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[Voost Kain]

With Stadia just over two-weeks old, Google is planning to advertise its new game streaming platform around the world next week. Stadia Holiday Pop-Ups are coming to Los Angeles, London, and Paris.

Announced this afternoon, the brand activations are positioned at prospective customers “wondering what it’s like to play games on Stadia.”

Starting next week, we’re bringing Stadia to select cities… and you’re invited. At the Stadia Holiday Pop-Ups visitors can get Stadia swag, enjoy holiday snacks, mingle with YouTube Creators, and most importantly, play some games with Stadia!

Google is clearly positioning Stadia for the holidays, while also highlighting YouTube integration with the presence of creators at these three events.
The first Stadia Holiday Pop-Ups are in London and Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 11th. They start at noon local time and span eight hours. Meanwhile, the third and final event is on December 13th in Paris. Full details are below:

Los Angeles:

• Hollywood and Highland
• 6801 Hollywood Blvd
• December 11th
• 12:00pm PST – 8:00 PM PST

London:

• BOXPARK, Shoreditch
• 2-10 Bethnal Green Rd
• December 11th
• 12:00 PM – 8:00PM GMT

Paris:

• Webedia Millenium
• 2 rue Paul Vaillant
• December 13th
• 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM CET

For those that are still skeptical you will have a chance to meet with developers, win some swagger, and test Stadia for yourselves. Google is going to open up pop-up stores world wide that you can access in order to experience Stadia yourself.

It's a lot like VR, it seems pointless when you read about it on paper, but the real deciding factor is when you get to experience and test the product yourself, and I think that this is will help a lot since most peoples exposure to Stadia are false journalist reviews or negative posts on social media. If you happen to not like it after testing it then it would make sense to give your opinion on the service.

Now with that said, keep in mind that the free edition that will soon be releasing will be more widely available so if you are willing to wait you may soon be testing the service at your local Target or Walmart. Maybe there can be a Gaf meet up at some of these events.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

It is STILL pointless. Streaming only matters once you know it works through your home setup, not some idealized store setting. At least with VR you would have it work the same way with the same hardware.

In fact I would say it is nothing like VR at all. With VR demo stations you will experience the real deal, while Streaming demo stations give a false impression that would not match what you get at home.

 

[digital_ghost]

I'm dreaming of a white christmas a dislike button. Just like the ones I used to know.

Where people snicker, and children bicker. To hear Sleigh-Bells in the snow.

 

[Stuart360]

Next they will be selling them at car boot sales. The desperation is setting in.

 

[Afro Republican]

Here's why this "news" should disqualify Google as a legitimate gaming company by every user on this forum and every gamer outside of it permanently:

1. Googles "free model" promised at launch won't release until next year.

2. Google thought that gamers are so dumb, and failed to understand the market so badly, that they only had a limited release in retail stores and thought they could sell bucketloads of Stadias online exclusively through their own store.

3. Google thinks that 3 countries equals "world wide" for some reason.

4. Google has an unfinished product with glitches, and in many cases even they don't know how to fix them, like the FFXV save glitch, so they already have a negative reputation and have proven to be incompetent, how many people will show up at each one of these "stores"? 3 people?

5. How are you going to have a "store" to attract interest in the middle of a random city instead of promoting the platform across the Country/city?

6. Who is going to fly halfway across their countries to play old games they played 5 years ago that the new "platform" is charging full price for?

7. How are they going to control the demos? Stadia Chromecast Ultra's overheat, they randomly shut off, the service is full of glitches, and there's massive lag, are they opening these events within 20 feet of a Google server farm?

8. Again, the free version of Google Stadia which was promised to be at launch, won't come out until next year.

9. Google is the same company that launched a controller for Stadia with a button that didn't work until weeks after launch with an update.

10. According to a user on here and elsewhere, Stadia Chromecast Ultra's, brand new out of the Stadia box, sometimes don't work with Stadia, and give error messages saying their Ultras are not compatible with Stadia

11. This is the same company that blamed developers for them lying about 4K, and blamed a developer for a save glitch that was their fault.

12. Why are they opening these in only 3 cities? Why not more? Why not have demos in retail stores? What the fuck are they doing?

13. This is a big one, every game that will be demoed will likely be software that people who are interested in Stadia, likely already played, so how would that show off Stadia to the consumer while convincing them to buy those games they already played, at $60? It doesn't.

Google please drop out and never touch gaming again, thank you

~Every person who played a video game.

 

[FStubbs]

The only legitimate way pop up kiosks would work for something like Stadia is for them to literally have the games run on the phones of people walking up. If Stadia were done correctly, they'd have people walking away with a Stadia app installed on their phone, so that they're already in the ecosystem.

Then of course if Stadia were subscription based like the video game Netflix it wants to be, then they could make it easier for people to get in and start playing.

Of course, the mechanical issues of Stadia are a separate topic lol

 

[Afro Republican]

The only legitimate way pop up kiosks would work for something like Stadia is for them to literally have the games run on the phones of people walking up. If Stadia were done correctly, they'd have people walking away with a Stadia app installed on their phone, so that they're already in the ecosystem.

