Stadia - Google's game streaming service

This is definitely the future of gaming. I don't think many folk will have a good enough internet service to get a decent stream for a few years yet, though. The more hardcore gamers are looking for picture quality and response speed and this approach won't match current setups for some time.

NickSCFC

jawafour wrote:This is definitely the future of gaming. I don't think many folk will have a good enough internet service to get a decent stream for a few years yet, though. The more hardcore gamers are looking for picture quality and response speed and this approach won't match current setups for some time.

I think it's certainly the long term option, with PlayStation Now and XCloud being the natural evolution of PlayStation and Xbox respectively.

They'll be competing with giants like Google and Amazon, so it's imperative that they build up IP if they want to survive this new era.

NickSCFC wrote:I think it's certainly the long term option, with PlayStation Now and XCloud being the natural evolution of PlayStation and Xbox respectively.

They'll be competing with giants like Google and Amazon, so it's imperative that they build up IP if they want to survive this new era.

Yeah, it feels like the current Sony - Nintendo - Microsoft titans could find themselves uder increasing pressure from the likes of Google and Amazon, who can basically chuck unlimted money at the proposition.

Hardware costs wil fall for consumers, but playing costs will possibly increase; I forsee the rise of "pay to play" subscriptions rather like the current Sky / Virgin / BT television service charges.

NickSCFC

jawafour wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:I think it's certainly the long term option, with PlayStation Now and XCloud being the natural evolution of PlayStation and Xbox respectively.

They'll be competing with giants like Google and Amazon, so it's imperative that they build up IP if they want to survive this new era.

Yeah, it feels like the current Sony - Nintendo - Microsoft titans could find themselves uder increasing pressure from the likes of Google and Amazon, who can basically chuck unlimted money at the proposition.

Hardware costs wil fall for consumers, but playing costs will possibly increase; I forsee the rise of "pay to play" subscriptions rather like the current Sky / Virgin / BT television service charges.

Indeed, the long term future of gaming will simply be a Smart TV app, Google and Amazon are the ONLY companies big enough to compete with the status quo (Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft.

You can see why Sony and Microsoft are going down the PlayStation Now/Xbox Gamepass route in preparation for this.

Streaming PC games is one thing, but building up studios and IP takes years/decades.

Gemini73

While I have a very fast connection I've never used a streaming service for gaming. It is undoubtedly the future for gaming though.

Even if I had a connection fast enough I think I'd still rather have a dedicated console as I sometimes take my console with me when I go see my nan and she doesn't have a net connection.
Depending on price I'd be interested but only if they do similar deals to what I got for Game Pass where I've managed to get a 50% discount for the next 2 years just through offers. If I can play PC games like the Total War series which I love but haven't been able to play since my pc bust well over 5 years ago now I'd be all over this.

It's a future but it's not the future. Portable and local co-op will the saviour of non-streamed games B)

US only. I might sign up via a proxy.

jawafour wrote:This is definitely the future of gaming. I don't think many folk will have a good enough internet service to get a decent stream for a few years yet, though. The more hardcore gamers are looking for picture quality and response speed and this approach won't match current setups for some time.

Most people can stream Netflix which means something g like this is perfectly feasible and workable.

Errkal wrote:Most people can stream Netflix which means something g like this is perfectly feasible and workable.

Netflix is "one-way", though, and doesn't rely upon reactive reponse... it's crucial for gaming!

jawafour wrote:
Errkal wrote:Most people can stream Netflix which means something g like this is perfectly feasible and workable.

Netflix is "one-way", though, and doesn't rely upon reactive reponse... it's crucial for gaming!

There sint much going the other way, just commands. I would argue there is no more data going up with someone playing online as there is going up with the controls.

On a different yet similar note I'm pretty sure Sony recently announced that you'll soon be able to download PS4 games from PlayStation Now. With them also announcing that PS3 and Vita games would no longer be added to PS+ I wouldn't be surprised to see the two services merged somewhere down the line.

jawafour wrote:This is definitely the future of gaming.

Only if we let it be.

OldSoulCyborg wrote:
jawafour wrote:This is definitely the future of gaming.

Only if we let it be.

I didn't realise you and Jawa were quite so powerful. :shock:

Moggy wrote:I didn't realise you and Jawa were quite so powerful.

OSC and I were each struck down by Darth in 1977, so...

jawafour wrote:
Moggy wrote:I didn't realise you and Jawa were quite so powerful.

OSC and I were each struck down by Darth in 1977, so...

....you are both really old?

Moggy wrote:....you are both really old?

I like to spin it as being "refined" and "sophisticated" rather than "old".

This is the future of gaming, but that's the problem - it's still something for the future and is not ready for prime time yet.

I've used GeForce Now on various setups recently - running on a cheap laptop over WiFi, running on a powerful PC on a LAN with a ludicrously high internet speed etc. and whilst the results can be impressive in terms of visual fidelity and lack of artefacts there are still input delay problems that will render many types of games unplayable.

Many controller based games feel a bit "off" but are generally still playable but the problem is even worse if trying to play with a game that uses the mouse - it just feels so off putting for your input to lag!

There are also problems with reliability - something like Netflix can use a buffer to prefetch data in advance of where you are currently watching to ensure that even if your connection is a bit wobbly you don't notice a problem, game streaming can't do this as everything is happening live (I mean it could do something clever to help via prediction but that is a whole can of worms that I doubt anyone is going to solve anytime soon!). I've had a few hiccups when playing with GeForce Now and whilst it hasn't been game breaking all you need is for something to go a bit wonky at the wrong time and you're going to be looking at some seriously pissed off gamers! :lol:

NickSCFC

I played Virtua Fighter 5 on PS Now a while back and found the experience to be pretty much faultless.

I'm lucky that I live in a fibre area though, it could take decades for global internet speeds to match this for game streaming to reach critical mass.

Regardless, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft shouldn't let Google and Amazon exploit the gap in the market.

I don't like the idea of not actually owning a physical or digital copy of games I pay for. Also as others have said, unless you have ridiculously fast broadband this sort of service will suffer terribly from lag and stuttering.

Then there's the problem of games being removed from the service or having to subscribe to multiple different services to play everything when the inevitable happens and someone like EA or Activision decides to make their games exclusive to a specific service provider.

No thanks.

Stadia - Google's game streaming service

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