Google Stadia Game Streaming Service

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by dyne

Why do people keep saying streaming PC? If I’m reading correctly you don’t actually buy a system. These specs are the per user server instance specs that will run the game that’s streamed to your browser, mobile or stick.

Because much like PC's, the tech IS the only selling point of this right now. It's basically a 3rd party multiplat service. Theres absolutely nothing available on this I cant already play on other platforms.

[Midnight Rambler]

Just fodder for the AMD trolls ...

[x7q3]

Game Informer magazine and Google have webpages about it...

https://www.gameinformer.com/gdc-201...eaming-service

https://store.google.com/magazine/stadia

[Wildcat2000]

Should have named it Google Player, right? Missed opportunity.

I’m not into streaming games but if anyone can make it work I guess it’s Google.

[Steedeel]

If I have this right, the whole point of owning a high spec pc will evaporate. Surely that will be negative for the gaming industry, not positive.

The PC gaming market is a big deal and part of that is upgrades. Where is the motivation for those Peoole once the likes of this service takes hold?

[Forestt]

I like good storydriven singleplayer games. I hate multiplayer/online games or games that encourage you to share/play with friends. I have the feeling Google is aiming this platform not to gamers like me and I think google will try to make online/multiplayer/sharing more important and mainstream that it already is.

Therefore I probably end up hating this platform since it is a threat to my videogame enjoyment.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

If it’s a $5/month subscription fee, I *might* consider it. Otherwise, I will only EVER invest in physical media gaming. The only exception to this has been Rocket League, which was a free download with my PS+ that I never would have paid for.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Because much like PC's, the tech IS the only selling point of this right now. It's basically a 3rd party multiplat service. Theres absolutely nothing available on this I cant already play on other platforms.

I get what you're saying now. The "idea" of it is basically a streaming PC. I thought you thought there was actual hardware.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

If I have this right, the whole point of owning a high spec pc will evaporate. Surely that will be negative for the gaming industry, not positive.

The PC gaming market is a big deal and part of that is upgrades. Where is the motivation for those Peoole once the likes of this service takes hold?

Sure, when everybody has fast enough internet for this. We're nowhere near there yet. This product is for the same group XCloud and Now cater too. People that don't care about latency or want to play something on their phone. Not everybody wants that.

[Firefoxie]

Based on some of the comments I've been reading on the internet which isn't really anything to go by, but a lot people don't like the idea of this. I honestly don't blame them. I hate the idea of streaming video games for several reasons.

1.) For one most people don't have a fast enough connection to stream video games let alone in 4K and even with the best specs on a pc. I think this would only work in larger cities and even than some people still have problems with it. I don't think we have the tech right now for it.

2.) Always having to be connected to the internet and DRM. Hell, that's one of the reason why Microsoft got so much backlash and is now in 2nd place with the XBOX this gen. I don't think this going to be any different with google. There would be no lending or renting of physical media.

3.) Subscription fees and ownership. I think a lot of people including myself like the idea of having physical or even digitally owning the license for their games. This service would completely take that away even with single player games and if that developer wants to take down the server than your SOL. It's gone and that's it. I like the ability to replay my games whenever I want.

I honestly don't think this is going to be very successful and tbh I think it's going to flop majorly hard. Honestly, I wish they would have just made a damn console than this stupid steaming crap. I just wish MS, Sony, and Google would just get over this streaming your video games shit. They just see that Netflix money and don't get that streaming video games isn't the same as streaming movies and tv shows. They need to wait awhile for when we have the tech for this instead of trying to shove it out the door half baked. Hell, better yet not at all...

[ShellOilJunior]

I'll pass. This is another way for Google to collect data.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by dyne

I get what you're saying now. The "idea" of it is basically a streaming PC. I thought you thought there was actual hardware.



Sure, when everybody has fast enough internet for this. We're nowhere near there yet. This product is for the same group XCloud and Now cater too. People that don't care about latency or want to play something on their phone. Not everybody wants that.

So I guess the question remains at what point the groups merge. The market that loves graphical power and the mouse and keyboard, the console mob and the casual Switch/smartphone brigade. I’m thinking by the end of the PS5’s natural lifespan so 7 years or so.

It makes me sad that the Insustry wants to move away from the console because I always associate it with big screen gaming. That’s the only gaming I love, not interested in portable gaming at all.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

So I guess the question remains at what point the groups merge. The market that loves graphical power and the mouse and keyboard, the console mob and the casual Switch/smartphone brigade. I’m thinking by the end of the PS5’s natural lifespan so 7 years or so.

It makes me sad that the Insustry wants to move away from the console because I always associate it with big screen gaming. That’s the only gaming I love, not interested in portable gaming at all.

