NVidia confirms Shield 2 is a tablet! I knew Shield 1. Shield 1 was a friend of mine.

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It is rare that 80’s presidential politics has much to say about 2014 gaming, but then, black swans appear, like now.

After months of speculation, Nvidia has confirmed that its impending Nvidia Shield 2 gaming device is a … tablet?! Tablet? Yes, let’s call a spade a spade. It’s a well specced beast of a tablet, but the fact is that unlike the Shield 1, which was a daring, hideously ugly but damned functionally excellent piece of gaming kit for the handheld android (retro)gamer, the Shield 2 looks to be JAFT – just another frickin’ tablet, with an optional controller.

Optional.

Look, here it is; so optional, it’s floating in space. Which is, of course, the subliminal message of this image: to gamers, the Shield 2’s optional controller is as optional as air in space. 

The special designed controller should make gaming on the tablet feel more like a full PC ...

When the Shield 1 was released, the general consensus of reviewers was that it was a bold move to dominate a niche market, but that more time was needed to see if this would pay off for Nvidia. Time appears to have told its tale. Close, but no cigar, and obviously, no payoff! While the Shield 1 was undoubtedly the best handheld device of its class, it appears that  with Shield 2, Nvidia is confirming that the market for a truly handheld android gaming device just isn’t big enough to sustain continued product development in that direction.  With the confirmation that Shield 2 really IS a glorified tablet, fans of handheld (retro)gaming are going to have to wait a bit longer for their dream product.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 1, 2014 at 1:32 AM

    With a (wireless) keyboard and mouse it could be a great product. The only problem with NVIDIA is availability. By the time it becomes available in Europe most people don't need it anymore or are no longer interested. That's why the Pyra could be my next great console and not the Shield 2.

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