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[NickFire]

The idea that you could be in the mood for a new game, watch some youtube trailers, and bam, you find one you want, and now all you have to do is click Play....that's a cool idea!

But the reality is you pay a monthly fee to continue getting access to your single player games and then there's input lag and video compression that wouldn't be there on a real console. And in the long run, it's not even a money-saving measure.

You think $10/month now is better than a $500 console up front. For many people it will seem that way. But here we are in the 6th year of this generation. If you kept Stadia for 6 years (and they never raised that sub price) then you've given them $720 plus the cost of the controller and chromebook or whatever the hardware route will be going forward. That's the cost of accessing the games you are paying for.

That's more marketing benefit than consumer side benefit. Not 100% because you do have to wait for downloads on PC, PS4, or Xbox, so in that respect it benefits the consumer. Factoring in the realities you mention though, makes that consumer benefit kinda microscopic in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Grinchy]

That's more marketing benefit than consumer side benefit. Not 100% because you do have to wait for downloads on PC, PS4, or Xbox, so in that respect it benefits the consumer. Factoring in the realities you mention though, makes that consumer benefit kinda microscopic in the grand scheme of things.

Yep, while it seems cool to be able to play instantly, and switch devices instantly (keep playing Madden while shitting), those upsides really do not seem to justify paying as much or more than traditional console gaming while having to put up with input lag, video compression, and needing your internet connection basically dedicated to your gaming session any time you want to play.

And of course that's not getting into people who have data caps and stuff, which is yet another reason why this actually costs more in the long run than buying the hardware yourself.

 

[stickkidsam]

One can only hope

 

[A.Romero]

Regarding the Google Cementery, I have a different perspective. Most projects (if not all) failed to reach the number of users that Google needed to keep them alive. Most of them (if not all) were free so if there is not enough traffic, the'd be bleeding money. Some services were integrated somewhere else or became something different. For example, I was a big fan of Buzz (later became Circles) and Wave (many features belong to Google docs now). I miss some of that stuff but I can see them not making enough money to survive.

Personally I rather have them release services and kill them if they don't pick up than not ever seeing them at all.

That said, I'd be surprised if Stadia actually becomes a success in it's current form and because it's not making money it's very likely that it will be enventually closed. The only way they could gather some support is if they partner with Steam or someone else so keys are still valid if the Stadia service goes under. I'm not purchasing any game that is exclusive to a platform that might not exist in a few years.

At least with consoles you have the option to get a second hand console and keep playing. Without an alternative, spending money on Stadia is just stupid.

 

[The Pleasure]

Google would cancel his mother if she can't make money...

Now that's a player pimp

 

[Cato]

Don't forget the technical hurdles as well. There's a whole lot of consumers in North America who are constrained by 1-2TB data caps. Even Verizon FiOS' "unlimited service" has a hidden data cap of 4TB; If you eclipse that repeatedly they send you a nasty gram telling you to knock it off or they'll terminate your service.

From info dumps, we know that Stadia's settings have three bandwidth usage options: The highest which will take up to 20GB/hr for 4k streaming, a dynamic one that adjusts bandwidth usage and performance based on game and network, and a minimum 'bandwidth saving' setting which limits you to 720p and consumes 4.5GB/hr. If you're one of the many with a 1-2TB data cap imposed by your ISP, Stadia's bandwidth requirements make the service uneconomical. Verizon's 4TB cap would be easy to reach, especially if you add Stadia to a household where you're already relying on video streaming services.

That's just looking at the issue of data caps. There's a whole lot of other technical issues which can result in a mediocre to poor experience but Google's just acting like they're no big deal.

4GB/h for the lowest setting.
So this whole idea of "you can bring the games with you and play on the go" is not going to happen at all then.
Playing stadia games via mobile is a no-go situation.

US has as far as I recall mostly very low data-caps for mobile.
Heck, I still have a friend on Google Project Fi and he used to/still? paid 20$ / month for 2GB data.
He can play for 30 minutes on his Google Fi phone before he has used up his entire data plan

 

[Business]

Can't really blame them, it's the google way.

 

[Bryank75]

Ghost Recon Breakpoint and NBA 2K...... hahahaha

and Destiny 'buy all your content again' 2

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Dizzan]

Things are not looking good and it sounds like Google wants a very soft start for this thing. My guess is they know they are not ready for launch and are treating the "Founders Edition" buyers as Beta testers.

I hope I'm wrong because I really want it to work.

 

[Bryank75]