Sorry - I'm just picking your post as an example out of many, but I strongly disagree.
Lot's of people are judging Stadia as a hardware launch when it's not really.
It's more like a store, which is going to sit alongside every gaming video on youtube, so it will have millions of hours of eyeballs staring straight at a buy/play now button.
If "free" games get on the service then people (including young kids) can watch a video from their favourite youtuber, just click one button, and suddenly they're playing the game. They don't have to bug mum or dad, or save up for a console/PC, they just click and play.
The current "launch" of Stadia is bad for several reasons, but a lot of people are judging it against the wrong criteria.
There are exactly two external constraints to Stadia's success, IMHO, and neither of them are related to the majority of posters here (including me):-
1. It needs to convince a sizeable number of devs/publishers that "profit from sales/dlc/skins" > "Cost of porting to Stadia"
2. It needs a large number of people to have tolerable internet for streaming
That's it. It doesn't matter at the moment that it has 12 old games, it doesn't matter that the controller doesn't have all the functionality, it doesn't matter that some pre-orders will ship late.*
What matters is whether, in 2020, it can offer a free solution to every youtube viewer with an existing controller, and a range of games/content/prices including one of the "big" free games (either Fortnite or Apex).
Sorry - rant over - I just wish more people would understand what Stadia is meant to be, and judge it accordingly. For example comparing the launch line up to any other console is bonkers - the entire point of every historic launch line up has been to sell boxes, get customers over the initial up-front cost of the box, and get an install base of customers to sell to.
*Arguably there is a knock on effect that these things scare away devs, but none of them is big enough to knock the promise of what Stadia could be. If a dev gets a shiny presentation, and a working demo of the tech, they may well be convinced. They'll almost certainly do it if they're offered money to cover the porting costs.
These are not your average PC games. They're not running on Windows.Please tell me if I'm wrong (maybe I'm just missing something very important), but I really don't get how people are comparing this lineup with the ones from older console / handheld generations, considering games for these always had to be ported since they were completely different systems.
Stadia is basically a lot of PCs that are used to stream games and we all know how many games are avaiable for PC.
Now don't get me wrong, I know that they can't just use any game without getting the permission to use it, but 12 games is still just terrible.
Casuals aren't going to pay $60 to play Red Dead on their phone or Macbook
Casuals aren't going to pay $60 to play Red Dead on their phone or Macbook
Hardcores are willing to buy dedicated devices to play games.
So uh, no one?
Old man yells at cloud is the OT name
These are not your average PC games. They're not running on Windows.
I hear google put the game on there just to show how bad the service is, they didn't even test it to see if it worked before they decided to release itImagining some of the later stages of Thumper with it's reaction time/rhythm gameplay getting messed up by lag or pixelation, oof. Hope Google can prove me wrong.
Why wouldn't it be enthusiast audience? You don't think enthusiasts would want to play games with better graphics than any game console on the market, without ever having to wait for updates or even game launching, without having to build a high end gaming PC?
That's exactly why they are launching with those games to prove it worksThey've got some balls launching with two fighting games and a rythm game. I'll give 'em that.
But that's not a very exciting list. I do wonder how RDR2 will run though. Should be a good test for macro-blocking as well.
Look into your heart and think about the answer :) If all gaming enthusiasts were PC gamers, then console sales wouldn't be a big thing. Not everyone wants to be buying $600 GPUs, let alone the $1100 you would need to spend on your GPU to outperform a single-GPU Stadia instance, if they even want the complications of using a PC for gaming (or worse, the complications of building a PC).why wouldnt an enthusist build a high end PC rather than rely on network bandwidth?
I don't want a big loud box taking up space and making noise while I playwhy wouldnt an enthusist build a high end PC rather than rely on network bandwidth?
