime soon.
    Best tablet I have ever had.

    Reply
    • No problem with it as a tablet, I’m sure it flies. The problem is that it’s not a portable gaming device. Imagine trying to play on it using the controller whilst waiting for the bus or on your journey to work for instance. A portable handheld needs integrated controls, otherwise it’s just a tablet with a seperate controller.

      Reply
      • Sure it’s still a portable gaming device, maybe it’s not the most ideal to play while waiting for a bus or traveling to work but it still can be done very easily.
        I think maybe you overstated that no one is buying them becuase last I heard they are selling well.

        Reply
  3. The end of what exactly? Certainly not portable gaming. Portable gaming is bigger than it has ever been. More people carry around devices in their pockets that they regularly use to play video games today than ever before in the history of humanity.

    Maybe you mean for “dedicated portable game systems”. Well, the 3DS is hugely popular around the world, so I don’t think that is true.

    Maybe you mean “indy” portable game systems. That depends on how you define a “game system”. Does it have to have buttons and/or analog sticks? Then possibly that is ending… but then there are things like the WikiPad and the Shield (which is still being made and sold, btw – the Shield Tablet isn’t replacing it – it is just being an additional form factor). Also the Razer Edge which while the game controls are a seperate thing, where designed with the device from the beginning.

    I have no delusions that Android is going away any time soon. From a developer’s standpoint, it is a no-brainer. It’s free. It’s being constantly updated and improved by one of the biggest companies on earth. It has millions of apps ready for it out of the box. There’s zero work and zero cost for them to use it. It makes no sense to write your own OS ever again. You want to tweak the UI to stand out, or add your own AppStore to get some of the revenue? Sure – but doing a ground-up new OS? Pointless.

    However, the next indy game system OS might not be Android – but rather Windows. As Intel chips get smaller and use less power to become more portable, and Windows’ UI actually becomes more touch-friendly, more and more Windows Tablets will be seen. As is already evident with the above mentioned Razer Edge. Microsoft is already putting Windows, Windows Phone/Mobile, and Xbox’s OS under the same roof now. So Windows 9 (or whatever) should be more portable and gamer focused than ever.

    The last thing I, as a gamer, as a consumer, as a techie – want to see is Yet Another crappy, cheap, clunky operating system with no apps, and few games, that will not be updated after the fly-by-night company goes out of business (again). If Yinlips or JXD or iPega or whoever goes under – the Android App Store will still have new games – and I won’t have to hope and pray that the system I bought has enough of a community to have something new to play in 6 months.

    Reply
  4. I love my Shield. I would have bought a refresh with the K1 the day it came out. I was pretty crest fallen when I saw the tablet. That said I’m pretty confident that at some point someone is going to come out with a K1 or octa core handheld. Nvidia was pretty vague about a Shield portable 2. I really hope it comes out.

    Reply
  5. My understanding is that there will be a Shield 2 portable, sometime in August or September is the goss.

    Nvidia made it clear that the Shield tablet did not replace the Shield portable, but was an addition to the Shield Family.

    Reply
  6. GPH was great! It was amazing playing PS1 games at full speed on the Pcsx reARMed emulator for the Caanoo. Too bad no TV out cable.

    These android gaming tablets like the JXD S7800 are missing internal bluetooth. Does BT cost too much to include?

    I want to play 4-player TMNT arcade on a gaming tablet hooked up to the TV with USB or BT controllers. Looking forward to a 64bit ARM based gaming tablet with HDMI and internal BT!

    Reply

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