Tired of the Wait for Half-Life 3, Gordon Freeman Makes His Way to NVIDIA SHIELD

I posted earlier about Portal, and how it’s soon to make its debut on NVIDIA’s SHIELD handheld (our review). As it now appears, that’s not where the Valve-love is going to end. This morning, FedEx came to my door with an unusual package, one small in diameter, but nearly three feet tall. Not recalling ordering another Katy Perry poster recently, I decided to just tear in and see what awaited me. Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a betting man, because I sure couldn’t have guessed that this was inside:

Yes, it was the crowbar, and not the cat.

The words “What Would Gordon Do?” graces the center of the crowbar, with a Half-Life logo on one side, and an NVIDIA SHIELD one on the other. Clearly, this must mean that Half-Life 2 is also soon to come to the SHIELD, and it has me thinking: Are we going to see more Source-based games beyond these first two?

Both Portal and Half-Life 2 are older Source games, so I’m thinking we might not see Portal 2 until the next-generation SHIELD is out. While that game isn’t what I’d consider a graphical masterpiece, there are still limitations in current mobile hardware – limitations that Tegra K1 could negate.

That aside, I also can’t help but wonder if this is just the start of things. Could NVIDIA be working with publishers other than Valve to bring other big PC games to the SHIELD? For that matter, if you’re a SHIELD owner (or a wannabe SHIELD owner), what PC games would you love to see ported to the device? For me, Mafia II would be a great title.

Also, consider this: When the SHIELD was first released, Gearbox heavily promoted it thanks to the GameStream technology that made playing Borderlands 2 on the device possible. NVIDIA has a great working relationship with Gearbox, and with a PS Vita version of Borderlands 2 coming, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the same game, or the less-intensive original, SHIELD-bound in the future.

I’ll know it if a green Claptrap ever shows up at my door.