Stadia, Google Game Streaming platform [2019-2021]

[Silent_Buddha]

So stadia still exists, i'm reading about everything except stadia these days. People seem to have forgotten it already.

You must not have watched the Game Awards then. Holy cow, the Stadia advertisements went on and on and on...and on.......and on. I swear one of them felt like it went on for like 10-15 minutes. From everything I've seen and heard, that left a really bad impression on a lot of people.

I really wish they would have finished it or at least mostly finished it and ironed out most of the problems before launching it to retail, but after the Xbox Series X announcement, it becomes apparent they were desperate to launch it before the next gen consoles were announced (can't brag about it being the most powerful system to game on otherwise).

Regards,
SB

 

[wco81]

If Stadia is going to make hay, it would be now because a year from now will be next gen Xbox and PS5.

Unless Google is paying AAA developers to make exclusives for 2020 Holidays.

And maybe not even then.

 

[BRiT]

Well they did buy out one small and unknown to me developer, Typhoon Studios. From the link Chris1515 posted:

Journey to the Savage Planet, due out next month, is still planned as a multi-platform release but Raymond explains in a blog post that Typhoon will turn its attention toward Stadia-centric titles in the future.
​

Good for the studio I suppose, but it's still a major risk that before their next game after Journey to Savage Planet releases, their department may not even be around.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

Yeah, for a while now I've been getting Stadia adverts on YouTube.

Presumably, they have some metrics to determine I'm a gamer. That bit's fine. The insulting part is that they apparently have some metrics to determine I'm a fucking idiot.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

If Stadia is going to make hay, it would be now because a year from now will be next gen Xbox and PS5.

It's Google. They'll keep chipping away and making Stadia better and better. It's foolish to write-off Google because every single market they've been serious about, they've dominated: search, advertising, maps, phone OS's, TV OSs. They all started rough and got better until they were industry leaders in features and execution. Google typically falter in 'pet projects'; the things they never cared for much to begin with.

Next year will be big for nextgen consoles for those early adopters, which will be a very small number of the overall console base. Stadia could be more powerful before they launch, or at the same time, or three months after. The key is not whether Stadia is good now but is it good when folks who are looking to move on from their current PS4 of Xbox One looking for something new. That's 1-3+ years time and that's a lot of time for Google to improve Stadia and for the networking it requires to improve.

Or to change their game/subscription model to make it more appealing. Google can easily afford to undercut Microsoft on a GamePass like solution. Google have stupid amounts of money to secure market share.

Presumably, they have some metrics to determine I'm a gamer. That bit's fine. The insulting part is that they apparently have some metrics to determine I'm a fucking idiot.

That's because you - and I'd wager most posters here - know what it is you want, i.e. a local device. But do the majority of the console owners? The appeal of not having to buy an expensive console, or knowing it's staggeringly portable, surely has to be a lure to a significant number of people.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

Yeah, in all seriousness, they should help to improve the state of Linux gaming.

It also makes sense that they would want to roll out a beta product with a decent amount of time before the launch of the PS5+XSX. Over the course of the next couple of years, they can keep improving their tools, using relatively cheap hardware. Once the tools are more mature and the hardware of their competitors established, they can upgrade the hardware of their data centres to match or surpass that of the PS5+XSX.

I wonder to what extent they'll upgrade though? Leave the current hardware as is, and add ray tracing GPU's? Across the board to ray tracing GPU's? Across the board, but a mix of ray tracing and non-RT GPU's?

There's also the matter of SSD's. It'll be interesting to watch. Although I'll be doing so with limited investment because I'm still not convinced this won't be another project which is sent to the elephant graveyard.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

It also makes sense that they would want to roll out a beta product with a decent amount of time before the launch of the PS5+XSX. Over the course of the next couple of years, they can keep improving their tools, using relatively cheap hardware. Once the tools are more mature and the hardware of their competitors established, they can upgrade the hardware of their data centres to match or surpass that of the PS5+XSX.

Google have the advantage of being able to buying expensive multi-purpose hardware, i.e. I am certain that they have invested in hardware that is easy to repurpose for other server tasks. Google require a lot of different types of compute for all of their business needs.

There's also the matter of SSD's. It'll be interesting to watch. Although I'll be doing so with limited investment because I'm still not convinced this won't be another project which is sent to the elephant graveyard.

Diminished loading times are the most interesting thing for me about the nextgen consoles. The console experience (zero maintenance, suspend/resume, operates with a controller) is why I prefer gaming on consoles. I'm less focused on bleeding-edge graphics than am about a simple experience. I've bought plenty of games on Switch over PS4 Pro because Switch is a) portable and b) the UI is just better. But as consoles grow older and PC's inevitably get better I find myself drifting to buying more on PC because the gaming experience, specifically load-times, is a more easily solvable problem. That may well change with nextgen.

