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Nvidia delays Shield to July, due to 11th-hour dilemma

Nvidia discovers a last-minute "mechanical issue" with Shield and promptly delays it to July.

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So close! Josh Miller/CNET

Just when you thought it was out, they pull it back in. Nvidia has delayed its Shield portable gaming console just one day before its original June 27, 2013 (that's tomorrow for you skimmers out there) shipping date to an as-yet undetermined date in July.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the company cites 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.

Nvidia also addressed the delay in a blog post on its site. While this will no doubt come as a huge disappointment to those who wasted no time getting their preorders in, whatever short-term vitriol the company slogs through for delaying so close to release, would surely pale in comparison to it actually releasing a shoddy product

The current scenario isn't ideal, but given the circumstance, Nvidia is probably making the right decision.

The Nvidia Shield is an Android-based portable gaming system. The device is one of the first to house 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.