14 DAY TRIAL // During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nvidia was keen to promote its upcoming Project Shield portable gaming console, which is set to be launched during the second quarter of the year only in the United States and in Canada.
The company says that the design of the currently available versions of Project Shield is not final and it is not ready to talk about the hardware specifications, other than mentioning that the core processor is an Nvidia-made Tegra 4.
The overall layout is pretty similar to that of the current Xbox 360 controller and the experience Shield offers at the moment is pretty much the same as that of a current home console, only with more squinting at the smaller screen.
The controller layout is pretty comfortable and the device seems more open than any device from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo because it allows users to install almost any interesting application that was designed for the Android operating system.
Nvidia is at the moment unwilling to talk about the price of Project Shield, which probably means that some specs are still being finalized.
Gamers will be unwilling to pay too much for the new device, especially in a year when the launches of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720 are also expected.
More information about the device might be offered during PAX or even E3 2013.
Project Shield seems like a solid device with interesting features and the potential to satisfy all the needs of those gaming while on the move.
The problem is the new Nvidia hardware will not compete just with the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo 3DS, platforms that have solid fan bases at the moment.
The device will also have to introduce an experience that’s better than the one that mobile players can get on a top level smartphone, especially if final prices are comparable.
Here are more dispatches from the 2013 edition of the Mobile World Congress.