People who buy consoles, tend to do so because there are games on those consoles that they want to play, not because they can handle better graphics for that moment in time.Look into your heart and think about the answer :) If all gaming enthusiasts were PC gamers, then console sales wouldn't be a big thing. Not everyone wants to be buying $600 GPUs, let alone the $1100 you would need to spend on your GPU to outperform a single-GPU Stadia instance, if they even want the complications of using a PC for gaming (or worse, the complications of building a PC).
why wouldnt an enthusist build a high end PC rather than rely on network bandwidth?
I truly have no idea how they expect to compete with a platform like xcloud.
Casuals aren't going to pay $60 to play Red Dead on their phone or Macbook
Hardcores are willing to buy dedicated devices to play games.
So uh, no one?
Also, for now at least from what I've read, all games are currently required to work with a controller, which is a tough ask for many of the more intensive 4x experiences and even when they manage it's not often the greatest experience. (they can allow both controller *and* kb/m though, but they can't do kb/m but not support a controller)Could also see something like Civ or other 4x-ish titles doing well where you're counting on more sheer processing power than concerns of latency. In both cases though, I would think a) cross-platform everything would need to be a thing and b) these aren't quite experiences that would work on smaller screens.
You didn't pick up a Steam Link? That's basically what it was for. Heck, you could put a laptop there (if you have one) and Remote play your monster PC to your laptop. Edit: Steam link might not do 4k now that I think about itI'll bite. Someone like me. I have a pretty nice computer that can easily play all the games. However, I prefer to play on my very large and awesome OLED TV, sitting on my couch, in my livingroom, where it's most comfortable. If I could get a PC like experience in my living room (60FPS/4K) without lugging my monster sized PC around to do so, this service appeals to me. In the end though it all comes down to how closely Stadia can come to promise it's trying to sell.
I hear google put the game on there just to show how bad the service is, they didn't even test it to see if it worked before they decided to release it
Also, for now at least from what I've read, all games are currently required to work with a controller, which is a tough ask for many of the more intensive 4x experiences and even when they manage it's not often the greatest experience. (they can allow both controller *and* kb/m though, but they can't do kb/m but not support a controller)
You didn't pick up a Steam Link? That's basically what it was for. Heck, you could put a laptop there (if you have one) and Remote play your monster PC to your laptop. Edit: Steam link might not do 4k now that I think about it
I don't want a big loud box taking up space and making noise while I play
I like playing in 4k 60 fps but not enough to spend 1,000$+ on it
I'm tired of downloading games and patches and managing hard drive space
As someone who has no interest in Stadia they really do not.Do you work fo Google/Stadia? Those really look like PR talk points.
No these are all facts and benefits of stadiaDo you work fo Google/Stadia? Those really look like PR talk points.
Fair enough, shame it didn't work out.I did have steam link and it was awful. The problem is my computer I was streaming from is setup wireless. So even if I plugged the steam link in hardwired there were a ton of latency issues. Plus it was just clunky in general to get everything working right. I'd have to run back and forth from my computer to my tv room to get things working.
They were demoing Doom Eternal (which was delayed), not 2016.I am just shocked at Doom 2016, the game that convinced them streaming could work is not part of the launch... nor planned for 2019.
They've demo'd both; but yeah Doom Eternal is probably why Doom 2016 wasn't planned for the service. They thought it would be a launch title so they didn't want to bring over the old game. Or they just don't want old games on the service.
Yeah, they dont want old games on the service, or games that are quite similar to each other which is why they are bringing 3 Tomb Raider games to the service at launch, 25% of the launch lineup. Or a 2016 rhythm indie game.They've demo'd both; but yeah Doom Eternal is probably why Doom 2016 wasn't planned for the service. They thought it would be a launch title so they didn't want to bring over the old game. Or they just don't want old games on the service.
Thing about Stadia is; it costs Google essentially the same amount of money for you to play a $60 brand new AAA game as it does for you to play an older game they can't sell you for full price.
So I wouldn't expect too many discounted older games on the service until google can prove the service profitable in general. Cheap ways to play on Stadia would be.. expensive for google.