Nvidia plans a Tegra 4-based portable gaming device | Hacker News Reader

Nvidia plans a Tegra 4-based portable gaming device

pcworld.com

43 pointstnorthcutt23 comments

The best thing about this is that it will increase the number of Android games, meaning that all Android consoles gain. This means that the Ouya will be helped by this too.

I'm vaguely hopeful that if we can get people used to the idea of Android gaming then you'll see someone like Sony announced that they have an Android compatibility layer so that you can play Android games on the PS4. I shan't hold my breath though.

First things first - this device looks great. I'm willing to set aside the big unanswered questions (price, how are they selling it, who makes it, when will it be available) - but one big lingering question remains: games.

I know that this runs Android... so existing market games will run on it. But just like the Ouya, games are going to need some special development to work with this game pad so they have a worthwhile experience.

Typically, when a gaming system launches... they trot out all the big developers who have committed to building a AAA title for launch day. If they manage to get several big must-have games - awesome! If not, it could be a tough sell.

Don't get me wrong - I love this and the Ouya... I think android-based game consoles are great and I hope they're the future...

It's my understanding there's already a "tegra" store for Android games. And it basically is the market for 'console-quality' Android gaming.

So they've seemingly got a leg up in developer interest and would have an existing library to leverage.

It's kind of an interesting thing. The Tegra store isn't a separate store. It's sort of a searchable link warehouse that sends you on to the Play store to do the actual buying. They even throw up an info screen about this the first time you launch it.

Everything you need is part of the standard Android SDK directional pad support, start/select buttons shoulder pad buttons and joystick support

An existing game can be switched to use the physical buttons with minimal work... This isn't a rewrite, more like connecting another source event to the functions that handle user interactions. I expect most games to need less than a couple of hours of work to support this device.

Most of the 3D games on touch devices already have the basic virtual control pad. So it's just a matter of enabling that into the real controller, and extending it.

Such a strange twist to everything. While everyone was already second guessing their ouya backing. Nvidia essentially releases a much better device months before the ouya is due out. The major complaint of everyone buying the ouya is there was no screen. Not sure why people are saying this will fail. Ouya raised 8.5 million for a non portable version of this with a worse controller. I think initially this will help out everyone, including android in general, and the ouya. The only thing that would kill this is a high price tag which i'm at this point kind of expecting. 199 or 169 the retail 3ds prices are a bit high imo. The $99 price is what sold the ouya. I'm pretty curious where this will fall in the market.

I've tried to warn OUYA countless times that if they're going to launch in 2013, they're going to need a 2013 chip, not a 2011 one (Tegra 3 was initially launched in 2011, and was also delayed a bit). They're probably going to lose points in reviews because of it, and everyone will be overall less excited about it having significantly less graphics quality and performance than the latest high-end (granted, more expensive) smartphones.

I thought Tegra 4 or something in that rage, was a MUST for OUYA. But they didn't listen, either because it was impossible to make the switch at that point, or they couldn't get a good Tegra 4 deal, or they just didn't think it was that important. But I hope they at least expected that this is going to hurt them at least a bit, and they might need a change of strategy.

I think OUYA could still succeed if instead of targeting it against Nvidia's Shield, and towards more "hardcore" gamers, they target it more as sort of a "toy", like something they could sell at Toy R Us on the cheap, and for sub 12-14 year old kids. Another strategy is of course promoting it heavily as a cheap media device, kind of like an Apple TV or Roku alternative.

There's still a way for them out of this, if they do it right, but personally I'm still disappointed it's not coming out with a Tegra 4 chip or something cutting edge like that. Hopefully OUYA 2.0, if launched in 2014, will have Tegra 5 or some other cutting edge 64 bit SoC with support for OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenCL. This is the sort of stuff that gets "gamers" excited, and they've kind of ignored that. But again, it might not be a huge problem for them, if they refocus on a slightly different market.

And I agree that OUYA, Shield and other such devices will basically help each other, and Android gaming in general.

I don't feel bad about backing the OUYA at all to be honest. Even without pushing boundaries, you can imagine how hard it is for a small team to ship their first device - they have to get a number of things right - controller design, casing, UI, app store etc. Once they get the basic right, it'd be much more straightforward to upgrade the internals.

The nice thing about OUYA is that they aren't bound to the traditional console pricing nonsense - launch a loss-leader, then sell crummy old hardware for a decade to make a profit. They can iterate every year and make some profit both from the hardware and the app store.

I give credit to their team, I can hardly imagine how hard it is to reach goals and deliver a hardware product while driving a martetplace and partnerships to deliver content to your new device.

That being said, I think you're making too many assumptions before it exists. Hardware is expensive, I have no idea how much profit they make per device, or if all the seed money from kickstarter is completely gone. But I know that their future depends on several things. Aside from future sales being a must. In order to iterate, they need to get a lot right -- now. I don't think Ouya is that much more free than any other piece of hardware. They will not be able to iterate that fast, fix bugs that fast, push updates that fast, or sell consoles every year, easily. There's always hope that a random assortmant of people will hack it to the point it's constantly relevant, or that the games that end up getting launched on their marketplace all hit a home run. But it's completely unclear to me at this point. In the age of crowd-funding, a funny thing happens. Backers are already invested in products before they are even created. Speaking much further than just monetarily. There's a fake sense of success and security even knowing that projects can and will fail. Ouya's massive funding only proved the idea, not the implementation.

