In response to a growing amount of “buzz” generated around NVIDIA’s SHIELD Android gaming unit, pre-orders went live today. Initially, they were dated to go up on May 20, but if you planned on shelling out the $349.99 and possibly another $60 on accessories in the shape of a case and custom lids, you can do so now. 

Well, pricing is official - NVIDIA’s SHIELD gaming system will run $349 at launch. So the big question now is, are you going to buy one? This product was first unveiled some five and a half months ago at CES to a mix of emotions and reviews from both media and consumers. We all wondered if there was a need for a portable gaming system that can stream and play your PC  games along with your current mobile collection? Is your phone already a good enough mobile gaming device or is this truly the future of mobile gaming? What would the price be? All tough questions that I’m not sure anyone has an answer for (well outside of the price which we now know), until we can spend more time with.

So tell us, are you buying SHIELD? If so, sell the community on why you are buying it. If not, we tell what is holding you back.

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Details have finally been released for NVIDIA’s highly-anticipated SHIELD. Previously known as Project SHIELD, they dropped “Project” and decided SHEILD was a better way to go. Either way, we first saw the Tegra 4-powered SHIELD at this year’s CES in January, so after months (it felt like years) of awaiting news on pricing and a release date, we finally have it. 

We as consumers are still awaiting details on which upcoming devices will be running NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 processor this year. News out of Greece today shows that a tablet made by Toshiba could be one of the first, as it has popped up on the web sporting a few notable features. 

Speaking at last week’s company investor day, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, gave attendees a treat for the eyes. If you know NVIDIA, you know about their love for roadmaps and teasing future (and I stress future) products. Last week, Jen-Hsun gave everyone a peak at a project called, Kepler Mobile. With the Kepler Mobile chip, mobile devices will be able to rival the processing power of today’s computers, allowing gamers to play top titles such as Battlefield 3 on a tablet.

NVIDIA continues their teasing of Project SHIELD with another video, this time featuring an upcoming Android title, Arma Tactics. With Tegra 4 enhancements, Arma Tactics is an extremely well designed warfare game, with random missions and objectives, meaning gameplay should never be the same twice. 

According to a report out of Reuters this evening, Google will launch a new version of its popular Nexus 7 tablet this July. The tablet will be made by Asus once again, but will use one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors this time around in favor of NVIDIA’s Tegra line, “for power reasons,” one of their sources said. The new N7 will also sport a display with a higher resolution and a casing with a much smaller bezel than the current model. 

This early morning, an epic game by the name of Ravensword: Shadowlands arrived on Google Play. The game is an RPG, but brings one of the largest and most immersive worlds to mobile devices ever seen. In the game, you play as a hero who must find powerful weapons, collect rare items, and basically solve the mysteries and beat the baddies.