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Introducing Stadia - Google's New Gaming Platform

I know saying good things about Stadia isn't trendy and that it's unpopular is say anything positive about it on the internet, but if you haven't even tried it yet to base your own opinion on it (and it's free to try so you have no excuse not to) then you really don't have any reason to criticise me or anyone else for it.

I'm only speaking from my experience in saying Stadia works for me and I genuinely like it - I'm not going to apologise for that. This is a Stadia specific thread - I'm not going to be quiet about it just to please you.

A simple HaHa emoji works here as well. Nigga super serious about his life’s work.
 
So whats the consensus so far? Has the connection gotten better? Whats your updated review so far?

In terms of where I am with Stadia, I'm still absolutely loving it. The last month was really good in terms of new games hitting it, and with Sekiro, Assassins Creed: Vahalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, Cyberpunk, etc. arriving soon I'm gonna be busy with it. On the last count I've got 58 games for it, and the majority of them are just from the Stadia Pro subscription.

The connection for Stadia is fine. It really is just the case of making sure you have a reliable internet connection on your side of things - if you do then you're golden. I'm okay as I'm running on 200mb now and it only needs about 55mb to be at it's best, but I know everyones situation is different. Chromecast Ultra and Stadia Controller is still the best way to go.

It really has moved on since the last time I mentioned it on here - Crowd Play where you literally jump into a YouTube streamer's game is fun especially with Bomberman Online (that's still to be rolled out fully but certain YouTubers have had that available to them early), Crowd Choice has just been rolled out with Dead By Daylight and Bauler's Gate 3 where YouTube viewers can dictate the state of play, and they're readying a YouTube livestreaming option (it's displayed in the options but currently greyed out). It's been slow, but Stadia's getting the the place they promised it would in the original reveal.

Last year I was seriously looking at getting a PS5, but with having Stadia I really don't have a reason to get it. I can game on it without issues, loading and playing games is quick and easy, I don't have to worry about storage or updates, I can jump between my laptop, TVs and phone mid-game, YouTube is slowly getting integrated into it... I honestly think it's great.

The one fuck-up I can think of with Google/Stadia is not implementing Stadia into the new Chromecast. They've stopped selling the Chromecast Ultra (you can only get it bundled with the controller) but the new Chromecast can't do Stadia yet which is stupid. As much as using the Chromecast is the best way forward, it's hard to suggest getting the Ultra if they're discontinuing it. Apparently it'll work with the new Chromecast early next year, but I just think Google really fucked that one up by not having it working on day 1.
 
Tried it out definitely need a controller. My hands to big to be using my phone as the gamepad. Probably won't be using it past the month but it might be something to gift my nephew for his birthday next month.
 
Tried it out definitely need a controller. My hands to big to be using my phone as the gamepad. Probably won't be using it past the month but it might be something to gift my nephew for his birthday next month.

Fair play for giving it a try. If it was the on-screen gamepad that you were trying it with then is an interesting feature, but yeah, it's more of a gimmick and definitely not the way to go with it.
 
anything noticeably different as far as gameplay...connection...graphics... etc?

I've only used it on my tablet and phone. Runs almost perfectly smooth. Graphics I'm sure ultimately depend on what device your using. No issues there. Noticed some jumpiness once or twice in game menus but no connection problem. I'm tempted to buy a controller to really get the most out of testing it but I'm already all in on a ps5 day 1 so theres no point.

Might get it for my nephew tho.

Pretty cost efficient gaming. You can get the controller and chromecast bundle for $99. Obviously not gonna run like a ps5 and xbox series x but you getting as good as your internet connection, tv, laptop, tablet, phone will allow. Google not really demanding anything from you. It's what you want to make it.

Stadia could be a problem by next gen.
 
Google launches free Stadia game demos to entice people into cloud gaming
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Free Stadia game demos start today

By Tom Warren@tomwarren Oct 20, 2020, 12:00pm EDT




Google is launching a series of Stadia game demos that are truly free to play. Starting today, existing or new Stadia users will be able to play demos of Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, with more coming later this week. These will be available for seven days and won’t require a Stadia Pro subscription or even a form of payment to play them.

All you’ll need to do is click a link, create a Stadia account, and then start playing the game demos streamed from Google’s Stadia cloud servers. It’s a clear attempt from Google to entice more people over to its Stadia service, with an easy and free way to play game demos to see if the service is worth paying for. It should help address concerns around Stadia’s small user base and allow anyone to try out cloud gaming for free.

