While some PC gamers may scoff at NVidia’s handheld streaming console, the Shield has proven itself as a viable portable counterpart to the PC gaming family. Not only can the Shield stream video games from a hosting PC, but the handheld features its own personal library of games available for direct download. Notable titles in the Shield family include Rochard, Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 1, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, and the latest entry from Valve, the original Portal.
Another classic Valve title included within The Orange Box will be making its NVidia Shield debut. As of yesterday morning, PortalĀ and Half-Life 2 were released for the Android-based console. Shield owners can purchase the sci-fi epic through the Google Play store. While Google Play and the Shield are both Android-based, this version of Half-Life 2 is only compatible with the NVidia Shield. Both Valve titles have won numerous awards over the years; Half-Life 2 is also the highest-ranking PC title on Metacritic, with an aggregate score of 96, and a User Score of 9.2.
Originally released in 2007, The Orange Box included a collection of what some would now consider to be some of Valve’s most popular titles. The compilation was released for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac and Linux, and would include Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1, HL2: Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. While The Orange Box is still a popular buy for consoles, Valve has ceased updates for the console versions, making them obsolete in comparison to their Steam-hosted counterparts.
With some of the larger, more popular titles making the leap to the NVidia Shield’s Android platform, perhaps we may see more Valve games on the console in the future, with the likes of Counter Strike, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2.
Half-Life 2 and Portal are both available for purchase through Google Play for $9.99 each.