Nvidia SHIELD to cost $299 at Launch

According to a blog post on Nvidia’s website, their handheld live streaming game device, SHIELD, will be retailing for $299 instead of the original $349. Nvidia credits the change in price to responses from the gaming community “We’ve heard from thousands of gamers that if the price was $299, we’d have a home run. So we’re changing the price of SHIELD to $299.” Makes sense right? Consumers would buy the product if it were cheaper, so the company cuts the price!

For those of you who jumped the gun, and already pre-ordered the SHIELD, no need to worry. According to Nvidia “If you’ve already pre-ordered SHIELD, you’ll be charged the new, lower price. You will only be charged $299 when the product ships.” Although honoring the new price of the device for pre-order customers is common sense, it is nice how explicit Nvidia was with its pre-order customers.

Wait…What is Nvidia SHIELD?

Well, for those of you who haven’t been following the news stream coming out of Nvidia, SHIELD is essentially their gaming console. The device is handheld, and looks a bit like someone stuck a screen on an Xbox 360 controller. First time I laid eyes on the thing, I took a double take because I thought it was a photoshop mockup. Personal opinions aside, the SHIELD is an interesting product.

With SHIELD, players can stream games (qualified games mind you) from their PC to Nvidia’s handheld device. Nvidia promises 720p quality video, which is no small feat. Additionally, because the device is Android based, gamers will be able to play popular games from the Google Play store.

So, will you buy it?

Well, dropping the price by $50 certainly makes the SHIELD more attractive, but I’ll have to take a pass on this one. This is not to say that the SHIELD will not do well. I believe there is a market for a high quality, handheld, game streaming device. However, based on how other game streaming services have performed, namely OnLive, the whole thing could be a crap shoot.

What do you think?

Do you think Nvidia SHIELD is worth dropping down $300? Do you think the product has much of a future?

As always,

Comment below, game hard, and stay safe!