Half-Life 2 and Portal are launched on Android... but only for Nvidia's Shield

Cellcom Montreal bells stores phone bell Bell Store  bell fibe TV bell home phone fido rate plans fido contracts telus rate plans rogers contracts rogers rate plans virgin mobile rate plans

Nvidia promises 'full PC versions natively' for handheld gaming devices, but other Android owners will have to wait

Android has two more conversions of classic PC games this week – Half-Life 2 and Portal – but for now they're only available on one device: Nvidia's Shield.

The gaming handheld has the exclusive on both games, which were converted to Android by Nvidia's own team under licence from their developer, Valve.

Both games are available on Android's Google Play store, but are Shield-only for now – although in the past, such exclusives have supported more smartphones and tablets within a few months of their initial release.

Nvidia said in March it was porting Portal to its Shield, but the appearance of Half-Life 2 alongside it is a surprise for gamers. "We’re huge Half-Life fans. So bringing it to Shield was a labor for love for more than a few members of the team," explained a post on Nvidia's corporate blog. "Using the utmost care, we paid attention to every detail to ensure gamers get the full PC versions natively on Android. The graphic performance is sharp; the controls are precise and natural."

The releases are part of Nvidia's efforts to ensure there is a wide catalogue of games available for its handheld, which went on sale in July 2013. There are now more than 300 available for the $199 device, which isn't yet available in the UK.

Nvidia hasn't given public sales figures for the device, although in August 2013 its senior director of investor relations, Chris Evenden, said sales had been "great", adding that "everything that we shipped so far has sold out, but we're just starting to ramp production".

Early indications are good for the two new Shield games. Half-Life 2 has an average review score of 4.9 out of five on the Google Play store based on 91 ratings from players, while Portal is averaging a perfect 5.0 from 60 reviews.

Nvidia also recently launched a remote-streaming feature for the Shield, enabling owners to play games running on their PCs even when they're away from their home. The company pitched its GameStream feature as a way to play games including Titanfall, World of Warcraft and League of Legends on the device.