Nah. Google isn’t in the hardware business.
Yeah. They’re not interested in hardware at all.
Correct. The hardware exists to sell their services.
Actually now I’v read that generic hardware support isn’t “sometime later in 2020”. Again this is poor communication, as on reading your post I was thinking maybe December.
This is a game console, full stop. That’s what it is. It offloads processing to the cloud, so? I’m siding with the ‘not the future’ crowd for now. In 2021 when it works with my TV and bluetooth gamepad, I might have a look.
Still thinking about it. The issue it leverages is that at a given time, even peak time, a lot of people aren’t actually using their console. Say, for example, last night at 9PM eastern standard time, probably 75% of PS4s were sitting idle, and another percentage of them were being used for low-duty stuff like watching movies. So there could be a great economic reason for Stadia, in that they only need to run the hardware that is actually being used. The benefit for the gamer is the reduction in hardware cost. What is the hardware console sitting back at Google? Say it’s roughly a PS5 equivalent. That means you’re getting a PS5 for $170 (Canada price) vs $599 (my guess at shipping price next year).
I’d be wary that on big days such as near launch, or when a big game drops, the demand can be quite high. It will be really frustrating, if the week that GTA6 lands, everyone that tries to play it gets punted or maybe forced to play at 720p30.
So overall it could be a success, and maybe Google is saving the big marketing push for when the next-gen consoles drop. If they release a ‘try it free’ widget to test lag and resolution, I might give it a try.
Sorry if this was all covered up thread but it’s making more sense to me.
This is the thing that sours me on the whole deal. I don’t buy movies on Netflix; I just stream their whole catalog. I want a subscription. And I’m very reluctant to buy games on any of Google’s services.
Sure. I don’t plan on buying anything that isn’t exclusive, unless they offer some outrageously good deals.
Well outrageously good deal is pretty tough these days when Epic has free games.
Not to mention the selection of games they offered. Indie shovelware, sure - most platforms give those away like candy, but Epic really went above and beyond with a lot of titles.
Yes, Epic’s offering is veritable who’s who of games I got in Humble Bundles 2 years ago.
Exactamundo. If Stadia gives away free games I actually want to play, and don’t charge me to play them streaming, sure I’ll use it.
I can’t imagine myself buying cross-platform titles. I passed up on the MS Game Pass when I could have signed up for like 3 years for $150, converting a XBL Gold account. I’m just not that price-sensitive.
And if they have exclusives I truly care about, I’ll buy on Stadia. Like Baldur’s Gate 3, if that was only on Stadia, I’d be forced in.
In terms of market segment, it seems to fit best in the PS3 and Xbox area (rather than say Switch, PC, or Apple Arcade), where exclusives are becoming more rare.
It’s funny that as I’m older, I’m less price sensitive but more value-sensitive. The $170 doesn’t hurt too much, but I also have a decent PC and am looking at the Apple Arcade (mainly for my kids, I tell my wife) so there needs to be a pretty solid value proposition in order to get it.
Brutal but fair…
To be a success they really need a flagship game that shows off the potential of the technology. Maybe something like Titanfall with huge, persistent, destructible maps that can contain 1000s of simultaneous players. I’m kind of surprised they invested in custom hardware without investing in something like that first.
I don’t think it necessarily needs to show off why Stadia offers a better gaming experience than the competition, other than not requiring a physical console. What Stadia needs is a blockbuster exclusive. It needs its Halo.
Maybe because their possibilities talk is all bullshit?
I don’t know if it’s bullshit, but it’s definitely extremely hard to program for it without some really good libraries for realtime distributed computation across machines.
Right, and no company is going to have that sort of thing in house, so now you’re talking about paying Google to use their Cloud computing for development AND for operation AND for distribution?
That is a non-starter IMO. You’re basically looking at an exponential increase in costs for potentially no sales gain.
Well, of course Google would’ve had to fund the whole thing, and it would be very expensive. Building and marketing a new gaming platform is expensive in any case, and presumably you don’t want it to die on the vine.
In general I hope Stadia is a success because I no longer enjoy upgrading PCs. I am definitely not a “hardware enthusiast”.