NVIDIA has knocked off $50 from the original sticker price of its handheld gaming console Shield - the NVIDIA Shield will now sell for $299 and not $349 when it officially rolls out on June 27.
The NVIDIA Shield was first unveiled during the International CES in January and was later on made available to analysts and the media during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March and during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June.
The Shield has a clamshell design and has an NVIDIA Tegra 4 chip that runs everything. It gives gamers access to a full-size controller and a 5-inch touchscreen. The NVIDIA Shield runs on Android Jelly Bean for those who want to play games from the Google Play Store. The gadget will also allow PC gamers to play over Wi-Fi given if they own an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 graphics card or better.
"We want to get Shield into the hands of as many gamers as possible," NVIDIA stated on its official blog. "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."
Consumers who have pre-ordered the device will be charged the lower price.
Some may see the portable gaming device as an expensive gadget but Roger Cheng of CNET sees it differently.
"But in reality, the Shield may end up being a relative bargain for folks who want a dedicated gaming device. It comes down to the video games available on Android. Many are free, or cost 99 cents," said Cheng in his article.
"Now compare that with the Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita. An average 3DS game is about $35 to $40. Games for the Vita, meanwhile, cost between $30 and $50. When you factor in the ongoing costs of supplying games for the system, the Shield doesn't seem as expensive anymore," he added.
NVIDIA Shield will be competing against the Razer, Wikipad and the more affordable Ouya. NVIDIA's console may not be for everyone but it will surely attract Android gamers.
