Google Stadia

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47623414

Thoughts?

Shit name, shit controller and I imagine that streaming high end games will lag like a bitch.

[Shindig]

I need to see it in action and play it. I was hoping this was a google earth style tour of stadiums. :D

[Giggles]

Sounds brilliant in theory and has huge potential but, given Google's track record, it'll never get going fully and will be dead within a couple of years.

[Raoul Duke]

Google will probably fuck it up, but this is likely the way things are going in the next generation.

Microsoft will likely nail it.

[Shindig]

Watching it now. There's something insidious about it that I don't like. You're on a leash from Google and their wonderful algorithms and there's a heavy social vent which plays right into youtube.

[Baz]

That nvidia shield streaming platform works well so there is the capability for flawless streaming, and google are hardly noobs, but I’ll be surprised if this is deemed successful.

[Giggles]

There's fuck all on the Shield except shitty first person shooters/slashers.

[Shindig]

If they weren't confident, this wouldn't be launching this year. Imagine the implications if it takes off. Google already have the reach with Chrome, android devices, youtube accounts and g-mail. Millions have signed their lives to them already.

- US Data Caps have to go.
- Maybe ISP speeds increase with demand. I'm on some bottom-rung Sky package but, if streaming games becomes mainstream, does the bar get raised at no cost to the consumer?
- Development. Remember how the move to HD resolutions ballooned development costs? If Google can just boost platform power by adding more powerful servers, development costs can rise with it. Console gaming offers a fixed spec. No glass ceiling and we could see more developers go to the wall.
- How does the business go down between Google and developers? What even counts as a sale if you're renting access? Can developers, with the potential increase in development costs, break even?
- No hacking or cheating is nice but how good is their curation going to be for development of apps? There's always a way.

It's the impact on development which gets me. If someone down the line pushes for 8K (because google's servers can push it out), just how long and costly is getting the art together for that?

[The Merse]

There's fuck all on the Shield except shitty first person shooters/slashers.

Anything on Steam is on there. I used to play Frostpunk, before the Mac version arrived (which subsequently has been pulled again as it bugged to fuck).

And yeh, worked well. I trialled Bioshock Infinite on it to check for lag less evident in Frostpunk, as the highest end game I already owned on Steam at the time, and it was fine. Compared well vs doing so natively on my mac.

[The Merse]

Oh and surely the future for this isn't via laptop's/desktops/etc anyway - it's an app on your bluetooth enabled (for the controller) Smart TV.

[Shindig]

I had a fantastic dream last night where I got invited to Google event and the following happened:

- They were trying to procedurally generate music to help lower development costs.
- To demonstrate this, they brought Michael Jackson back to life.
- Keith Flint was also present. During the demonstration of the music, he was annoying security.
- The music all sounded like off-brand Michael Jackson tracks.
- Michael Jackson appeared to be complaining about his robot Michael Jackson (he was performing the songs). It was implied he wanted to fuck his robot self.
- There was an alarming moment where Google shown how they were leading the charge in nuclear deterrence by developing their own weapons.
- Phil Harrison assured me it was just a game trailer.

Back on topic, the Shield is a good test case for the Switch, seeing as they share hardware. That's probably where the groundwork is done for the Nindies(tm). And there's a couple of Gamecube ports being worked on in Japan.

[Pharad]

I found out about it from here (https://www.eneba.com/blog/google-stadia-the-not-so-distant-future-of-gaming/) pretty recently. Interesting prospect, I think Apple is coming out with something similar as well, the start of could gaming is inevitable, so better sooner than later

[Raoul Duke]

Apple Arcade isn't cloud-based. It's a subscription game service.

[Smjffy]

FM2020 is going to be a launch title on it, as has been officially announced.

[Ian]

From what I've read so far it doesn't sound very appealing. And it sounds a bit confused in who precisely it's trying to target.

[phonics]

It's going to be in every country that surrounds Switzerland but not Switzerland which is fun.

[Ian]

That's only a concern if it's not a bit shit, which it sounds like it probably will be. At first, at least.

[Shindig]

I like how both their presentations have had buffering problems.

[Ian]

So as well as a pretty uninspiring list of launch titles:
https://wireframe.raspberrypi.org/articles/google-details-missing-stadia-launch-features

This is all going really well.

[phonics]

So as well as a pretty uninspiring list of launch titles:
https://wireframe.raspberrypi.org/articles/google-details-missing-stadia-launch-features

This is all going really well.

I love how even their well intentioned PR attempts like the 'I'll hand deliver it to your house' thing coming across as if they're so worried about deliveries being late they're shipping google employees round town.

[Ian]

Yeah, it's like: Great. I'm not your neighbour. Now what?

[Ian]

Well this is all going well.

[Shindig]

I mean, it ... works but fuck paying a service + £50 a game.

[Ian]

It doesn't sound like it's actually working as advertised yet.

Sounds a proper half-arsed launch.

[Giggles]

It doesn't sound like it's actually working as advertised yet.

Sounds a proper half-arsed launch.


From Google? I don't believe you.

[Ian]

:D

[Raoul Duke]

I'm only really interested in it for FM20. That could be super interesting

[Shindig]

Nah, the way it runs it seems like you're playing a PC game running on a decent rig. No mad cloud shenanigans with regards to load times, etc.

[phonics]

Nah, the way it runs it seems like you're playing a PC game running on a decent rig. No mad cloud shenanigans with regards to load times, etc.

Yeah I had the same thought and then remembered most games run single threaded despite everyone having a quad-core these days. Let alone running it across multiple CPUs.

[Ian]

https://twitter.com/mcclure111/status/1196557401710837762

This is a good thread.

[Raoul Duke]

This seems interesting: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/02/nvidia-has-shaken-up-the-netflix-for-games-model-with-its-challenge-to-stadia/

Free to try too right now.

It doesn't have some of the games that I'd want to play though (FM20 and Dawn Of War).

[Pepe]

Ian mate, that would allow us to play Disco Elysium at work. :drool:

[Ian]

Finally a valuable use for my time.

"Ian, can you-"
"Sorry I've just put two extra points in Electrochemistry and I really need to see how this shit goes down."

[Raoul Duke]

RIP Stadia (https://www.polygon.com/23378721/google-stadia-shutting-down)

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I ended up buying it when it was heavily discounted last year.

I think I spent about 30 minutes playing before never bothering again.