I don't necessarily think this will REPLACE traditional gaming. I think it will simply become another option. Even though the whole music industry has gone to streaming, you can still get those albums on physical media, be it vinyl or CD (even cassette is starting to make a comeback). Traditional console gaming will not go away completely, however it probably will become more of a boutique industry.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I don't necessarily think this will REPLACE traditional gaming. I think it will simply become another option. Even though the whole music industry has gone to streaming, you can still get those albums on physical media, be it vinyl or CD (even cassette is starting to make a comeback). Traditional console gaming will not go away completely, however it probably will become more of a boutique industry.

Good summary, I agree, mostly.

Remember this is Gen 1. Google will evolve this tech as countries/territories across the world get better net. While most 3rd party devs/pubs are fully on board with this streaming future, console gaming will always be there in some form. I think it’s a question of long term impact on the gaming industry & how convenience will over shadow its console competitors. Especially when this tech evolves.

Sony can sell you their exclusives on their consoles alone. Fine, all good right? Then 3rd party AAA games come out that are too taxing on next-gen hardware wether it be CPU/GPU, FPS, Memory management, load speeds etc etc etc..... So then that game is released & is literally impossible to port to a PS5. It automatically becomes “exclusive” to Google.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Derb

Good summary, I agree, mostly.

Remember this is Gen 1. Google will evolve this tech as countries/territories across the world get better net. While most 3rd party devs/pubs are fully on board with this streaming future, console gaming will always be there in some form. I think it’s a question of long term impact on the gaming industry & how convenience will over shadow its console competitors. Especially when this tech evolves.

Sony can sell you their exclusives on their consoles alone. Fine, all good right? Then 3rd party AAA games come out that are too taxing on next-gen hardware wether it be CPU/GPU, FPS, Memory management, load speeds etc etc etc..... So then that game is released & is literally impossible to port to a PS5. It automatically becomes “exclusive” to Google.

Of course that's assuming the whole streaming over the internet thing is completely seamless with no lag or drops in frames/resolution. Right now that is a HUGE assumption. No matter how many GPU's a developer tries to take advantage of, if it's bottlenecked by the internet connection, those numbers will count for nothing ("300" reference there!). Besides, I'm quite confident that the PS5 will be a rather beastly console. I don't think we'll have to worry about performance issues for a while on it. I'm sure Sony will work to make it as future proof as it can possibly be.

[Mavrick]

It'll be a joke to anyone that isn't actually in to gaming simply due to the horrendous input lag that was clearly visible in their stage demo. If they can't even get the stage demo to work without input lag than what hope does someone have that lives a thousand miles away from the nearest server and has a normal fiber connection? How many seconds was it between him hitting the jump button and it actually happening on screen lol https://twitter.com/i/status/1108071616636993536 Input lag should be single figure ms at the most, this is almost literally SECOND(S) which is just unbearable.

Also you will be looking at about 7-10gb of data transfer per hour @ 4K60p so you hopefully have unlimited data from your ISP, and don't forget the whole net nutrality thing being killed off in what will arguably be Googles biggest potential market. So your ISP could charge you a nice premium for hogging all that data for your game streaming.

Basically you have to have the perfect internet connection and unlimited data cap as well as live as close as possible to the nearest data center and even then you will still get input lag.

It won't be of any use to the MLG community who will always prioritise PC/Console as long as they exist because streaming just cannot offer response times needed for any sort of competitive gaming. Imagine trying to play Street Fighter where you literally have to count frames to be able to judge your next move. It will just be a total mess trying to play it on this thing.

There's a reason why OnLive and Gaikai failed miserably. Sony swallowed up Gaikai and turned them on to PS Now, and look how many people hate that, it's not really any different to what Google are offering. Game streaming just doesn't work with the current state of the Internets infrastructure.

Until input lag can be completely eliminated there's not much point in using a streaming service for games aside from the novelty of it, which would probably ware off pretty fast.

Until they can show that they can create AAA exclusive content that is a must play title then it's pretty much a pointless service when current consoles/PCs offer a much more impressive library of games.

I think their tease display prior to the reveal was perfect though, they're already throwing it in with some of the biggest failures in gaming history.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Of course that's assuming the whole streaming over the internet thing is completely seamless with no lag or drops in frames/resolution. Right now that is a HUGE assumption. No matter how many GPU's a developer tries to take advantage of, if it's bottlenecked by the internet connection, those numbers will count for nothing ("300" reference there!). Besides, I'm quite confident that the PS5 will be a rather beastly console. I don't think we'll have to worry about performance issues for a while on it. I'm sure Sony will work to make it as future proof as it can possibly be.

