Is a $200 Game Console Worth It?

– It's gonna be a quiet, introspective, very useful video full of consumer advice about Hey guys, this is Austin, and today I have the brand new Nvidia Shield So you may remember this

This is the original Nvidia Shield Now I actually really like this However, there's a new version that's just come out, but the big question is, is a $200 gaming console worth it? What's interesting is that the Shield actually shares a lot of common DNA with the brand new Nintendo Switch So, honestly this is probably going to be a more powerful option Not only does it support both 4K and HDR, but as you'll see, the new slim version also adds some new features

So this guy is running Android TV Now that's actually probably my favorite sort of smart TV interface that I've tried Not only is it fairly snappy and easy to get around, but it also is fairly powerful You can do things like actually multitasking as you watch video, and there's some new things with the new Nougat version, which this is preloaded with Also, that is really small

Are you serious? I mean, I don't think anyone thought the original Shield was all that large, but this thing is absolutely tiny Wow, I wasn't expecting that I mean, in pictures, it looks almost the exact same, but when you actually put them side by side, there's a huge huge difference I guess it makes sense So, there is another version of this that actually can come with a 500 gigabyte hard drive, and I assume that that's probably gonna be a little bit bigger than this, but right now we're talking about something that's not that much bigger than a normal streaming box like an Apple TV

You're really not losing much because of the small size either So we still have two USB 30 ports, ethernet, HDMI The biggest loss is the lack of a microSD card slot, but honestly with the Shield, I prefer to just plug in a USB drive for extra storage anyway Something that wasn't included in the original Shield is the actual remote

So this was something like $50 on the previous version However, it's really nice to have this actually included As much as this is a gaming device, I feel like a lot of people, myself included, probably end up spending more time watching Netflix, so having a dedicated remote is nice There also is a brand new controller, and this is an interesting looking controller What? I get going for the sort of faceted look, but it's such a weird choice to not smooth out the grip

I mean, it actually doesn't feel bad I really wasn't a big fan of the previous Shield controller, so I do think this is an improvement And I guess once you kind of get it settled in your hands, you really don't notice, but that's such a unique call to do that I don't know I don't hate it

It's definitely unique At $200, the Nvidia Shield is an interesting value proposition So for this kind of price, you could pick up a used Xbox 360 or PS3, and ton of terrific games And on the flip side of things, a used Xbox One or PS4 is not going to be that much more expensive Now to be fair, you do have that 4K and HDR support

Honestly, especially on the media side, I think Android TV pretty much beats all of the consoles, and it does have some fairly decent gaming chops with games that run natively, games that are specifically made for Shield, as well as things like GeForce NOW, as well as streaming from your personal PC But the real question is how does all that stuff actually come together? Something else that Shield can do is play some party games More specifically, Jackbox – [Game Host] Arrange these _ [Austin] Oh no! – [Man With Black Cap] Holy (laughs) – [Austin] There's a pure guess here – [Man With Blue Shirt] I have no idea

– [Austin] I think I know – [Game Host] Ernie has no eyebrows at all – [Man With Black Cap] I got it right! (laughs) – [Game Host] Meet McConadark Ages – [Man With Blue Cap] This is the best thing ever – [Game Host] Follow the McConamiddle Ages – [Man With Black Cap] Yeah! – [Austin] Oh! I did not think I had that What? – [Man With Black Cap] Yeah! Oh! (laughs) – It's okay buddy

– Thanks guys for being in the video Really appreciated it Clearly the Nvidia Shield is the ultimate party game device Inside, the Shield is using the Tegra X1 processor from its predecessor While that might not seem like an upgrade, because it really isn't, most importantly, not only is this more powerful than any other streaming box out there, but it's still got a lot more horsepower than something like an Xbox 360 or PS3

(upbeat electronic music) So one of the things that you can find on the Shield is Portal, and no, this is not some dumb down mobile version This is a full port of the proper PC Portal experience When you think about it, the Shield really is about as powerful as a lot of the gaming PCs that were out at the time of Portal's release So, sure, you're not getting the full 4K ultra setup with mouse and keyboard, and all the kind of fun toys But, to be honest, you're really not losing a lot either

It's pretty much the full experience And especially if you've never played Portal before, it's definitely worth a look I make it? Can I make it? Can I make it? Oh yeah I can make it There are also more traditional Android games such as Real Racing 3 Now on the surface, yes, this is basically the same game that you can play on your phone

However, once you actually get it up on a big screen TV, and you have this controller, it really does kind of change the experience And speaking of this controller, it's good So you know at first I was a little unsure, but after playing with it for a few minutes, it immediately jumps out to me as maybe not quite on par with something like the Xbox One, which is definitely my sort of favorite controller out It's really not far off The sticks are nicely weighted

The grips are nice Even the sort of hexagon shape doesn't really bother me There's also Resident Evil 5 for the Shield, and as you can see, it's fun, and it's really easy to play, and I'm not dying a lot right now This is a direct port of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 version of the game, and while it might not be the most technically advanced game in 2017, it's decent if you have any ammo, which I currently don't In addition to the native titles for the Shield, you can also stream full PC games using GeForce NOW

Now this very much is reliant on your internet connection, but if you have a decent one, it can be a good way of adding a lot of titles to the Shield While it might be a little bit of an older game, the Tomb Raider reboot is still a lot of fun And considering that we're running at 1080p ultimate settings here on a PC, it does not look bad at all So, I think one of the things that, especially in the early days of game streaming was a little bit sketchy was the latency, but it's actually not bad I wouldn't want to play Call of Duty or Battlefield on it, but if you're at something that's a little bit more casual, it's completely usable

Now there are plenty of GeForce NOW games that you can pick from, including "No Man's Sky," so if you really wanna play "No Man's Sky" on your Nvidia Shield, that's totally an option But there's a few different ways of doing it, whether you can actually subscribe and get a few free games, or actually just purchase them, it might not be the greatest way of playing games in the world However, if you have a desktop PC with a modern Nvidia GPU, you can actually stream it over your local network So games that you already have owned and you play on your gaming PC, you can use the Shield to play on your TV In addition to gaming, the Shield makes a solid media box

So on top of that 4K and HDR support, you have all of the staples like YouTube and Netflix and Amazon, but on top of that, the multitasking is solid So I can be playing a game, jump right back out to the menu, and you have additional things such as Google Assistant, which is pretty much only found on the Google Pixel right now There's a lot of cool stuff with the Shield For $200, while the Shield might not be the best upgrade if you have the previous generation, it's still one of my favorite ways of streaming 4K video And on the gaming side of things, that GameStream really does make it useful if you do have a PC that's compatible

If not, while a lot of the games are interesting, it's not quite compelling enough to make it worth it for me You'd probably be better off just picking up a console But definitely be sure to let me know what you guys think in the comments below, and I will catch you in the next one

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