Cheaper Nvidia Shield Console Goes on Sale

The upcoming handheld gaming console from Nvidia got an official release date and a $50 price cut, but it remains to be seen if this is enough to make the portable system competitive against its older peers from Nintendo and Sony.

The Nvidia Shield packs some serious muscle and treats for gaming fans, most notably the company’s brand new Tegra 4 processor. The Android-powered console is officially out on June 27^th.

The initial price was $349 and after the $50 cut, the Shield will retail for $299. The same price point will be applied for preorders. Nvidia says that the price was lowered based on feedback from thousands of gamers.

Even after the cut, the console’s price is still rather high and will most likely appeal to hardcore Nvidia technology fans first of all. For comparison, Sony’s handheld PlayStation Vita sells for as little as $250, while Nintendo’s 3DS retails for about $200.

Nvidia is hoping however that the technical specs and capabilities of the console will determine buyers to take this much money out of their pocket. The console runs on Nvidia’s latest Tegra 4 mobile processor equipped with 2GB of RAM, 4 CPU cores and 72 CPU cores.

The console is also provided with a 5 inch multitouch display of 720p, 16GB of memory, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, a microSD slot, mini-HDMI output and a headphone jack. It measures 6.2×5.3×2.2 inch and weighs 20.04oz.

Nvidia Shield can run games from the TegraZone and the Google Play Store, but is also able to stream video games directly from your PC. The Shield further boasts a pretty amazing battery life that offers you local gaming for 6 to 9 hours and up to 16 hours during PC streaming.

As of tomorrow, the new console will be available on Nvidia’s website, as well as in major gaming equipment retail centers. The device will be sold with some pre-installed titles, as well as Hulu Plus and Twitch TV.

What do you think of the $50 price cut? Is it enough to convince you to give the new handheld console a try?

[Image via Mashable]