Nvidia Shield Delayed Until July Over Mechanical Issue

Nvidia has delayed its Shield portable gaming console just one day before its original June 27, 2013 shipping date to a not yet determined date in July.  In a statement released on Wednesday, the company cited a “mechanical issue” as the culprit:

During our final QA process, we discovered a mechanical issue that relates to a third-party component. We want every Shield to be perfect, so we have elected to shift the launch date to July. We’ll update you as soon as we have an exact date.

The Nvidia Shield is an Android-based portable gaming system. The device is one of the first to use the much-anticipated Tegra 4 processor and sets itself apart from others with its ability to stream full PC games over a Wi-Fi network. Last week, the company announced a final price of $299 for the device, after initially stating it would be $349.

While the decision certainly is an annoyance for those gamers hoping to get their hands on the device relatively soon, it’s probably the right call by Nvidia.  They need this product to be a success and shipping it with a known mechanical issue isn’t the best way to start a launch.