Sony president is unsurprised by Nvidia's push toward portable gaming device

Sony president Kazuo Hirai was not completely surprised by Nvidia's announcement of plans to introduce an Android-based portable gaming device, he stated during this year's CES in Las Vegas.

"I wasn't as surprised as you might think," he said. "If you look back through the pages of history, there have been other attempts."

The new portable gaming device, which is currently being called Project Shield, was unveiled yesterday as part of this year's CES press conference, leaving many surprised at the chipmaker's plans to enter into the competitive portable gaming market.

"It's difficult to break into," said Hirai, who previously managed the launch of the PlayStation Vita. "I've managed this industry, so I know."

According to Hirai, Nvidia's transition into handheld games consoles is part of a growing trend of companies catering to customers who wish to play games on more than traditional consoles.

"Customers are used to playing video games on not just consoles anymore, but a variety of devices," he said. He later added it was "too early to tell" whether this was a good time for a company to enter into the gaming industry.

Project Shield is built into a console-grade game controller and features a five inch, 720p retinal multitouch display. The device is capable of running Android games as well as PC titles by connecting to and streaming games from a desktop PC.