Nvidia is showcasing a weekly series, called PC Mondays that reveals just how Project SHIELD works, and some of the benefits it can bring to mobile gaming. Essentially, it’s a portable console with limited capabilities that will allow you to stream PC titles and play them remotely. When I say remotely, I mean that you’re still limited to the broadcast area of your home network, as SHIELD and the connected PC need to be using the same Wi-Fi network.
The real problem with Project SHIELD is that in order to take full advantage of the device you will also need to own at least a mid-grade desktop outfitted with a GeForce GTX 600 GPU. Since most PC gamers are pretty keen on using a mouse and keyboard as a traditional control scheme, it’s going to be a tough crowd to please. Luckily, SHIELD also doubles as a mobile Android console, and it has full access to Google Play and Nvidia TegraZone.
Still, it’s hard to deny the allure of playing Skyrim or Crysis with PC quality visuals, right from the comfort of your couch or bed.
Despite what many of us may think about the device, Nvidia is eager to show off just what SHIELD is capable of, hence the weekly series.
In the last episode, we saw Project SHIELD paired with a PC, in order to play games through Steam. Unfortunately, not every game is available through Steam, which brings up a question that many gamers have been asking Nvidia for a while now.
How do you play games with Project SHIELD that are not available through Steam?
To address this issue, in the latest video Nvidia showed us how to pair the device with a PC, without using Steam. This ensures that all games are compatible with SHIELD, including those limited to EA’s digital distribution platform Origin (go ahead and boo, I’ll wait).
To answer the obvious question, one that I know is eating away at the back of your mind, yes this means you can play Battlefield 3 with Project SHIELD.
As Will Park so aptly demos in the video, in order to play PC titles that aren’t in Steam’s catalog you just have to use the SHIELD app to connect. It’s as easy as navigating to the “PC connection” tab and connecting to the appropriate PC. Of course, the PC needs to be GeForce GTX enabled and must also have GeForce Experience installed.
In the video, Park also accurately describes the game he’s playing, Need for Speed: Most Wanted. I’m sure that a lot of us are familiar with the game, so it would have been better if Park talked more in-depth about Project SHIELD itself.
Will Park revealed that on Thursdays, Nvidia is going to feature Android demos of Project Shield. Which I take to mean that he’s going to show off some of the finer Android features that the device makes use of, and maybe some compatible games.
I’ve included the video below for proper measure. After giving it a watch, be sure to let everyone know what you think in the comments.
My, my, that controller looks real uncomfortable in his hands. Doesn’t it?