One final post on CES for this week, but it’s about one of the very first products to be revealed. I really had to mull this over and work out exactly what I think about this piece of hardware, and yes... I found something good to say about it, sort of. So here we go, my thoughts on Nvidia’s Project Shield.
The Shield is essentially a souped-up android device, running Nvidia’s new Tegra 4 processor. It features a 5 inch, 720p display, and a very... very familiar game pad, all wrapped up in a nifty clamshell design. Let me start on the design, this thing is sexy, it’s like a 360 controller and a F-117 Nighthawk had very awkwardly positioned love and made a babby. For a controller it doesn’t look like there’s too much extra bulk, even though this is much more than a controller, and as pretty much anything else, yeah... there’s too much bulk. This thing is not pocket sized although it is marketed as portable, but practical is something we’ll have to see about, I’ll get to that later.
Now as you’re probably aware, I'm big on the Ouya, I think it’s got the potential, and the interest, to be a fun addition to everyone’s already overcrowded TV cabinet. However as good as the hardware sounds, and as good as the message of openness sounds, the console and OS are just the blank canvas that developers use to craft the worlds and experiences that imprint themselves in our memories forever. To further the hype, I’d like to look at the ideas and games that already exist, and show what Ouya developers need to have in mind to fully push the boundaries of this little box.
Now I’m not an avid follower of kickstarter. Being someone with no money himself it’s easy to not be drawn into such endeavours. However whenever something catches the collective eye of the community, it’s usually something worth paying attention to. If you haven’t heard of Ouya by now, then get the fuck out from under your rock and start taking notes. Ouya is a fully fledged games console, with all the nuts and bolts, running Android and literally begging you to hack it and make some cool stuff for it. Sounds like it’d be an absolute flop, I probably would have agreed with you, but people want this thing, not just because of the hardware, but because of the message that comes with it, indie is good.
Let’s face it, the vast majority of the most innovative and creative games to have been released over the past two to three years have been indie games and games from smaller developers; the same time scale has also seen the rise of the free to play game, shaking up long established beliefs over the nature of the games consoles and big titles. Such innovation and adaptability, combined with a platform that encourages and supports it and who knows what would come of it... it’s like leaving a kid who’s got too much time on his hands with a copy of Minecraft.
One final post on CES for this week, but it’s about one of the very first products to be revealed. I really had to mull this over and work out exactly what I think about this piece of hardware, and yes... I found something good to say about it, sort of. So here we go, my thoughts on Nvidia’s Project Shield.