The NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Review: A Premium 4K Set Top Box

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• testbug00 - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link

  Nintendo can design a competent OS. The fact their OS runs smoother than Android did for years on Hardware that Android would choke on isn't really a negative.
  
  I'm not joking either, the sad part. And, why would the hardware force them to? Why would they risk people being able to pirate all their games super easy?

• tipoo - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link

  The 3DS, sure, modern android would choke on that hardware. But the design of getting around is still pretty byzantine. Anywho. The Wii U though? With 2GB RAM, half reserved for the OS, and three PowerPC750 based processor cores at 1.2GHz, the thing is still terribly slow for something released so recently. Meanwhile Android is butter with four low power Cortex A7 cores and does ok on 1GB RAM total.
  
  Not saying they should or shouldn't. And I'm not sure it would make piracy easier - even going with Android, being open source they can add their old security. Not that the Wii or DS were very secure from piracy either.

• tipoo - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link

  And what I mean by the 3DS bit...I picked up a 2DS from Target Canada while they were liquidating, half off so I thought what the hell. Didn't have much chance to use it until now.
  
  Went into street pass, there was an update available. Ok, go for it. Hit ok, confirm ok, yes it's ok it will take a while. Loads for a minute, then tells me I need to do a system update first. Figure out how to do that, easy enough. Start system update, confirm system update, yes it's fucking ok it will take a while. System update done.
  
  Go back to streetpass plaza, start update. Hit ok, confirm ok, yes it's ok it will take a while. Connecting to online account. Cool. Takes a minute. Then tells me I don't have enough SD storage space. You couldn't check that first?! There's a message that tells me where to go to free storage. So, why can't there just be a button within the message that takes me there?
  
  It could be because every time you close software, there's a button to really close it, and then a confirmation dialogue. Ach, getting real tired of your shit, Nintendo. A few more seconds of wait after you hit the *real* close button, too, because...I dunno. Nintendo.
  
  Delete some crap. Go back to install the thing. Hit ok, confirm ok, yes it's ok it will take a while. Works this time. Go through the new Plaza to see what's new. Go through a bunch of dialogue with a talking rabbit just to see screenshots of each game. You can hold R, but it's still pretty slow.
  
  Did I mention slow? The byzantine software layout may not even bug me as much if the thing was fast, but this is *really* slow. It's old hardware, I get that, plus it was low end hardware even at launch, but that doesn't stop it from being aggravating. The eShop being the worst of it. Going back and forth through pages is painstaking.
  
  Some people have and probably will try to remind me that Nintendo is focused a lot on children. I honestly don't think even kids need all this padding though - this is the iPad generation, they'll get the hang of things in a jiffy, and don't need three confirmations from a talking dildo or whatever weird crap Nintendo wants to do every time they open or close software or after they've already said yes to a download.
  
  Even with more attractive games on it than smartphones have, I find myself almost reluctant to use it every time for the slowness and very pre-iPhone software.

• eanazag - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link

  Nintendo just needs to give up on the hardware aspect and just distribute software. I would even pay for oldies like Excite Bike on iOS/MS Store/Google Play. I think they can still do regular consoles, but I have been disappointed with them. Good peripherals is still a market they could sell for.
  
  If anything, just sell the old stuff on those other services a make a dollar.

• mkozakewich - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link

  If I were them, I'd work with a vendor to design a Nintendo Phone. Like, imagine an LG phone with Nintendo branding, a thumbstick, and four buttons? Maybe shoulder buttons, too. Whatever they could fit. (They might be able to get away with shoving all the usual 3DS buttons on.)

• smorebuds - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link

  This is more what I was referring too. If Nintendo focused on releasing software (to the Android/iOS market where they'd make the biggest splash) then wouldn't a Nintendo set top box like this Shield make sense too? It would just be the Nintendo-branded and skinned Android box, maybe with some extra Nintendo-specific features thrown in.

• FMinus - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link

  Why would they do that, I'm still pretty happy with my WiiU and their hardware offers something that noone else does, or usually copies it in one way or another. Besides Nintendo is sitting on a lot of cash, possibly more as Microsoft and Sony game divisions together anyway, so there's no fear of them going away anytime soon.
  
  Aside of that, they are the only company making consoles relatively affordable and kid friendly. Just as an example The Xbox/Playstation UI are an abomination to navigate for a 6 to 10 year old. And most importantly, Nintendo is focusing on games, not being the center of your living room, I'd gladly strip both the Xbox One and Playstation 4 of all the useless features (to me) if they offered them for $250.

• stoicromance - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link

  So am I to understand that you can load pretty much any Google Play app onto this? Can I just throw VLC and Plex onto the Shield?

• Ryan Smith - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link

  Through the Play Store, an app needs to be flagged as supporting the 10ft Android TV UI in order to show up. Though you can sideload practically anything.

• ganeshts - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link

  Plex already comes pre-bundled
  
  VLC doesn't work that well right now on the SHIELD