This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this folio. Terms of use.

shield

Nintendo has been famously reluctant to permit its classic games to run on anyone else's platform, but information technology'due south making an exception in Mainland china. Nvidia is teaming up with Nintendo to launch the Shield Android TV box in Cathay with an assortment of games from the Wii and Gamecube. Don't concur your breath for these games to launch in other markets, though.

Nvidia has put together multiple partnerships to bring games similar Borderlands and Doom 3 to the Shield, but the Chinese launch is all about Nintendo. The Shield is the just Android Idiot box device with any kind of market share right now. It retails for around $200 in the Usa, and ships with a remote control and a game controller. Within is a powerful Nvidia Tegra X1 chip that tin can decode 4K HDR video and run console-quality games. This is the same chip powering the Switch, and so this partnership was probably a no-brainer.

Chinese e-commerce site JD is selling the Shield for RMB 1,499, which works out to around $226. This version of the box can play Nintendo games similar New Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Punch Out. All these games are running in Hard disk and cost a mere $ten each (RMB 68).

The Shield outside of Red china runs on a standard build of Android Idiot box with the Play Shop, Google apps, Assistant, and so on. None of that works in People's republic of china, so Nvidia says the Chinese version of the device volition run "completely localized" software. Information technology's still based on Android, equally far equally nosotros tin can tell, but video content comes from iQiyi and Baidu handles search.

Limiting these games to China volition irk everyone outside of Red china, just it makes sense for Nintendo's business. Its consoles are not officially sold in China, and the state is a huge gaming marketplace. At that place are some 600 meg people playing games in Red china, and selling a few archetype games to fifty-fifty a fraction of them would be adept business organization for Nintendo.

It will exist interesting to see how well secured the ported games are. A Nintendo game running in Hard disk on Android is the holy grail for many gamers, simply these aren't really running on the console. Nintendo'south games are function of the GeForce At present game streaming service. That will make them finer incommunicable to pirate, and gamers volition need a skillful net connexion to play. You can get GeForce Now in the United states and other markets, simply don't expect Nintendo'south games to bear witness upwardly. Nintendo would prefer yous bought a Switch.

Update: Nvidia has reached out to say that its website was mistaken, and the Nintendo games will run natively on the console. They won't be GeForce Now streaming titles. Nosotros've asked for description on the nature of these games.