NVIDIA Shield TV launches in China with several Nintendo titles

Years after its launch around the world, the NVIDIA Shield TV is coming to China. The Shield TV has been a favorite amongst gamers and streamers alike, as it has the ability to stream in 4K HDR, play games from Google Play on your television, and gets frequent updates. Now people in China can get their hands on it, though there are a few caveats.

The Shield TV was recently updated with Google Assistant support, but customers in China will not have access to it. Since China doesn’t allow Google’s services, the Shield TV will launch without the Play Store or any of Google’s apps. Instead, it’ll come with local equivalents like Baidu’s DuerOS conversational AI system and entertainment options from iQIYI.

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NVIDIA is also teaming up with Nintendo to bring some of its games to the system. NVIDIA and Nintendo are partners on the Nintendo Switch which uses NVIDIA’s Tegra X1 chip. The Shield will offer up Super Mario Bros. for Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Punch-Out! at launch, with Super Mario Galaxy on the way soon. The games will be remastered in 1080p and available today. They’ll run customers 68 yuan, which is about $10 USD.

Even though these titles are exclusive to China, their inclusion has to spark the interest of Nintendo fans everywhere. As of right now, Nintendo only releases its games on the consoles it makes, with some mobile titles available as well. We’ve seen collaborations with other companies like Niantic for Pokemon Go, but we’ve yet to see games outright released on other systems like the Shield TV. Could this partnership mean that Nintendo and NVIDIA could team up to release older Nintendo titles in other markets too? Only time will tell.

The NVIDIA Shield TV goes on sale in China today. It’ll run customers 1,499 yuan, which translates to $227 in USD. That’s a slight premium of the $199 you can find the Shield TV for on sites like Best Buy.