It looks like streaming could be a part of the future of video games, and with Google showing its hand with the recent Stadia launch, the moment we leave behind downloads could be closer than ever. That is if Google Stadia had been a success upon its release last month. Disappointing sales and alarmingly low player numbers have resulted in companies breathing a sigh of relief, Sony included. The Japanese giant was supposedly "terrified of Google’s entry into the video game space" before it hit the market.
In a report from Kotaku's ever-reliable Jason Schreier, it is stated that the hardware manufacturer was scared of Google's entry into the video game streaming space. "Over the past couple of years, a number of developers have remarked to me that staff at both PlayStation and Xbox would talk frequently and reactively about Google’s plans, emphasizing each company’s own response to streaming as a result. After the tepid launch of Stadia last month, however, the threat of Google appears to have been overstated."
Sony has been doing very nicely as of late with its PlayStation Now streaming service following a major price drop and the commitment to including some of its first-party titles over a limited time, so it's understandable why the company would feel pressure from a competitor as big as Google. However, as the report goes on to state, the battle over who comes out on top in the next generation will once again be decided between Sony or Microsoft. We're sure Google Stadia will continue to make a play for the streaming market with better prices and exclusive deals, but it feels like it can only do so much now after its disappointing launch.
Have you given Google Stadia a shot? Were you scared by the streaming service too? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 48
I had a go on my friend’s Stadia kit when it launched. I was actually really impressed with the lack of noticeable input lag, but graphically it’s compromised. It suffers badly with macro blocking from file compression, and this is especially noticeable in dark areas. We also had problems with stuttering - like it would jump a frame every now and again. Resolution would shift in and out of “4K” and even below what looked like 1080p often, even on the 200mbps fibre connection (albeit over WiFi) we have in the office. I do sit close to the TV which certainly made it more noticeable, however.
It’s not good enough for me, personally. Not yet, anyway. I would rather download the files locally and have the graphical and gameplay fidelity. As such, out of these kinds of services, PS Now is more of a draw for me.
disappointing, lets be honest the launch was a mess just like we all thought it would be
the issue is that the internet in most areas just isn't good enough for this kind of service yet, Google tried to early
Stadia on the whole, is just alright. The tech is alright, the experience generally seems to be alright, albeit with a few extremely bad experiences.
Thankfully for Sony, MS and Ninty - Google have managed to execute an atrocious launch. It's unfinished, unappealing, expensive and not as advertised and I'm still - even having watched read and seen a friend's experience with one - completely oblivious as to who the target market is.
Those of us already well seasoned in our chosen 'eco-systems' - be it PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC all have better options that compete on the same ground that for the most part - don't require an additional purchase.
Those people who don't - well, why would they be interested in Stadia anyway? And if they were - are they the sort who will have high speed internet connections, Pixel devices or even the inclination to buy in to a product that's at best still in its beta stages?
PS Now, Remote Play, XCloud, Switch, Shield/Steam Link etc are all far better options - regardless of how well they may or may not work.
Google are greedy. If Stadia had launched and 'just worked' as the adverts made out, and wasn't so expensive - the gaming world would be on fire right now - it would be a truly hot product. As it is, the launch was an unforced error, and they would be lucky to be able give Stadia away to a lot of people.
Through all of the coverage, there's something I don't think I've seen covered - can you play local co-op? I bet you can't!
A friend of mine bought it and he describes himself as the target audience. A casual gamer who could gave a rat's *** about graphical fidelity (he skipped two console generations so anything is an improvement from his point of view). He enjoys the lack of a console, he has a decent internet connection.
To be honest I would still advise him a second hand PS4 but he wanted to give this a go. I've still yet to play it though.
not even suprised it bombed (more or less).
like i said google was here 5 years to early.
but hey what did people expect of a internet company with no real history of true gaming systems shouting how they where "changing the gaming world" while having no clue about the fact that most people don't have the internet strength for this.
plus the low pre orders just shows that most people don't care about streaming only systems.
maybe this will shut up the streaming only advocates for a while.
besides aslong as future playstation and nintendo systems support traditional gaming alonside a streaming option with great exclusives,any streaming only system will never catch up.
The Stadia pricing model is very confusing and a little greedy I think. That put me off before all the true reports re streaming performance.
ROFL. Sony was not terrified of Stadia at all, because it was onvious that Stadia would fail as I said it would. Jason just wants to get hits because Stadia alone won't get people to click.
I've been using stadia every day since launch but then I've only been using it for Football Manager, it's worked perfectly fine for me. I did also try Destiny and that worked perfectly fine too with slightly better visuals than PS4 pro.
@FullbringIchigo It was not too early, it will never be good. The cloud is not for gaming period. I studied it in college so I know a lot about the cloud and its purpose. Its a cheaper solution for sharing company resources and nothing more, which are not video games.
