Nvidia is offering their new game streaming service, Nvidia GRID, free for owners of Shield Portable and Shield Tablets until June of next year. Hey, I have a Shield Tablet! So let’s give a shot and see how good or bad it really is!
Well, when I first tried it, I was experiencing problems where I would be kicked out shortly after starting, whether or not this is a problem with the service, or my internet connection remains to be seen (I’m leaning towards the latter), however I was in the same room as my router. When I tried later on in the night, the experience went much better, with only a minor hiccup while playing Dirt 2 (which you can see in the video).
Ok, yeah, that race didn’t go well. I swear I used to be better at the game, honest. It has been YEARS since I’ve played any of the Dirt games to be fair. As you can see early on however, that there was a bit of lag between my tablet and the GRID servers.
Saints Row went better (not sure my play was any better though) as you can see.
Last but not least, it wouldn’t be fair without jumping into Borderlands 2, seeing as how much Jason loves the series. Again, GRID and the Shield Tablet/Controller performed very well here, offering impressive visuals (especially when you consider this is all running on a tablet). All in all, GRID currently has 20 titles available to play,but more will be added as the service expands. Netflix changed the way we watch movies and TV shows, and where OnLive hasn’t made a major impact in the gaming world, maybe GRID can, as its only a matter of time until the same becomes true for games, especially being free for Shield devices. Sure, the Shield Portable might be a niche market, but the Shield Tablet is arguably the best Android tablet on the market, is priced right, and no other tablet can match it for gaming. The full list of GRID games currently available is below.
- Astebreed
- Alan Wake American Nightmare
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Arkham City
- Borderlands
- Borderlands 2
- Brutal Legend
- Darksiders
- Darksiders 2
- Dead Island
- Dirt 2
- LEGO Batman 2
- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
- Race Driver Grid
- Saints Row: The Third
- Street Fighter X Tekken
- Strike Suit Zero
- Trine 2
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
- Ultra Street Fighter 4