Game Streaming Platforms and Technology (xCloud, PSNow, GeforceNow, Luna) (Rip: Stadia)

[Kise Ryota]

xcloud is in preview here in Brazil and I need to say that I'm really impressed with it. The input lag is lower than what I was expecting. My average ping for the servers is 21ms. Microsoft inaugurated an Azure datacenter here in my city (Rio de Janeiro) this year, and if they put xcloud blades there my average ping is gonna be 8ms.

I'm very excited for the next 2 years (considering Microsoft is gonna update xcloud with series x|s hardware). Consoles and PC parts are very expensive here. I can see myself playing only through streaming easily. Let's see how it evolves.

 

[Alucardx23]

1. Becouse gaming rig will always give you better latency than streaming from internet, people chose wired controller or mouse for a reason. And peole liek to own stuff.
2. Many of them: ps now xbox have stream service, steam have link, stadia, there was streming service play now if i remember correctly. If i am not mistaken amazon or apple (or both) are working on something (opr alreday have)

Dont tell me how to live, install steam link and try it. Streaming is SHIT.

The highlighted part is not accurate. We have already seen examples of games like Red Dead 2 and Doom Eternal on Stadia, being capable of offering a lower latency than the console version. If the input lag is reduced on the server side, it can compensate for the added network latency and like I said, if the network latency is low enough, the input lag can even be lower than playing the local version. When comparing graphics quality, you need to take into account what is the comparison. Doom Eternal on Stadia can look a lot better than the Xbox One version for example. There are also examples of games like The Division 2, PUPG, Red Dead 2, etc. That run at a higher framerate than the console version. This is not a black and white comparison like some people seem to imply.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

The highlighted part is not accurate. We have already seen examples of games like Red Dead 2 and Doom Eternal on Stadia, being capable of offering a lower latency than the console version.

Oh really?

 

[mpg1]

I have been testing Stadia and my average network latency is ~60ms....and I'm somewhat surprised how responsive it feels considering that. Especially Doom 2016. My internet is 200Mbps and I was using a wired connection.

What I have found more of an issue is video decoding. You don't need high powered hardware but you need a device that has a decent hardware based video decoder. Why it seems that it typically performs better on some of the higher powered media streamers like Chromecast Ultra/new Chromecast with Google TV/Nvidia Shield TV....because it is dedicated for that very task.

 

[PSman1700]

I think most have forgotten about Stadia by now? (next gen have arrived)

 

[Alucardx23]

Oh really?

Yes, look at the example below @11:13. If I'm not mistaken Digital Foundry had a 25 to 30ms ping to the Stadia data center.

You will see similar cases with Tomb Raider running at 30fps on consoles and 60fps on Stadia. Doom Eternal is a special case, because it has a lower latency than the Xbox One X version, while also running at the same framerate. After Doom Eternal launched there was an update just for Stadia, that reduced latency by 37ms, according to this video. The idea is that if you reduce the input latency on the game running at the server, then it can compensate more network latency.

 

[cheapchips]

I think most have forgotten about Stadia by now? (next gen have arrived)

I'm reminded it exists pretty much every time I watch YouTube. Doesn't make me want to buy games on there yet. It's getting closer though. I'm playing games via in home streaming to a laptop more and more. At what point do I feel I might as well stream directly?

I'm decreasingly bothered by the idea the Stadia will fold and take a games collection with it. I rarely play older games. Most of the value comes from the initial play through. If I make time for gaming I generally want to try something new.

If I don't buy a new PC or X|S, will a next gen only release be enough to make that first purchase?

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I'm decreasingly bothered by the idea the Stadia will fold and take a games collection with it. I rarely play older games. Most of the value comes from the initial play through. If I make time for gaming I generally want to try something new.

What I don't like with Stadia is that as far as I understand that if you buy a game you cannot transfer it to Steam or EGS or to PC? I prefer XCloud because at least I don't pay for the game straight away.

Yes, look at the example below @11:13. If I'm not mistaken Digital Foundry had a 25 to 30ms ping to the Stadia data center.

You will see similar cases with Tomb Raider running at 30fps on consoles and 60fps on Stadia. Doom Eternal is a special case, because it has a lower latency than the Xbox One X version, while also running at the same framerate. After Doom Eternal launched there was an update just for Stadia, that reduced latency by 37ms, according to this video. The idea is that if you reduce the input latency on the game running at the server, then it can absorb more network latency.

Oh, I thought people complained about latency as if when running locally it 100 times faster or something...

 

[cheapchips]

What I don't like with Stadia is that as far as I understand that if you buy a game you cannot transfer it to Steam or EGS or to PC? I prefer XCloud because at least I don't pay for the game straight away.

Not as far as I know. If MS do ever offer streaming as part of Xbox Play Anywhere that's another string to xCloud's bow.

 

[Shompola]

Stadia, very impressive tech with very impressive end results but how the business part is handled is less than stellar, i.e. buying games instead of doing it like gamepass with a set of games with a monthly fee. Such a shame, but I don't think it is too late to change it.

 

[Malo]

Stadia, very impressive tech with very impressive end results but how the business part is handled is less than stellar, i.e. buying games instead of doing it like gamepass with a set of games with a monthly fee. Such a shame, but I don't think it is too late to change it.

What exactly is impressive about the current state of their tech compared to other streaming services that makes it stand out?

How would Google change to a subscription model when you have a lot of some users whom have already purchased full price games? Say sorry? Refund them all?

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

What exactly is impressive about the current state of their tech compared to other streaming services that makes it stand out?
How would Google change to a subscription model when you have a lot of some users whom have already purchased full price games? Say sorry? Refund them all?

