Nvidia gives its fans a treat. The company recently released their Android-based Shield handheld gaming console. It may have a different format than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but it surely provides gamers another gaming device alternative. Can Nvidia Shield be the game changer?

Nvidia announced last July 30 that it began shipping units to people who pre-ordered the device. Interested parties can place their orders on Nvidia's website, Shield Experience Center and Newegg. Other stores accepting orders in the United States and Canada include Canada Computer Locations, Microcenter and Gamestop.

The console was one of the biggest surprises at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Nvidia is best known for chipset and graphics. No one anticipated it would soon try its hand on the gaming industry through a company-manufactured console. While many considered the Android-based device to be a good contender in the console market, Nvidia claimed the device was a mobile gaming platform they like to see perform.

"We don't consider Shield a console," Bryan Del Rizzo, Nvidia senior PR manager of consumer products, said in an email to NBC News. Mr Del Rizzo clarified that Shield is not a gaming console per se - at least not like the standard device people see on the market.

"It's a mobile Android gaming platform that also is able to stream PC games," he clarified.

The concept behind Shield was to offer something that bridges the gap between high-end PC gaming and mobile gaming. Nvidia Shield aimed to do that for the Android. It was a mish-mash of components from PC and mobile gaming. The good thing about the device was that it comes with a controller.

Shield can also connect to a personal computer just like how Sony claimed the PlayStation Vita can do so for the PlayStation Vita through the PlayStation 4. Shield users can stream games directly from the personal computers if they have the right hardware. They can setup the configurations of the computer with the mobile device.

However, steaming games required several things: H.264 encoder and a stable WiFi connection. These can cost a few dollars more. Nvidia's technical marketing director, Nick Stam, said in an interview to NACB that the company planned to offer an upgrade wherein people can stream their games from GRID. This referred to a cloud gaming-esque system also introduced during the CES.

"Not every game works perfectly," Stam said. "That's why we still have it in beta."

The market will have to wait for announcements on upgrades and additional features of Nvidia Shield.