Then of course if Stadia were subscription based like the video game Netflix it wants to be, then they could make it easier for people to get in and start playing.

Of course, the mechanical issues of Stadia are a separate topic lol

Issue is they would have to show the game prices in their store to people who want to know what's available.

$60 for games they can get $15 elsewhere will have them leaving alright, but not with Stadia.

 

[DeepEnigma]

They are going about this all wrong.

They are going full Dianetics peddling in the mall.

 

[Tarkus98]

Don’t know about you guys but I wants to win me some “swagger”!! oh man.

 

[Quezacolt]

It's a lot like VR, it seems pointless when you read about it on paper, but the real deciding factor is when you get to experience and test the product yourself, and I think that this is will help a lot since most peoples exposure to Stadia are false journalist reviews or negative posts on social media.

First of all, it's nothing like VR. With VR, what you try is what you get.

Second, I don't trust many gaming journalists either, but we had many of the reviews showing footage of the input lag, we had them showing also their internet speeds, etc... and the quality of the service was awful, sure, you might be lucky and be one of those that had almost no issues in your house, but will it be the same when you try outside? And if you have to move to another house, are honestly telling me that the service will behave in the same way, considering how many people are complaining about the input lag? I remember reading that in france for example, it was even worse, sometimes with even 4x more delay than in the US.

 

[Fuz]

Edit: Oh, it's that shill again.

 

[Chittagong]

Boxpark is near to me so Stadia should work well.

Smart idea to do pop ups to dispel myths, but doing a single day in Box Park is pathetic. There are hipster beard care brands that pop up for a month.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

That's not going to tell you how it performs in your house while someone else is watching netflix. Don't believe their lies.

 

[Afro Republican]

Don’t know about you guys but I wants to win me some “swagger”!! oh man.

Stadia toilet paper swag so you can collect the shit and flush it down the toilet.

 

[TheWanderingOgre]

When 'just let it die' is better than the alternative you actually present. Thats when you know you really fucked up.

 

[strange headache]

The Stadia streaming experience seems to be hugely dependent on your internet connection.
So what's the point trying it out at a store with a beefed up internet connection, when you don't have the same at home?

 

[cucuchu]

Sounds like they are trying to push hard this holiday season and into next year because once hype for the new consoles begins to ramp up, people will be struggling to remember the name of that game streaming service google tried to make a thing at one point in time.

 

[Spukc]

nice will def give it a test

 

[ROMhack]

Boxpark is near to me so Stadia should work well.

Smart idea to do pop ups to dispel myths, but doing a single day in Box Park is pathetic. There are hipster beard care brands that pop up for a month.

Initially thought that too but I can well imagine plenty of offices around there heading out to sample Stadia and then put the pics on social media after. This doesn't seem for the general public, more PR.

 

[spons]

Putting a couple of Stadia demo pods in three large cities is fucking hysterical. If Google had any bollocks at all they'd give away a free demo of a game on the actual service and let anyone try it out.

 

[GymWolf]

I can see goggle hiding a real physical console in their try-stadia station to fool people with zero input lag...

 

[Shrap]

"Hey guys, do you have a console or PC at home? Well, how about we provide you that same experience but with an outdated and tiny game selection, inconsistent lag and video compression? Sound good?. ..What? Are the games at least cheaper? Of course not. You have complete ownership of these games just like any other platform! We won't close the servers down, have any technical issues or remove any titles. That's a goo-rantee. Just look at our track record. "

 

[NickFire]

They are going about this all wrong.

They are going full Dianetics peddling in the mall.

Don't worry, their push cart vendors won't bother you like the knock off perfume people in most malls. Only in malls with perfect internet is my guess.

 

[GHG]

Get out of here trying to lump VR in with this trash heap.

 

[Voost Kain]

The Stadia streaming experience seems to be hugely dependent on your internet connection.

Yes, it's called streaming. Are you having mental deficiencies today?

 

[Lanrutcon]

"Worldwide"

Darn. I wanted to see them try using that thing in Australia.

 

[DESTROYA]

It is STILL pointless. Streaming only matters once you know it works through your home setup, not some idealized store setting. At least with VR you would have it work the same way with the same hardware.

In fact I would say it is nothing like VR at all. With VR demo stations you will experience the real deal, while Streaming demo stations give a false impression that would not match what you get at home.

This. What you experience at a fully optimized pop-up store will probably be bit misleading to what a lot of people will get at home.
What you see with streaming is not always what you get , every internet provider does not have a standard speed so every instance will have different results with the quality of streaming.

 

[SleepDoctor]

"Pop up" stores?? Lol.

"Surprise.... its input lag"

 

[oagboghi2]

Yes, it's called streaming. Are you having mental deficiencies today?

Hey dumbass, not all internet connections are created equal.

Why should anyone give a fuck about a pop up station using their own WiFi, it is not the same experience as my own house.