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By Nelson Schneider - 08/10/14 at 06:40 PM CT
I have been a believer in Android since the OS was first in its infancy, competing against iOS in the smartphone revolution. Of course, my support has always been more theoretical than practical – I didn’t want to see Android succeed so much as I couldn’t stand the sight of an Apple product dominating a market uncontested.
In practice, my true operating system loyalty lies with whichever company provides the best product. Thus, despite my hatred of Microsoft as a game console manufacturer, I put all of my financial support behind that company’s operating systems. Unless MS does something really, really dumb, it will be impossible for Linux/SteamOS, OSX, iOS, or Android to replace Windows as the heart and soul of my computing experience. If I were ever to buy a smartphone (that is, if the cell providers ever provided decent reception at my home and offered reasonably-priced monthly packages), at this point in time it would most likely be a Windows Phone.
On the other hand, these mobile OSes feel far more like the embedded software that powers game consoles and handhelds than real competitors in the operating system space. Hence, I was extremely excited by the prospect of the OUYA providing an Android-powered game console for a tiny price. Unfortunately, the OUYA has proven to be a complete failure, and with other companies like Mad Catz and Amazon jumping into the Android-powered micro-console space, it’s starting to feel like an exercise in futility to look for a dedicated Android gaming experience that isn’t Desura-grade horrible.
Enter Nvidia: The PC GPU maker first tried to enter the Android gaming market with their Shield handheld, which essentially duct-taped half a Nintendo DS to an Xbox 360 controller, with Android running under the hood. The Shield was an Android handheld in a sea of Android smartphones and micro-consoles… and didn’t ultimately make that much of an impression, despite the touted ability to stream Windows games from a PC on the local network with the power of Nvidia graphics cards (my 560ti is, unfortunately, not “good enough”).
Nvidia is about to make their second play for the dedicated Android gaming market with the release of the Nvidia Shield Tablet. Featuring a significantly bigger screen and a wireless controller, the Shield Tablet is closely approaching the feature set I would find acceptable in a handheld device. But what is really pushing the Shield Tablet over the top in my estimation is the inclusion of a killer feature: Console Mode. By plugging in an HDMI cable, the Shield Tablet can work as a micro-console as well as a handheld. Yes, it’s possible to perform this kind of “docking” with certain phones and other tablets, but how many of those are designed with a wireless controller in mind and powered by Nvidia gaming hardware?
Once Amazon is no longer sold-out of the Shield Tablet and its accessories, I’m going to find myself hard-pressed to resist the temptation of buying one. With full access to the Google Play store, exclusive access to Nvidia apps, and the financial backing of a huge hardware company behind it, it seems impossible that the Shield Tablet will become another OUYA.
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