Nvidia Shield to now cost $299

Nvidia has announced that its upcoming handheld gaming device—Shield—has gotten a price drop. Originally priced at $349 (Rs 20,830 approx), the Android-based gaming system is now priced at $299 (Rs 17,900 approx). Those who have already pre-ordered the Shield will only be charged the new amount, even if they pre-ordered with the old pricing. Shield is set to start shipping on June 27.

According to a press release, the price was dropped in response to the feedback the company got when it showcased the Shield at events like Computex and the recent E3. The company also used the earlier feedback it got to overhaul the design —some of the controls and materials have changed for the better. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said the console now feels “more solid”. "The basic architecture is the same. Some of the industrial design was enhanced, it feels more solid. You can really fight it, it feels very rigid," said Huang earlier this month.

The Shield seems quite capable on the hardware side, and the new price makes it very attractive

Shield seems pretty much capable of running most new games. Nvidia released a video in February that showcased the device’s game-streaming capabilities. The video showed someone playing Borderlands 2 on the handheld. Judging by the video, Shield seems very capable of running games, especially with real-time physics through Nvidia PhysX and all the graphics at the highest possible setting. According to the video, a lot of development time went into tweaking the handheld device's audio.

Shield uses the Tegra 4 processor to offer what the company claims is a console-grade controller. It can be used to play on its own integrated screen or on large screens, such as TVs. Its 5-inch screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, giving it a pixel density of 294 ppi. The screen also uses the Tegra 4's Direct Touch technology for touch input.