I think plenty of people who have some sort of gaming hardware would be into cloud gaming, me being one of them. It seems to me the target audience is people who want to be able to play games on any device, and/or who don’t want to have to continue to upgrade their PC or buy a new console to be able to play the most recent games.
In the abstract, maybe. With Google’s pricing structure and limited library? I doubt it.
If that was true, wouldn’t they have more actual recent games?
The problem with this line of thinking is you will always find a better experience on hardware you have in your home. Gaming is at its best when you’re closest to the metal and it’s always been that way. I don’t think this will ever be overcome.
Well sure, it has to be priced properly too. I’m speaking more about cloud gaming on the whole. I’m really interested in the concept of cloud gaming, have been since Onlive, but I’m not going to pay $60 for Red Dead 2 to play a poor quality version of it on a service that has mixed early reviews and might not be around in a year. However, would I pay $15/month to play on a service that works pretty well and has a decent library of games that I can’t play on my Xbox 360 or my aging PC, definitely. I suppose if the service was proven I might be willing to shell out $20-30 for something like Red Dead 2.
I get that it was always be better on a console/gaming PC, but I’m willing to compromise a little of the graphical experience if it keeps me from having to spend $500 every few years to be able to play new games coming out, or it allows me to play games on my PC, either of my TV’s, etc.
But you’ll also be compromising the control experience. This isn’t just about graphics. There is significant lag being introduced by you being on the other end of a wire. That is not going to go away, maybe ever. “Negative latency” is obviously not a thing.
Sure - as long as you have the local hardware I don’t think any cloud service will make sense financially.
I think the first real test for Stadia will be for something like Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldur’s Gate 3 when it releases next year. If they can get the Stadia release date to be pretty close to the other platforms people may be tempted to just give Stadia a shot vs. upgrading/buying new hardware.
Well sure, obviously the service has to work to a level that makes sense. Sure there will never be 0 lag, but some lag is ok. I haven’t tried Stadia and the reviews seem a bit mixed at this point. We might not be there with Stadia yet, but at some point we will get to where there is lag but it’s small enough that it isn’t really noticeable by the user.
Sure, but that service is xCloud (or their rent-a-console deal), not Stadia.
Why do you think that we will automatically get to that point? You think networks will get faster? Are you expecting more prediction of your movements? Do you expect games to devolve further from allowing player control and agency until they become glorified choose your own adventure books?
There is a physical limitation in play here, and it’s one that affects everything you do on the Internet. Videogames aren’t good when there is latency. It ruins the experience unless you design to allow for it, in which case you’re taking away something else in the game itself to do just that.
Certainly not, but the difference will become smaller and smaller until only enthusiasts care. Like the difference between the headphones that came with your phone and high-end cans.
The clouds will be hampered by the sub par experience that the cable cartels provide
Launching at Black Friday is on them
I actually stumbled on this thread for completely different reasons, but it turns out to be about Stadia, and interesting both for that and in its own right:
I don’t really know anything about xCloud, I’m assuming it is going to be another cloud gaming service, why do you expect it to work better than Stadia?
Because it includes a Netflix-style subscription service, and it already has more confirmed games than Stadia and it’s months away from launch. Tech-wise, who knows, but the business model actually makes sense in terms of what consumers want.
I can tell you one thing I like about xCloud having never tried it - streaming is an additional option of how MS will get content to users, in support of other existing means. As opposed to being the one leg propping up Google’s whole table.
It may very well be that when it’s released xCloud will totally suck. But I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.
Because Neon controllers are hideous.
I mean the word gawdy seems to be really hing on the list of people who make hardware and accessories for gaming. Don’t get me started on the neon glowing more focused on LED than comfort headsets.
Even if things look nicer… I question the idea women would somehow accept a poorer experience because the controllers looks like something designed for someone other than a teenage boy.
The video at the top of this article seems pretty damning.