I don’t know about you, but my first thought upon seeing Nvidia’s new Shield handheld gaming console was as follows:
https://lastchance.cc/nvidia-out-of-nowhere-announces-a-new-gaming-handheld-5973641%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
https://twitter.com/embed/status/288159788381118465
Plenty of other folks took the joke one step further, drawing quick comparisons to the failed Nokia N-Gage, the little portable video game system that couldn’t.
https://gizmodo.com/bang-bang-nokia-n-gage-youre-dead-5393789
Of course, there are plenty of differences between the Shield and the N-Gage (as already pointed out by our commenters last night). The N-Gage ran its own games, and it was something of a piece of junk. The Shield has a big pre-existing library, appears to be at least mostly well-designed, and has built-in Steam functionality. Still, there must be a reason so many people jumped to make the comparison.
https://lastchance.cc/nvidia-out-of-nowhere-announces-a-new-gaming-handheld-5973641%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Will the Shield wind up being just another N-Gage? Or will its Steam integration and greater existing library make it something more? Mike’s put together a great round-up of the possible pros and cons of the system
https://lastchance.cc/game-changer-or-needless-gadget-an-in-depth-analysis-o-5973765%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
In the meantime, if you are jumping out there to make the N-Gage comparison, well, you’re not alone.
