There have been many attempts at making Google Android a legitimate gaming platform, including a variety of set-top boxes and specialized controllers. NVIDIA has really taken this challenge to heart with not only the original Shield (now called the Shield Portable), but also a whole family of Shield products. If you were interested in the Shield Tablet but didn’t have the bank to buy it, you’re in luck. A new version called the Shield Tablet K1 has just launched and it’s about 33% cheaper.

We do have to realize that the Tegra K1 platform is almost two years old, and the original Shield Tablet is already over a year old. The newly updated Shield Tablet K1, as its name indicates, still makes use of the same Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset. It may not be new anymore, but the quad-core 2.2GHz CPU and 192-core GeForce Kepler GPU should keep things moving along at a beautiful clip.

Realistically, this update isn’t doing all that much other than lowering the price. The Shield Tablet K1 is still an 8-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and the base SKU is still a 16GB Wi-Fi model. A cellular-equipped model should be enroute at a price yet to be determined, likely with more internal storage too. To bring the price down, they aren’t including a USB charger (but you probably already have a few extras kicking around). As before, the Shield controller is another $59.99 accessory.

But hey, the new Shield Tablet K1 is now only $199.99, which is $100 less than the original. You’ll be hard pressed to find an equivalently-powered tablet for that price, not to mention all the Nvidia extras that come with this one, like Grid game streaming. Hopefully the new version isn’t a fire hazard this time around too. And given the addition of “K1” to the name, it’s quite possible that a Shield Tablet X1 could debut at CES in January. The Tegra X1 can already be found in the Shield TV set top gaming box.

Via Mobileburn

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