Just get some gift carts or allow to get the same game for free from some of game stores? I believe cooperating with some of game stores might solve the issues of Stadia.

Stadia, very impressive tech with very impressive end results but how the business part is handled is less than stellar, i.e. buying games instead of doing it like gamepass with a set of games with a monthly fee. Such a shame, but I don't think it is too late to change it.

Yeah, if Google cooperate with some of shops like Valve or EGS to get the games to Stadia, it might just work. Though using Vulkan only might affect some games....Unlike Amazon's Luna that uses plain Windows.

 

[Malo]

Just get some gift carts or allow to get the same game for free from some of game stores? I believe cooperating with some of game stores might solve the issues of Stadia.

How is that financially different for Google than refunding? They're still losing the same $ value. They might be able to arrange a small discount from another store to alleviate that burden but it's still the same effect, losing a lot of earned $ and admitting a failed business plan. They'd sooner simply end the service completely, which is what everyone expects them to do anyway.

 

[manux]

I got geforce now bundled with 3070fe. I tried hitman2 in it and didn't really notice any lag versus native when playing with xbox controller. what sucked though is that I got only 720p output which is very blurry. Apparently my network is low latency but not enough bandwidth. I could see using geforce now from my laptop if I could get less blurry output. From my pov streaming service + thin and light laptop is much better than bulky, hot noisy gaming laptop like razor blade 2016 that I have owned.

edit. I suspect controller masks lag versus when using mouse. With mouse it's much easier to notice if things aren't perfectly in sync.

 

[Alucardx23]

Stadia, very impressive tech with very impressive end results but how the business part is handled is less than stellar, i.e. buying games instead of doing it like gamepass with a set of games with a monthly fee. Such a shame, but I don't think it is too late to change it.

I don't see what is the problem with Stadia's business model. See below for some games I recently purchased.

There are potentially hundreds of hours of entertainment there and I don't have to pay ever again a $10 or $15 monthly fee to play them. If Stadia was only a subscription service, I wouldn't be able to play Cyberpunk for example, where is that game available under a subscription?

What Stadia needs to do is to continue to expand the library of games and expand the number of games you can claim under the Pro subscription. They have so far done a great job doing that, but there is still room to improve. There is no reason why they need to take away options, there can be the option to buy individual games, as well as a subscription option with a library of games you can play.

 

[manux]

I don't see what is the problem with Stadia's business model. See below for some games I recently purchased.

It's a problem for those people who game both on pc and in cloud. Some of us would prefer to carry over our steam catalogue and not double buy games. Some people also are suspicious of google as google has tended to kill services. If google kills stadia you would lose all your games.

 

[Alucardx23]

It's a problem for those people who game both on pc and in cloud. Some of us would prefer to carry over our steam catalogue and not double buy games. Some people also are suspicious of google as google has tended to kill services. If google kills stadia you would lose all your games.

Yeah, but imagine someone talking about having a PS5 and describing it as a problem that they cannot play their games on the Xbox Series X. Stadia is another platform with their own growing library of games. If you decide to buy or play a game on Stadia, you do so because you enjoy the convenience it offers. Not having to download games or updates, not paying for hardware upgrades, being able to play on multiple screens with multiple controllers, not having to pay for online play, being able to share your game library with individual access to games with 5 other people, etc. If you don't want any of that, then you have other options to choose from, but for me it doesn't make any sense for people to complain about how they cannot play their Steam games on Stadia or any other platform.

I also have a medium range gaming PC and a PS4 Pro, but I still decided to play some games on Stadia, because of the benefits I mentioned. Stadia is not like a console, where you have to be convinced about the library of games before you decide to make the $300, $400, $500 investment. There is no console you need to buy on Stadia before you get to play the games, you see a game you want to play on Stadia? Then buy it and start playing 10 seconds later.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

I don't see what is the problem with Stadia's business model. See below for some games I recently purchased.

There are potentially hundreds of hours of entertainment there and I don't have to pay ever again a $10 or $15 monthly fee to play them. If Stadia was only a subscription service, I wouldn't be able to play Cyberpunk for example, where is that game available under a subscription?

What Stadia needs to do is to continue to expand the library of games and expand the number of games you can claim under the Pro subscription. They have so far done a great job doing that, but there is still room to improve. There is no reason why they need to take away options, there can be the option to buy individual games, as well as a subscription option with a library of games you can play.

So there's no additional monthly fee to access and stream the games you've bought via Stadia? It's been a fair while since I paid attention to it, but I thought they had the fairly shoddy model (from the customer's perspective, anyway) of "buy the thing and then rent access to it too!"

 

[Alucardx23]

So there's no additional monthly fee to access and stream the games you've bought via Stadia? It's been a fair while since I paid attention to it, but I thought they had the fairly shoddy model (from the customer's perspective, anyway) of "buy the thing and then rent access to it too!"

If you buy a game on Stadia you don't have to pay a monthly fee to play it. What Stadia Pro gets you is around 3 to 8 games you can claim every month, as well as access to 4K, HDR and 5.1 sound.

 

[manux]

Yeah, but imagine someone talking about having a PS5 and describing it as a problem that they cannot play their games on the Xbox Series X.

We had this problem where consoles used to not have BC. Nowdays they do. Imagine buying ps5 and not being able to play any ps4 games. And no need to imagine not being able to play ps3 and ps2 games which kind of sucks as I would rather like to play mgs2,3,4 which I did buy in the past. I didn't mean to badmouth google, I just gave the 2 points people consider as negatives when talking about stadia.

edit. I wouldn't use my own money for streaming service today. In 5-10 years my opinion will likely change. For now I'm pc+console kind of a person. comcast data caps enforces this as I would have to pay a lot more for data required by streaming.