What do you think of Stadia?

[Bla1ze]

The announcements to me sound awesome.... in a perfect world. Lots of cool talk, grand visions and promises but as pointed out in the AC hands-on, lots of unknowns and questions yet. Plus, you know, the internet does not appear ready for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZrj-0TsyaM

https://www.androidcentral.com/stadia-hands-on

 

[Jeremy8000]

I think many have anticipated something like this as the natural evolution of gaming systems. Let's just hope Google, with an awareness of just how incredibly profitable a move like this could be if properly executed instead of being delivered half-baked, invested sufficient time, resources, and testing.

This could open up gaming to a large audience that to date didn't have enough disposable income to afford the upfront investment in a console or gaming rig. If they truly can provide top shelf performance and premium titles for essentially only a subscription fee, I can't even imagine the ceiling for it's success.

Making it a somewhat open system in for existing input devices is a huge plus. I also expect that with 100% of the software being situated on their servers, it could do a great deal to reduce rampant cheating and hacks that are systematic in traditional multiplayer gaming.

Definitely going to be keeping an eye on this!

A few more thoughts after a short night's sleep...

While I would love to - but don't expect to - see simple flat pricing for access to the full library of games, there's still a great deal to be said for the more likely scenario where a large array of mid-tier and not-the-latest top-tier games with the newest hits being offered as a subscription add-on.

First off, there are many times when we might invest in a game, play it for brief time, then move on - let's say it's a $60 game played for 3 months, working out to $20/month. A subscription add-on would certainly be less than that amount, generating a net savings and removing the angst about buying a game with high hopes but the knowledge that it might not be what you were hoping for, and stuck for the investment (less what you might sell it for).

Also, a huge upside of the platform as a whole, even with such premium add-ons, is the ease with which one can trial a game. A point they made about the amount of steps and time one has to put in to functionally play a demo of a game now rings true: there would be virtually no time/effort/resources invested in playing a demo or trial of a game via Stadia, vs potentially hours and GB's of bandwidth under the conventional means.

The more I think about this system, the more I like it. I hope Google hits it out of the park with this one, but even if they don't, I'm grateful they're taking a stab at it - if nothing else, it will serve as a case study for the next company to learn from.

 

[anon(10092459)]

I'm in the "wait n see" camp, I think. I've been a gamer since Pong (actually had the home paddle controller) and dedicated PS user since 1st gen. I'm honestly not even sure who this platform is for? Is it for existing gamers that want multiple platforms or new people with a different pricing entry point or platform philosophy...

I'm just not sure what to think about, tbh ..

 

[Jeremy8000]

I'm in the "wait n see" camp, I think. I've been a gamer since Pong (actually had the home paddle controller) and dedicated PS user since 1st gen. I'm honestly not even sure who this platform is for? Is it for existing gamers that want multiple platforms or new people with a different pricing entry point or platform philosophy...

I'm just not sure what to think about, tbh ..

My guess is its strongest appeal will be to mobile gamers (the most profitable segment) who are more used to a monthly "budget" vs investing large chunks at a time.

'Hardcore' gamers will still continue to buy some, or all, of the existing major consoles as well, in part because of system exclusive titles (I don't expect Sony, Microsoft, etc to self-sabotage by making the titles that compel the purchase of their ecosystem consoles, unless Google ponies up a huge amount of money - though I could envision them developing and releasing them for Stadia at a separate premium).

 

[Golfdriver97]

I'm also in the wait and see mode. Being an Xbox/PC gamer, I'm not sure if this is targeted to me, anyway. Also, since this is a somewhat new idea, it will be hard to guess if Google or anyone else sticks with this in 3-5 years from now.

 

[Jeremy8000]

If Stadia achieves what it claims in terms of performance (or really, even if it just comes close), then for games wherein some form of internet connectivity is integral for gameplay, I see this as likely being a very viable and likely common type of system for gaming going forward.

There's still certainly a continuing and massive market for consoles for the foreseeable future for offline games, and those owned hardware devices may likely remain the preferred host (1) for more competitive gaming unless and until the latency gap can be overcome by streamed experience, and (2) for offline-compatible gaming.

 

[ChuckG73]

Hoping this replaces my kids Xbox and Switch. all they need is a remote control and a TV.

 

[J Dubbs]

I'm in the "wait n see" camp, I think. I've been a gamer since Pong (actually had the home paddle controller) and dedicated PS user since 1st gen. I'm honestly not even sure who this platform is for? Is it for existing gamers that want multiple platforms or new people with a different pricing entry point or platform philosophy...

I'm just not sure what to think about, tbh ..

I'm also a ps and pc gamer since forever, so for this old dog that's not changing, plus I don't do online gaming with the PlayStation so no monthly fee..... just the upfront cost of the console. You break that down over the 6-7 year lifespan of the console and it comes out pretty cheap. The pc is multipurpose with no monthly fee for gaming..... just the cost of occasional upgrades and of course eventual replacement.

I think Stadia's not really aimed at us, but maybe a younger audience who's more into mobile gaming, and definitely online multiplayer stuff...... although that's going to require very fast, stable, low latency internet connections. So like you I'm not exactly sure who Stadia is really aimed at.

I'm also in the wait and see camp ;-) I like the idea, but like others I don't think the internet is ready for this yet. It's already been tried by several other companies and didn't fare so well.... but those companies weren't Google.

So I guess we'll see ;-)

 

[stardust26]

Has anyone tried Stadia?
What do you think?

 

[Ravenwjf]

I have used the Stadia a couple of times now. I plan on using it more during the Christmas break, but my experience with it so far has been mostly positive. I have a few issues with the Chromecast and my TV....like leaving it hooked up but not using it for awhile will cause the TV to not recognize it and I will have to unplug it and re-plug it back in. Every once in awhile the Stadia will not switch to 4k even though I have high enough wifi speed/signal, but restarting the game usually fixes it. Now, once everything is good, and I start playing, its a really good experience. So far I have only tried Destiny 2 and Tombraider, but both play fine. I have no lag and the controller is very comfortable. I have also used the Stadia on my Slate and it works awesome, but it is a wired connection. For me, right now, it's just the lack of games. I am debating on Darksiders Genesis. I mostly got the Stadia for travel since I do alot for work, and so far I am pretty confident I will enjoy it when really sit down and use it. The only drawback I see is having good enough wifi wherever I will be staying.