Spoil alert.

It will drop in Rez & fps with similar console input lag.

I see tier options like Netflix regarding pricing.
720
1080
2160
4320

People talk about internet speeds being the issue. That’s not true. You can have 500 down & up & still lag out of the server completely. It’s bandwidth people need for this to be successful. Much like home musicians that pay extra for recording bandwidth, (Not net speed) this will play a factor.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by Derb

Spoil alert.

It will drop in Rez & fps with similar console input lag.

I see tier options like Netflix regarding pricing.
720
1080
2160
4320

People talk about internet speeds being the issue. That’s not true. You can have 500 down & up & still lag out of the server completely. It’s bandwidth people need for this to be successful. Much like home musicians that pay extra for recording bandwidth, (Not net speed) this will play a factor.

And that's why it will fail. No casual has a clue about that. Kids live off the internet their parents pay for. I can't imagine little Timmy begging his dad to pay the extra just so he can stream his games better lol

People who took part in the beta seemed to hate the lag they experienced. Some people just don't have the option of an ISP that can even offer them the bandwidth they would need for a service like this.

We will need to be in 6G wireless internet era before anything like this will work flawlessly. I'll be too old to care about it by then anyway

[Mavrick]

I should say that I like the concept, the dream they are trying to sell is along the lines of watching a game trailer on their Youtube platform then instantly being able to play the actual game before the trailer even finishes. That's the sort of instant gratification consumers demand. It just isn't going to work like that, not for a long time for most people.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

[Show spoiler]It'll be a joke to anyone that isn't actually in to gaming simply due to the horrendous input lag that was clearly visible in their stage demo. If they can't even get the stage demo to work without input lag than what hope does someone have that lives a thousand miles away from the nearest server and has a normal fiber connection? How many seconds was it between him hitting the jump button and it actually happening on screen lol https://twitter.com/i/status/1108071616636993536 Input lag should be single figure ms at the most, this is almost literally SECOND(S) which is just unbearable.

Also you will be looking at about 7-10gb of data transfer per hour @ 4K60p so you hopefully have unlimited data from your ISP, and don't forget the whole net nutrality thing being killed off in what will arguably be Googles biggest potential market. So your ISP could charge you a nice premium for hogging all that data for your game streaming.

Basically you have to have the perfect internet connection and unlimited data cap as well as live as close as possible to the nearest data center and even then you will still get input lag.

It won't be of any use to the MLG community who will always prioritise PC/Console as long as they exist because streaming just cannot offer response times needed for any sort of competitive gaming. Imagine trying to play Street Fighter where you literally have to count frames to be able to judge your next move. It will just be a total mess trying to play it on this thing.

There's a reason why OnLive and Gaikai failed miserably. Sony swallowed up Gaikai and turned them on to PS Now, and look how many people hate that, it's not really any different to what Google are offering. Game streaming just doesn't work with the current state of the Internets infrastructure.

Until input lag can be completely eliminated there's not much point in using a streaming service for games aside from the novelty of it, which would probably ware off pretty fast.

Until they can show that they can create AAA exclusive content that is a must play title then it's pretty much a pointless service when current consoles/PCs offer a much more impressive library of games.

I think their tease display prior to the reveal was perfect though, they're already throwing it in with some of the biggest failures in gaming history.

there was more to the Dreamcast failing than the product and a lot of it went back before the Saturn was released. Also was a revolutionary console and changed the console business forever. Is google then shooting themselves and predicting their demise?

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by Xtempo

there was more to the Dreamcast failing than the product and a lot of it went back before the Saturn was released. Also was a revolutionary console and changed the console business forever. Is google then shooting themselves and predicting their demise?

I think everyone here knows the merits of the dreamcast, I still own one, but regardless it was a massive commercial failure no matter how advanced it was with its features. Microsoft even offering an OS for it as well has fully networked allowing online access and gaming. All things that would become a staple of console gaming in the decade to follow. It was just not ready at that early point in time because average Joe consumer wasn't able to fully utilise its features and the industry just wasn't ready for it. Which you could say is exactly Stadias problem.

Either way Stadia is offering no AAA exclusive content which makes it pretty pointless when you consider the quality first party exclusives on off from the competition.

Stadia is going to have a very niche market not everyone is going to be able to stream 4K60p so if you're given the option of streaming at 1080p and have access to zero AAA exclusives or a new console/PC that offers a much better playing experience as well as access to some of the best exclusives you can get I don't see why anyone would say no to the console/PC.

Do Google honestly believe people are going to give up their consoles and PC for this? Does any consumer actually want to have this over a console or PC?