NVIDIA SHIELD Goes On Pre-Order For $349

NVIDIA Project SHIELD is now known as NVIDIA SHIELD. This is because the hand-held gaming device is now available to pre-order for $349 for those who signed up for the newsletter at shield.nvidia.com. If you did not register you can still sign up and get in early as the general public pre-order begins on Monday, May 20th. NVIDIA SHIELD will begin shipping in June 2013 and we were told that Newegg, Gamestop, Micro Center and Canada Computers will all carry SHIELD. Here’s what you’ll get:

• Tegra 4 – The world’s fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD’s sleeper feature
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• There’s more – We put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack. See the full spec sheet, here.

NVIDIA also announced that these five TegraZone games are coming to SHIELD and Tegra 4 devices later this year:

• Broken Age, Double Fine Productions
• Costume Quest, Double Fine Productions
• Flyhunter: Origins, Steel Wool Games
• Skiing Fred, Dedalord Games
• Chuck’s Challenge 3D, Niffler