Stop holding your breath, Nvidia announced today that Shield won't be coming tomorrow as was previously announced last week.
In a statement on Nvidia's blog, Jason Paul, director of Shield, said that due to some issues that turned up in last minute quality-assurance testing, the new handheld console won't ship until July. Paul didn't speak about specifics, but said the issue is related to a third-party mechanical component.
An unpolished facet of a device can kill an otherwise great product. While this delay is certainly disappointing for everyone who was looking forward to picking up the system tomorrow, in the long run, this is probably the right move for Nvidia.
Nvidia seems determined to get Shield right. In addition to the QA hangup, last week they also reduced the price by $50, from $349 to $299. The price drop was in response to customer feedback suggesting that a lower pricepoint would make Shield "a home run."
We want every SHIELD to be perfect, so we have elected to shift the launch date to July.
Paul gave no indication of an exact shipping date, but said they'll post an update in July with more details.
When it finally does arrive, Shield will be a unique addition to the handheld and console gaming market, offering both portable and streaming gameplay in a form-factor never before attempted.