Carmageddon wasn't recognized, but I found a relatively functional Gamepad Mapper profile. Metal Slug 3 worked well enough to play, but the B button was irritatingly mapped to pause the game. Of them, Max Payne, Sine Mora, R-Type, and Trine 2 worked flawlessly, recognizing the gamepad and handling the controls automatically. I played several games on the Shield Tablet with the Shield Wireless Controller, including Max Payne, R-Type, Sine Mora, Metal Slug 3, Carmageddon, and Trine 2. Fortunately, most major titles either support gamepads or already have a functional profile available through the app made by a fan who already tinkered with it. Because the controller connects to a Shield device over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth as an interface device, it can stream audio played on the connected device through the controller, like the Roku 2 ($32.00 at Amazon) media hub's remote.Ĭompatibility Like the built-in controls of the Shield Portable, the Shield Wireless Controller requires either app-based gamepad support or a controller profile configured or downloaded through Nvidia's Gamepad Mapper app. The top edge of the controller holds a micro USB port for charging and a 3.5mm audio jack for a headset or headphones. A silver-colored bar on the bottom edge of the gamepad holds a Shield logo and touch-sensitive Volume Up and Volume Down controls.

A large triangular Nvidia logo is flanked by Home, Start, and Return buttons, all of which are touch sensitive rather than clicky.

The middle of the gamepad really starts to veer away from the Shield Portable's design, eschewing mechanical system controls for touched-based ones. The gamepad's controls are configured nearly identically to the Shield Portable's, with dual analog sticks in a side-by-side PlayStation-style layout, a direction pad parallel to four face buttons in an XABY Xbox-style layout, and both triggers and bumpers on each shoulder. Since it doesn't have an entire Android tablet's worth of electronics inside it, it weighs half as much as the Shield Portable at 10.9 ounces compared with the dedicated handheld device's 20.5 ounces. It's the same matte black-and-silver color scheme and relatively bulky design, but without the flip-up touch screen or slightly sunken controls. Its Wi-Fi-based connection boasts low latency and a handy streaming audio feature, but it simply won't work with non-Shield devices.ĭesign The gamepad looks and feels like the little brother of the Shield Portable. In fact, it will currently only work with the Shield Tablet and Shield Portable. Make no mistake: the Shield Wireless Controller ($60.95 at Amazon) is not a Bluetooth gamepad, and is not compatible with all Android devices.

Nvidia shield controller amazon