NVIDIA announced a little over a month ago that its Android 4.2-powered SHIELD gaming handheld would launch in June for $349, but today the company has announced a small change of plans. Fortunately for anyone interested in picking up a SHIELD of their own, the change is a good one.

NVIDIA took to its official blog this morning to reveal that it has cut the price of the SHIELD by $50, meaning that the device will now cost $299. The company also confirmed the precise launch date for SHIELD, saying that it will officially be released on June 27. The SHIELD is currently available for pre-order from NVIDIA's online shop. Customers that've already placed a pre-order for the handheld will receive the lower $299 price.

The NVIDIA SHIELD is a handheld gaming system that's powered by Android Jelly Bean and features a 5-inch 1280x720 touchscreen. Inside the SHIELD is a quad-core Tegra 4 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, microSD card slot and 802.11n 2x2 Mimo Wi-Fi support. All of those specs form a recipe for what looks to be a beefy handheld gaming machine, and I'm sure that anyone that's already pre-ordered a unit will be pleased to learn that they've now got an extra $50 to drop on new games to help break it in. What do you think of the NVIDIA SHIELD? Has this $50 price cut convinced any of you to pull the trigger (button) on one?

Via NVIDIA