14 DAY TRIAL // Good news for Android gamers, as one of the most popular games of all times, Portal, is now heading to Google’s mobile platform. The title has been confirmed by both Valve, developer of the game, and NVIDIA.
You may be wondering what’s NVIDIA got to do with it. Well, it appears that Valve and NVIDIA have partnered to bring Portal exclusively on SHIELD console.
This I think is the bad news, as not many Android enthusiasts are using NVIDIA’s SHIELD console probably due to its prohibitive price tag.
The new announcement seems to be part of NVIDIA’s new marketing strategy to make the SHIELD console more attractive to mobile gamers.
Yesterday, NVIDIA announced that, for a limited time, Android fans could purchase the SHIELD for only $200 (€145). The offer is available until the end of April and if you haven’t been hyped enough, then know that NVIDIA has also confirmed that an Android 4.4.2 KitKat update will be available for SHIELD beginning April 2.
Back to Portal, the winner of more than 70 industry awards, it appears that Valve plans to port it to NVIDIA SHIELD console in the coming months, though no ETA on the release of the game has been given.
“NVIDIA has created a very powerful and unique device with SHIELD. Our companies have a strong history working together and we’re looking forward to Portal‘s arrival on SHIELD,” said Doug Lombardi at Valve.
Android users who own other device than the SHIELD will not be able to play Portal when it is released. Although one may only hope that the Portal will be ported on other Android devices, it appears that for the time being, NVIDIA and Valve do not have any plans in this regard.
As a matter fact, an NVIDIA official has told Engadget that his company does not wish to comment on “additional devices and/or device requirements at this time.”
This probably means that NVIDIA and Valve are still assessing Android gamers’ interest in the newly announced game before making any decisions to bring Portal on other devices.
There’s a high chance that for a limited time the game will be released for NVIDIA Tegra-powered devices, but that wouldn’t make it available for a larger audience.
Portal needs to be available on any compatible Android device for a decent price, and it probably will at some point. Now let’s see when exactly the NVIDIA SHIELD exclusivity will end. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later.