The Nvidia Shield arrives next month for $349.99, and yesterday I got to sit down with the final version available at retail. The first thing I noticed was the heft: bulkier than a PS Vita, but no less comfortable.

Where the PS Vita sacrificed bigger buttons for smaller form factor, the Nvidia Shield takes a lot of inspiration from the Xbox 360 controller. In fact, the left and right triggers feel identical to the Xbox 360 and, more or less, so does the d-pad. The one big difference from Microsoft's gamepad is the symmetrical analog sticks.