(Possible) Upcoming Android Switch-type Device

[Hwlngmad]

I thought I would share this article that I found on Android Central.

 

https://www.androidcentral.com/wonder-android-switch-competitor

 

Obviously things are still in the development stage, but it does sound rather intriguing to me.

[Flojomojo]

Sounds a lot like the Nvidia Shield, which has been a handheld, a TVbox, and a tablet .... and a modified version was made into the Nintendo Switch. Makes sense for someone to revisit the concept (Shield is/was cool) but this would have to do something pretty special to light a spark where so many others have failed to take off in a big way.

 

Or maybe being in a little niche is OK, so long as it's supported?

[Hwlngmad]

I think that the support is (potentially) there, but the biggest problem I have with my Nvidia Shield TV is that Android TV does not have the same level of games that can be found in (celluar) Android devices. If it did, I would have zero complaints. Still, I am interested to see if this company can do what they are planning and how it truly compares to the Nintendo Switch and/or Nvidia Shield. Shoot, the Nintendo Switch is (in some ways) the sequel to the Nvidia Shield. Time will tell, but the chances that this takes off are pretty limited.

Sounds a lot like the Nvidia Shield, which has been a handheld, a TVbox, and a tablet .... and a modified version was made into the Nintendo Switch. Makes sense for someone to revisit the concept (Shield is/was cool) but this would have to do something pretty special to light a spark where so many others have failed to take off in a big way.

Or maybe being in a little niche is OK, so long as it's supported?

[Flojomojo]

When you say "level of games," do you mean quality or quantity? I had an Nvidia Shield (the portable that looked like an OG Xbox controller) and it had a really robust tool for mapping touchscreen actions to the controller.

 

Android TV is going to be limited to software with controller support. That's on the developers, not the platform. AppleTV has the same problem. What's there is great, but there's a lot less of it.

 

Does your Nvidia Shield TV have the enhanced, Shield-only games like Half-Life 2, Portal, Doom3, etc?

[Hwlngmad]

Quantity. Quality is definitely there. I play Real Racing 3 and like it a lot. Not quite Forza Motorsport level, but it gets the job done. I haven't tried the enhanced versions of Doom et al, but they look really good. Still, I got the Nvidia Shield TV to eventually turn it into my mainstream retro console. I haven't gotten around to that yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list.

When you say "level of games," do you mean quality or quantity? I had an Nvidia Shield (the portable that looked like an OG Xbox controller) and it had a really robust tool for mapping touchscreen actions to the controller.

 

Android TV is going to be limited to software with controller support. That's on the developers, not the platform. AppleTV has the same problem. What's there is great, but there's a lot less of it.

 

Does your Nvidia Shield TV have the enhanced, Shield-only games like Half-Life 2, Portal, Doom3, etc?

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, it should be good at that. My Shield handheld certainly was. I like the Broglia emulators. http://www.explusalpha.com

[Tanooki]

Broglia emulation is fantastic. I use the shield tablet which is basically the switch and either in handheld or docked with a mini hdmi cable i have and its solid as is Doom. I think is a bit of an upstart move on their part but i guess it could work if they relied on an existing app service like google play or amazon as standing alone like ouya is a big fail.