NVIDIA President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang speaks
NVIDIA President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang speaks during his keynote address at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California September 21, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Reuters

Nvidia has announced an all-new micro-console called the Shield, targeted squarely at gamer's looking upgrade from their more modest Google Play and Amazon Fire boxes. Powered by Nvidia’s Tegra X1 processor, the box promises console-like visuals in a small form-factor.

Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announced the Shield during the company’s GDC 2015 press conference. Engadget notes that the device is the world’s first 4K Android TV box, capable of capturing and playing 4K video back at up to 60fps. Equipped with an HDMI port, microSD port and Gigabit Ethernet, the Shield also possesses two USB 3.0 ports, which can be hooked up to external hard disk drives for added storage.

On the gaming side, GameSpot reports that the Tegra X1 chip driving the Nvidia Shield is twice as powerful as the processor powering Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The Shield also can also draw upon six times as much RAM and supports the latest Microsoft DirectX 12 graphics API.

Huang went on to show off a number of graphically intensive AAA titles running on the Nvidia Shield, including “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel,” “The Talos Principle” and “Crysis 3.” The latter runs at 30fps, on an Android port of Crytek’s CryEngine technology.

Nvidia states the Shield will launch sometime in May, at a price of $200 and promises that 50 games will be available upon release. The company states a catalogue of games will be available via the Nvidia Grid and Grid+ subscription platforms

The Nvidia Shield represents only the second Android TV box from a major manufacturer squarely aimed at hardcore gamer's. In January this year, PC peripheral manufacturer Razer announced Forge TV, an Android powered box half the price of the Shield, but with much more modest specs. Amazon’s Fire TV box and Google’s Nexus Player are both capable of playing more casual games, but are targeted primarily at mainstream multimedia consumption.

(Credit: YouTube/NVIDIA)

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