But I understand that Stadia has is better than high-end PCs in this regard. I've read some Destiny 2 loads that take ~10 seconds on a good PC with fast SSD and around ~2 seconds on Stadia.

Once/if Google work out the issues with Stadia, it will be an incredibly low-friction device. Small, portable, 'affordable', quiet, low energy, no loading, no updates, no maintenance.

 

[PSman1700]

So you think stadia could be taking a market share in the console space in some years? It’s true i want a local device but how does the average joe think.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

So you think stadia could be taking a market share in the console space in some years? It’s true i want a local device but how does the average joe think.

Yes. Microsoft and Sony both believe in streaming tech and Google are way better at bespoke server stuff than either Sony and Microsoft. Anybody who has used any Google service vs. pretty much any other company will tell you that.

I have no doubt that in years to come Google will not only eat a little of the existing console market but some of the PC market as well. We all know streaming all forms of media is the future and out of the three companies involved, one is way in front in terms of experience and proven track record.

 

[BRiT]

I agree. Sony is way ahead of the other 3 (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Google) when it comes to proven track record of delivering Game Streaming product for years. However Microsoft is making a good showing with their Project xCloud.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I agree. Sony is way ahead of the other 3 (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Google) when it comes to proven track record of delivering Game Streaming product for years. However Microsoft is making a good showing with their Project xCloud.

All the services suffer the same problems but in terms of the fundamental tech, Google caught up extremely quickly. If they continue R&D at this pace, they'll blast pass Sony. Google's biggest issue is their game catalogue and that will presumably grow because Google = $$$. Sony and Microsoft can't afford the slothful pace they've been developing their services any longer.

 

[mpg1]

So you think stadia could be taking a market share in the console space in some years? It’s true i want a local device but how does the average joe think.

Stadia Base will effectively lower the barrier of entry to AAA gaming to just the cost of games themselves. No matter how many people say "streaming is shit" that is a game changer.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

How much does it change the game though? You still need a device to stream, whether it's a smartphone, a PC, or a dongle. And if you have a device which is able to stream Stadia, you have a device which is able, technically, to stream PSNow or XCloud.

At most, Sony and Microsoft will need to release their own version of the Chromecast.

 

[mpg1]

How much does it change the game though? You still need a device to stream, whether it's a smartphone, a PC, or a dongle. And if you have a device which is able to stream Stadia, you have a device which is able, technically, to stream PSNow or XCloud.

At most, Sony and Microsoft will need to release their own version of the Chromecast.

PS now doesn't have a free tier. XCloud we don't know yet but I suspect it won't.

Also this does not take into account multiplayer. Which Google has not paywalled. The only thing that really is truly paywalled with Stadia is 4K.

Stadia is basically AAA gaming with Google's advertising model. Except instead of a cut of ad revenue it's a cut of game sales. Like others have mention the hardware powering Stadia will likely be used for other compute tasks in their data centers when not used for Stadia.

The model is yet to be proven but if successful it will drive overall costs way down and be extremely competitive.

 

[BRiT]

They also pay walled anything beyond Stereo Audio, no?

 

[Malo]

They also pay walled anything beyond Stereo Audio, no?

Yes

Lots of talk about how low cost it is but it's still $129 minimum buy-in plus premium game cost (less discounts compared to other platforms), and that's obtaining equivalent of regular consoles at 1080p with added latency (when the free tier actually becomes available)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Lots of talk about how low cost it is but it's still $129 minimum buy-in...

Stadia Base as mpg1 mentions is free, no? Play on any device, no contract, just buy a Stadia game and play on anything. That's a new business model. Realistically, it's not tenable outside of someone like Google using that Cloud Compute for other stuff as well. $60 for a game and no running fees, on hardware that Google has to buy and operate, has to be a loss-leader for Google propped up by something else. Either that Stadia hardware is used for other stuff too and just used for gaming as a sideline, or Google have some longer term ambition that'll have far higher earnings potential, such as one day when 100 million are playing Stadia Base, introducing a $5 a month fee.

 

[BRiT]

From the performances delivered and measured by many tech sites, it feels like Google is already using a good portion of an active node on Cloud Compute while users are trying to game.

 

[PSman1700]

For next generation i'm going PS5, we will see in 8 years how far all this streaming has come.

 

[Malo]

Stadia Base as mpg1 mentions is free, no?

You still need to buy the controller and the Chromecast Ultra, which is $129.