Antsy Pants NVIDIA Starts Accepting SHIELD Pre-orders Ahead of Schedule

NVIDIA's like a little kid at grade school who just received a new toy and can't wait to bring it to class for show-and-tell. The only difference is that what NVIDIA's peddling is much cooler than a yo-yo or a Tonka truck, it's a portable game system stocked with Android Jelly Bean and outfitted with a Tegra 4 SoC (System-on-Chip). If you're as excited about SHIELD as NVIDIA is, we have good news for you.

Rather than make the gaming masses wait until Monday to place their pre-orders, NVIDIA and its partners will happily take your cash today. Barring any last minute surprises, SHIELD is still expected to ship by the end of June, so there's no change in availability, just when you can actually order one.

SHIELD Jelly Bean

"SHIELD is a brand new kind of gaming portable and we’re thrilled to be one of the few retailers who will be carrying it," said Stephen Weller, director of product management at Newegg. "Our tech savvy customers love gaming and are anxious to get their hands on it. In fact, we've decided to move up the pre-order date for those customers who want to be among the first to own a SHIELD!"

A quick refresher in case you missed it the first time around: SHIELD ships with the above-mentioned SoC along with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 802.11n 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm stereo headphone/microphone combo jack, integrated multi-touch 5-inch 720p display, built-in speakers, and an integrated controller.


It's a promising system, though it remains to be seen how popular it will be at the $349 asking price. If you're down to order one, you can do so directly through NVIDIA, or at Newegg, GameStop, or Canada Computer. Micro Center will also have a pre-order page within the next few days.