Google Stadia: Thread 01

[Nu-Eclipse]

But, at the same time...I do still think this technology represents the future of gaming in many ways. Once this or another service are an app that are built into every TV, downloadable onto every phone, tablet, or computer, I do think that it will be very competitive with traditional consoles and PCs. Being able to buy and start playing the latest game with no hardware needed other than a pad will be a pretty compelling proposition.

Gee, it’s almost like Android has the massive install userbase thanks to OEMs like Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei, Sony, etc. that meant that perhaps Google really ought to have made a Stadia app available on Google Play to access all this content from day one instead of faffing about the way they have!

That said, I tend to agree with you. There seems to be an inevitability about the way all of this is going, even if Stadia isn’t the service that pioneers it.

[MartyG]

The experience will always have latency, there's simple physics involved, electrons/photons have a finite speed - the further these have to travel, the more latency there is. So until we have quantum internet connections, a streaming gaming service is always going to be an inferior one to a local PC/Console in your living room.

Publishers don't want this for the purpose of improving the gaming experience, they want it for the control - games as a service with a rolling monthly income tied into a contract.

My Stadia Founder's Edition arrives today, so I'll post up my experiences (along with my streaming biases no doubt), but from my experiences with similar services (OnLive, PlayStation Now and most recently the XCloud Beta) I suspect it will be exactly the same: Laggy, digital breakup and high bandwidth usage, only this time with an added really bad pricing model.

[QualityChimp]

This thing just doesn't excite me at all.

Trying to put my finger on why that is.

I think it's partly because after years of playing on a portable telly and finally getting a projector, the thought of gaming on an even smaller screen seems like regression for me.

Also, I just can't picture myself on a bus playing Just Dance 2020 or Fortnight.

Also, I'm getting more cynical. I don't think somebody at Google thought "Let's make great games that can be played anywhere!", I suspect it's more likely they all said "How can we monetise mobile gaming for us even more?!"

[vanpeebles]

Anyone who buys this, and posts on this board, should be whopped half senseless with a large slipper.

[MartyG]

Also, I'm getting more cynical. I don't think somebody at Google thought "Let's make great games that can be played anywhere!", I suspect it's more likely they all said "How can we monetise mobile gaming for us even more?!"

I suspect it's more about Google's technology than gaming per se - how can we gain a load of patents and make money from interactive streaming technology. Game streaming is simply a byproduct use of the tech.

Anyone who buys this, and posts on this board, should be whopped half senseless with a large slipper.

I've bought it to secure my username on the service so no one else can have it, and obvioulsy to take the pain so noone else on this board has to - true altruism

[vanpeebles]

Best get your asbestos corduroys on then!!

[Neon Ignition]

I think I read on Era last night that Stadia uses 100GB per hour for streaming at a target of 1080p. I don't know if there's any truth to it or not as well but they were discussing a tweet that suggested pre-orders had been well below target and it may be largely dead on arrival as there's little trending traffic on it either.

I think, fundamentally for me, if streaming worked 100% problem free it would still be a wet fish. The trouble is that's its a technological evolution, a feature extension that can be used for gaming. It's not a huge platform in of itself, consumers don't give a rats ass about it, I feel like there's never been any compelling evidence that consumers actually want to move on from consoles. Neither do I feel like there's a huge untapped market waiting to dive into console style gaming. Going out at any point during a 7 year life cycle and buying a console is frankly not a barrier to getting into gaming, the reason the market caps out at around 200-250m total hardware sales each gen is because that's consistently the roof of appeal.

It's the same with xCloud. Take away the need to own an Xbox and so I can play its games on other devices doesn't remotely change the underlying experience, I'm either interested or not and if I was I'd have likely picked up a cheap Xbox already. Streaming adds to the portfolio of features, flexibility of options for users and that's all. It's why MS's strategy seems the best one, marrying the two sides together to hedge their bets.

It's a common enough tale, a new development happens and some companies lose millions diving onto a gimmick. Hardware is going to die because streaming is the future. Except so is VR so we need hardware etc constant streams of failed prophecies whilst the only real consistent line each generation is... the humble console. Well, that and the controller which every service awkwardly requires undermining the concept.

In the end I think the only potential argument for success with streamed gaming to those who are interested in these types of experiences is subscription models, buying games outright remains a bad option for consumers. That's where MS easily strides forward and even then the big problem becomes the same as with TV streaming - content. Games are just too expensive to produce in the volume and quality level to profit and outpace rivals. I still don't see how MS will maintain it long term so Google, starting at ground zero, never stood a chance.

[MartyG]

With xCloud you have to take a controller with you, which doesn't really make it convenient even without having to bring the console with you too and there are definitely issues with the screen size due to lack of optomisation. It'll be the same with Stadia on a small screen.

[wakka]

Yeah, I don't think we'll see consoles cancelled in favour of streaming services. But I do feel that once these services find their feet, there'll be a place in the market for a service which just needs a pad and works on any device.

For all the negatives of streaming, it does have positives and it does present new possibilities, like jumping straight into streamers' games or leaping into an ad and taking over from the pre-recorded footage to begin playing yourself. Inviting friends to join in a game even if they don't own it.

That to me is interesting, and I think demonstrates that there is a place for this technology moving forward. Gaming is broad enough and big enough to support so many styles of play now, and I think streaming is just one of them.

[MartyG]

For all the negatives of streaming, it does have positives and it does present new possibilities, like jumping straight into streamers' games or leaping into an ad and taking over from the pre-recorded footage to begin playing yourself. Inviting friends to join in a game even if they don't own it.**

**Coming Soon^TM

Also, when have you ever wanted to leap midway into a game? Joining Battlefield games half way through is annoying enough. These all seem like solutions looking for a problem.

[Neon Ignition]

Just double checked, turns out its 100MB per minute for 1080p

[MartyG]

Yeah, it's about 16GB an hour at the max settings - still, for those who game 8 hours a day, that's nearly 4TB a month in bandwidth before you've used it for anything else (probably not target market).

[Digfox]

These all seem like solutions looking for a problem.

I'll just download Destiny 2. Shouldn't be too long as it's only 105GB before I can play it...

[wakka]

Gaming eight hours a day?! Are these people privately wealthy?!

**Coming Soon^TM

Also, when have you ever wanted to leap midway into a game? Joining Battlefield games half way through is annoying enough. These all seem like solutions looking for a problem.

Yep, I'm thinking a little bit longer term rather than right now (I don't know why you've bought it! ).

I just think there are interesting possibilities there to be explored. I'd be interested to see what someone like Kojima would dream up to use the technology for, for example. As much as I dislike this Google effort, I'm not ready to say yep, complete waste of time, bin it, let's use consoles and hard drives and discs for ever and nothing else.

[MartyG]

I run downloads overnight - you'll pass 105GB after a week's or so play