Google is holding three consecutive days of game demos and betas, and Humankind will be available tomorrow, with an Immortals Fenyx Rising demo arriving on October 22nd. Each demo game will be available for one week free of charge. Google also announced today that Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is coming to Stadia on November 17th.


It’s interesting to see Google embrace free demos: they were one of the key selling points for Gaikai — one of the original cloud gaming services — but Sony never tried them after buying up Gaikai and rolling its tech into the rival PlayStation Now. Google Stadia is run by Phil Harrison, who used to sit on Gaikai’s advisory board, and Stadia head of business development Jack Buser used to run Sony’s PlayStation Now.

Stadia Pro owners now have 29 claimable games and the release of Cyberpunk 2077 on November 19th to look forward to playing on the cloud gaming service.

Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly said Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Hello Engineer would be available as free demos. That is incorrect; only Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle will be available starting today with Humankind and Immortals Fenyx Rising available for free later this week. We regret the error.

 
Google Stadia will let all users livestream games directly to YouTube tomorrow
Finally fulfilling its biggest original promise

By Sean Hollister@StarFire2258 Dec 7, 2020, 9:16pm EST

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Image: Google

From the very beginning, Google Stadia and YouTube were supposed to work together — thanks to the magic of cloud computing, you’d be able to click a YouTube ad to instantly begin playing a game, YouTubers would be able to invite their viewers to instantly join their game, and — perhaps most importantly — creators would be able to instantly, effortlessly be able to livestream their Stadia games to YouTube just by pressing a button on the controller.

None of those things happened at Stadia’s launch last November, but the biggest one is apparently arriving tomorrow: every Stadia user will be able to livestream directly to YouTube starting tomorrow, a representative confirms to The Verge.

This afternoon, 9to5Google noticed that the feature appeared to be rolling out, and we spotted the ability to link a YouTube account in our Stadia accounts as well — though not the ability to actually stream yet. I guess we’ll try that tomorrow.

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According to 9to5Google, you’ll still have to give your stream a title and tweak a few settings, like whether your stream is appropriate for kids (to comply with children’s protection rules). It’s also not clear whether you’ll be able to stream in 4K quite yet, as Stadia originally promised. You’d also likely need a $9.99 a month Stadia Pro subscription for that, like you do for 4K gameplay.

The feature couldn’t come at a more important time for Stadia: the service’s most important game yet, Cyberpunk 2077, is arriving this week, at a time when next-gen consoles and the latest graphics cards to build your own powerful PC are incredibly difficult and expensive to buy. It’s the biggest test for Stadia yet, and one the company is banking on: buying Cyberpunk on the service comes with a full set of free Stadia hardware for a limited time — not unlike the set it gave free to YouTube Premium subscribers.

People streaming Cyberpunk 2077 from Stadia to YouTube could be the single biggest opportunity yet for Google to prove what its service can do.

 
Google is shutting down its in-house Stadia game development studios

The company is refocusing its streaming service

By Chaim Gartenberg@cgartenberg Feb 1, 2021, 2:48pm EST

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Google is shutting down its internal Stadia game development division, the company announced today, as it refocuses Stadia to be a home for streaming games from existing developers instead of developing its own games for the service.

“Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially,” reads a blog post from Phil Harrison, a vice president at Google and general manager for Stadia. “Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games.”

As part of that change, the company is shutting down both its Los Angeles and Montreal game studios, both of which existed under the Stadia Games and Entertainment banner. Google says that “most of the SG&E [Stadia Games and Entertainment] team will be moving on to new roles,” but Jade Raymond — the Ubisoft and EA industry veteran that led the Stadia studio teams — will be departing the company entirely.


Stadia itself, alongside the $9.99 Stadia Pro subscription service, will continue to exist going forward, and Google may continue trying to secure exclusive (or timed-exclusive) third-party titles to offer through its subscription. Any “near-planned” games will still be released on Stadia, too.

But the shuttering of Stadia’s in-house studios marks a serious blow to Google’s gaming ambitions. Beyond the mere technical aspects of the streaming service itself, the fact that Google was willing to invest in multiple first-party studios was one of the most significant parts of the original Stadia vision.

That Google would be creating games for the fledgling streaming service — titles that in theory would take advantage of its unique cloud technology — marked how seriously Google was investing in Stadia. It was also a sign that the company aspired to one day introduce exclusives that could offer compelling competition to companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, all of which rely heavily on their own in-house studios to create key exclusive games to drive players to their services.

The fact that Stadia will no longer be in the game-making business makes a certain amount of sense: developing a AAA-title is an incredibly expensive endeavor. But it also means that Stadia’s future will likely be relegated to just another option where you can play the same games as you can already play on a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC.

 
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