Google Stadia

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Up the Junction
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Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

Panned upon launch it seems to be going from bad to worse for Google's gaming platform. Has anyone tried it?

https://www.polygon.com/2021/2/1/222608 ... de-raymond
Google is shutting down its internal game development studios tasked with making video games for Stadia, the company’s game-streaming platform.



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DasNutNock2
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by DasNutNock2 »

My neighbour is dialled into the google ecosystem and gets sent stuff to review and suchlike, including stadia. He’s a network architect and has a very high end fibre connection as well as 5G hotspots to play with, so he’s using it with best in class tech. Reckons it’s completely unusable with noticeable latency and crap graphics response times.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

I was looking into subscribing for UtJ Jnr but with our network speeds out here in the wilds it was pointless. Though it sounds like that was a moot point anway.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by wolf359 »

Considering most decent PC gamers won't even play with a wireless keyboard and/or mouse due to latency this was a no-go to the committed crowd from the start. The concept is a good one but all of these Cloud gaming services cannot seem to work out who their audience is. It's too expensive for complete casuals and simply not good enough for anyone that cares about their gaming experience (not to mention that most people have totally subpar internet connections for this) .

I think it will happen at some point but games are going to be designed around the systems rather than squeezed into it.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Graza »

I think I said when it was released, it didn't have a killer game to draw people in. No exclusives, nothing it was a shame.

Ultimately it's an interesting idea that will probably be the default in decades to come whereby you don't need local compute power as it's cheaper for everyone to have a central pool that you draw on as and when (basically cloud), it is hampered by the state of the network though. It's simply not there.

Interestingly it's often said that Apple could have released the iphone well in advance of when they did, but they waited for 3g to come out before they did it, because without the minimum of that network speed the experience would have been so bad it wouldn't have taken off and people would have blamed the phones. Billions later they made the right call. Google on this occasion did not.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

Graza wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:15 amUltimately it's an interesting idea that will probably be the default in decades to come whereby you don't need local compute power as it's cheaper for everyone to have a central pool that you draw on as and when (basically cloud), it is hampered by the state of the network though. It's simply not there.
I've been reading about this recently - any thoughts?

https://www.starlink.com/
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by swisstony »

I dabbled with a Shadowtech setup for about a year before lockdown started. It's basically a PC instance they host in the cloud for your use only. I was using it when I was stopping away in hotels or had some free time when at work. I don't play FPS games but for the likes of WoW, Diablo3 and other games that don't require top framerates it seemed to work well. It has the same dependence on the network as the other services but it didn't seem too bad on the 16MB connection I was using at work, although that wasn't being shared with anyone else.

Might be worth a look if you are checking what services are out there.

https://shadow.tech/en-gb/
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Graza »

Up the Junction wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:24 pm I've been reading about this recently - any thoughts?

https://www.starlink.com/
It's an interesting concept. I'm sure I read something years ago about google and others considering creating a network of low atmosphere balloons with WiFi essentially to provide connectivity to people in hard to reach places. It is amazing to think about how some communities have never been served by a landline but now have mobiles for instance.

I think the cost of setting up a network of satalites like this will make the service cripplingly expensive but it's one of those things that could end up panning out. I can't see it being useful domestically for some time.
swisstony wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:18 pm I dabbled with a Shadowtech setup for about a year before lockdown started. It's basically a PC instance they host in the cloud for your use only. I was using it when I was stopping away in hotels or had some free time when at work. I don't play FPS games but for the likes of WoW, Diablo3 and other games that don't require top framerates it seemed to work well. It has the same dependence on the network as the other services but it didn't seem too bad on the 16MB connection I was using at work, although that wasn't being shared with anyone else.

Might be worth a look if you are checking what services are out there.

https://shadow.tech/en-gb/
I've seen AWS workspaces offered up to various places I've worked - I've also seen hosted data center computers (much more expensive). It's funny because my Dad had a dumb terminal that connected (via a 14k modem) to his work servers when I was young. The terminal was basically good for making that connection and display of what it was given, it had zero compute power. To think we might end up going full circle back to that centralised node with dumb terminals is mind-blowing.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

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Re: Google Stadia

Post by The Gibbins »

I was interested at first but maybe Google are slightly ahead of their time with this.