That being said, when it's finally here, it still has to get people excited. People will still have to want it when it arrives, and when they plug it in, it still has to essentially be awesome. Right now, its too much speculation, if you pick up the real thing and say -- hey, aside from the shit controller, and the lack of power, i still love it. Than, that will mean something significant. As it stands now, Ouya is kind of floating aimlessly in the market, they got too big too fast, haven't really carved out a dedicated chunk of the market. And is already falling far behind as far as the technology used. It falls between a media device and a toy, but in kind of a bad way. If I wanted a media device, i'd buy a roku or build one. If I wanted an android based gaming system in 2013, as of right now, i'd probably end up with a shield. I think that says something. I think the ouya will be a nice little device for sometime, but i'm having a lot of doubts about it's future and it's ability to grow in the competitive and expensive space they opted to jump into.

Ouya, on launch day, will not be able to handle the newest games on the android market. That is a significant issue, one crowd-funded projects are going to have to solve or abandon in the next few years.

I 100% agree with you. Ouya currently is falling in a very strange place in the market. I think they priced themselves correctly, but it falls between a roku and a toy as you mentioned. Where that leaves them is beyond me. The point that matters, is I think if someone was looking for a media device, they'd end up with a roku or apple tv. If they wanted a gaming system, right now the shield is far more appealing. A huge issue with crowdfunding these projects is keeping them relevant. If I buy something this year, and get it next year, it's very difficult to stay relevant. In order for an Ouya 2.0 to be possible, I think they will have to sell a number of post-kickstarter consoles. In order for that to happen, people are going to have to love it when it hits their door steps. They will have to get excited about it. Right now, on launch day, the ouya will not be able to play the newest games on the android market. Despite it having it's own market, if my friend is playing a better quality game on his phone next to me, there is a significant issue there. Even just a mental one, where my new shiny device, doesn't feel all that new and shiny. I don't think it's too late for the Ouya, but think a lot is going to have to go their way in the next year in order for them to succeed in that space. And I think this is going to be yet another eye opening experience for everyone with regards to crowd-funding and how it currently works--The realities of it.

The term "portable" is really pushing it... this thing is huge (and kinda clunky).

I'm sure it's a nice gaming platform (real controller, big screen, powerful graphics, etc), but I can't imagine many people with one of these things on the subway, or really anyplace else except at home. It's way too big to just slip into your bag and carry around with you.

One of the big reasons the Nintendo GB beat out its competitors for so long was that it was really portable, really tough, and fairly cheap. Even the larger PSP is quite portable.

I assume they've done some market research to gauge acceptance, but ... I'm slightly mystified as to the market. Maybe as a home gaming device for kids in their room, and others in a post-TV culture (lots of people I know just "watch TV" on their laptop)?

Looks silly to me, like an oversized controller with a mini tablet stuck on top. I don't see how that is portable, unless "portable" doesn't mean you can put it into a pocket anymore.

I guess it's a nice prototype but this won't make it to the shelves in this form.

> "I don't see how that is portable, unless "portable" doesn't mean you can put it into a pocket anymore."

Portable gaming has never had pocketability as a core requirement. The original Game Boy was way too big for pockets, as is the PSP, and to a lesser extent the Nintendo DS. The closest we really got was the Game Boy Pocket.

Portable gaming has always been about devices that you can whip out during a plane ride, bus ride, train ride, or in a waiting room without it being unwieldy and awkward - this seems to fit that bill. The 5-10h battery life also helps considerably.

Form factor is still important, though. The handgrips can catch on stuff in a bag, which is an annoyance.

Compared to a tablet, phone, or any of the current portable systems, it's a lot thicker, too. That can make it a bit unwieldy to keep in a bag.

You're right, but it's also why I think Nvidia's idea can work.

This product is not competing with tablets and phones - that market has been lost long, long ago. After the rise of smartphones Nintendo's entire portable market vanished very quickly. Casual gamers are no longer interested in carrying around (and paying for) a purpose-built gaming device. When you want to blow away 15 minutes on the bus you won't ever pick a Nintendo DS or PSP over your phone or tablet.

The remaining bit of the mobile gaming space is strictly hardcore, and that's currently underserved - there are a substantial number of gamers who want a mobile device that can actually play console-class games. The only player in this space right now is the PSP, and the execution on that device is poor enough to warrant new competition in the space.

A device with great battery life (good enough for a plane ride), a solid selection of games, and most importantly, a solid modern software platform (read: Steam-like), would do well. The only portability requirements here are "fits in your bag".

If they can make Airplay-style beaming of android games to living-room screens performant-enough for twitch gaming, that's a much bigger deal than the portable device itself.

> The device can also play PC games through the Steam streaming service by taking advantage of Nvidia's Grid,

This sounds pretty cool. I am curious as to how they are able to run steam games? Is this talking about the beta linux steam client? Or are they referring to steam games which would specifically be built for their Nvidia Grid architecture?

I believe the games run on remote hardware and are streamed to the device.

Which to me makes a lot more sense, at least right now, and until we put the whole world on fiber with very low latency. Then maybe the "cloud" game streaming will make more sense.

NVidia is creating just more hype around Tegra 4, very unlikely we see this device in real life.

GeForce Experience?

GFE?

I know there's this long-standing stereotype of gamers as lonesome, horny males, but geez Louise.

Ultimately, Valve will rule this console new-comer space with Steam's Big Picture.

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