Nvidia Shield Adds In-Game Voice Chat, Keyboard and Mouse Support

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Nvidia Shield just got its 20th software update and it includes some gamer-friendly features.

Players can now use in-game voice chat by plugging a headset into the Shield controller’s 3.5mm jack, said on its official Shield blog . There’s also now keyboard & mouse support for the GeForce Now game streaming service, bringing with it smoother, more accurate mouse movements and keyboard shortcuts for PC titles like “Dota 2” and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.”

Fan-favorite feature Nvidia Share is also making a comeback. It lets users capture screenshots, record game highlights, and stream gameplay to Twitch — something that’s now very common on gaming consoles.

Nvidia is also promising more day-and-date releases, including “Monster Hunter: World,” “F1 2018,” and “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” when it launches on Sept. 14.

“When we launched SHIELD TV, we made a promise to support your device with frequent and meaningful updates,” Nvidia said. “Over the years, a lot has changed. You’ve given us countless pieces of feedback which have helped make SHIELD devices what they are. And we can’t thank you enough. What we can do is this: continue to honor that promise and deliver another upgrade and more features without asking you to purchase new hardware.”

The big 7.1 patch also adds a number of non gaming-specific improvements. Nvidia Shield owners can now talk to Google Assistant in multiple languages interchangeably. They can also use Google Assistant to vocally control playback in the YouTube app. There are some new apps on Shield, including IFC, AMC, and Boomerang. Finally, Shield now has 120 Hz display modes for supported TVs and monitors. The full patch notes are available here .