I thought it was going to be a Netflix environment for the gaming world, but if you are paying same price for new releases as well as a subscription then in my mind its better to get a console and avoid the latency issues.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by chelmsfordhammer91 »

Anyone use this yet?

Ive ordered the Chromecast ultra with stadia controller as it was on offer for 20 quid and needed another Chromecast anyway.

I'm hoping Stadia is decent enough to give me a few hours casual gaming during quieter times working from home.

From looking online, seems to work best with an ethernet cable plugged in, which makes sense. Can't really find information on game prices though but assume i have to set up an account first.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

chelmsfordhammer91 wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:40 am Anyone use this yet?
Not me.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by binary »

I was thinking about giving this a punt now it's gone down to £20. You can use the controller with a PC and you get a chromecast so it's not much of a gamble. i'm with the mindset that it's come a little before the infrastructure is in place, but i'm curious to see what it can do.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by chelmsfordhammer91 »

i've had a go on it, albeit using my phone as the screen.

There really is something to it IMO. Had a go on mafia 3, dirt 5 and some other free games. Runs smoothly on my mobile but lagged a bit on the tablet (much lower spec).

Haven't paired it up on the TV via the chromecast yet as i want to use an ethernet cable for better speed.

If it is as good on the TV as it is on my phone then it probably is the way consoles will go in the future.

You get a month of the 'Pro' benefits free with setup, butanahed to bag an extra 3 months with a code i found online. You basically get a wider selection of free games that chop and change every month or so (not sure if you keep the games you've already claimed) and get a discount on games for sale.

All in all, a good idea and ideal for a casual gamer.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by binary »

So curiosity got the better of me and i picked one up for £20. There's a free month trial for a Pro account and you can get a further three months free.
Probably the internet coverage isn't quite a the point to give a rock solid service, but it's really not bad at all. Eventually I can imagine this tech being added to streaming services like Netflix eventually alongside movies. Browse the selection, pick a game and you're off and running. The only major issues i got were playing Destiny where it looked like running an online multiplayer game looked like it was a bridge too far and there was some major stuttering. Also I don't think i'd trust buying a full price game on a service that could be pulled at any point or that is 100% dependent on the internet not being down. Maybe a subscription service like Gamepass/Netflix is a better solution.
I hate the idea of physical media dying out but i get why it's happening and mainstream videogame streaming looks like an inevitability at some point down the line. I don't think it'll be the sole source of gaming but still a pretty big one.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by chelmsfordhammer91 »

Lots of games on sale until the end of next week.

I'm looking to get RDR2 and maybe far cry 5 or 6 (haven't played them since farcry 2).

Ideally, you want to ethernet up the chromecast but using wifi seems to work for me just as well (wifi speeds are only 35mbps ish limit so not sure how much an ethernet cable can do if. I'm already at my limit).
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by Up the Junction »

Stadia to close/end next year.
With Stadia officially winding down on January 18, 2023, several developers, studios, and PR companies have reacted to the news and how it will affect their games.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/game- ... 0-6507939/
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by dasnutnock3 »

They didn’t give game devs any warning and there are some releases planned for the coming months. Typical google, corporate bullies.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by chelmsfordhammer91 »

Gutted by this, as it's the perfect setup for a casual gamer like myself who ironically only has time to game whilst working from home.

The tech was good enough IMO, you just need a decent internet speed (I was running it in HD on 35mb), and a screen (I used the Chromecast ultra for the TV, my phone and a tablet).

Unfortunately, I don't think Google realised the potential as the library of games was limited largely to Ubisoft titles and some indie stuff (although RDR2 and F1 2020 have my highest play times).

Without getting more top big titles on there (Cyberpunk was on there but I didn't habe a go on that), it was doomed to fail.

I do think though that a similar setup will be done by someone else. Streaming a game with just the controller as the core hardware (excluding whatever you are streaming it through as you'll have that anyway) has its advantages but just needs the proper investment to get those big titles.

Alas, but at least I'll be getting a refund on any games I've bought.
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Re: Google Stadia

Post by orbital »

Well at least ill get my money back for yet another gadget I bought and never used, much like the Steam deck I have sitting under my bed that I haven't used yet!!!!
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