Well let's be honest, if Stadia did everything it said it would, that would have been somewhat scary considering how poor PS Now would have been in comparison. Since Stadia absolutely did not live up to it's claims (at least yet), it puts it at about par with what Sony offers.
@JoeBlogs Netflix uses physical servers, not cloud servers and Netflix does not have to worry about input from lag, graphics or framerate.
@NathanUC Actually it didn't do most of what Google claimed.
@GodGamer really?, is there NO situation at all, even a theoretical one where this would actually be a viable thing then?
@GodGamer Exactly. That was my point.
Can't help wonder though if this first launch is just a test in the waters for Google. The early adopters are the Guinea pigs... Except these testers are paying to use Stadia! Google isn't exactly a cash strapped operation. Methinks Stadia is probably going to make more money by selling the data (googles core service) to game companies, hyping the future of gaming is all about streaming and releasing reports to investors. Do you see any big highly rated Stadia games so far. Nah! So why not? My silly little hunch is Google isn't interested in making triple AAA games, they just want to promote more Google branding and be seen amongst gamers. I'll be sticking to the guys like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo who are working hard to produce top games for us until Google prove otherwise.
@FullbringIchigo @GodGamer @NathanUC
Stadia is a good concept. The things Google have claimed are completely viable. Their server-side knowledge is great and their api's run 80% of the internet and connected devices one way or another - they do have the technical chops to make Stadia a success. Unfortunately, the greed of trying to claw at the gaming market has manifested in a crap launch for an over-sold project.
They've further hobbled their own product by limiting the range of compatible devices, limiting access, charging too much and not testing thoroughly enough.
I've no doubt at all, while being less immediately impressive, Xcloud will do great numbers. MS have the server-side technology nailed down, the stream is intentionally limited to 720p and they aren't selling it as better than that.
I think there is absolutely an appetite for what Stadia should be doing, but as a supplementary service - as a better version of remote play (like Xcloud).
@FullbringIchigo The cloud is built for companies to not have to upgrade their workstations or buy more physical storage.
Say you have an old PC and need a new OS or more power. Well you use the cloud to mirror that one new PC for those using old PCs instead of buying the whole company new PCs so your company saves money.
You can also share data that way too across the country more quickly or log in from your home via the cloud to access company resources.
Heck some companies still have not jumped on board with the cloud, but these gaming companies are trying to push it for gaming when it may not even last or other options like virtualization may kill the cloud LOL.
Mine will be here sometime this afternoon. Happy to give it a shot!
@JoeBlogs I get that, but Stadia has new games without their own catalog. It would be a waste of money for them to pay those companies to allow you to stream every game at one price like PSNow. PSNow also has an advantage since the games are already on PS hardware, something that Stadia does not have. They only got the games they have due to them selling each game as if it was a console.
Said all along that Stadia would have problems, and not be as smooth as their demos. There are simply too many variables which they have no control over for it to be usable as intended for a wide audience.
Plus, their model is a joke. Buy games at full price, AND pay a subscription in order to play them? You rapidly end up paying far more than just buying a console and games in the traditional manager. It's essentially a product without an audience.
OnLive tried it. Ouya tried it.
Umm 'terrified' maybe too strong. Yea no. I dont buy it
@Flurpsel Honestly, I'd think a person like your friend would get more from an Xbox One S with Game Pass. Access to dozens of amazing and new games every year just by paying one subscription fee, versus paying full retail prices for the right to stream video games from Google.
But, if he's happy with it, I guess all is well.
@Ralizah probably the All Digital Edition would be better for him or her as it's cheaper and pretty much built for game pass
Stadia's decent imo. The communication has been terrible from Google but the service actually works pretty well in my experience so far.
The real test for Stadia is the end of 2020 and beyond when they're offering it up for "free" and people will just need to buy the games they want.
I've said it a lot but the pool of people that just want to play the odd game every now and then or FIFA/COD every year is huge. When they see that they can just pay £50 or so for the game on Stadia (or Xbox) instead of another £400 for a PS5 console, they could be converted, and PlayStation would be silly to dismiss that.
Sony wouldn't do streaming unless the tech was available and was the right tech that could do the job, also rural internet connections and parts where internet is still a few gens behind will also drops sales for a stream console.
There's no market for streaming service that want you to buy the games separately, that's a weird strategy for storefront. I think google will be successful if they open pc storefront instead so people can stream <and> download games.
Tbh, it was a sham. No one is going to be able to use this to it's full potential, you need such a good internet connection I just can't see how most houses will have this yet, I live remote, so i can only use a EE mobile router. Just wouldn't work for me. Really, Google should of invested in internet services and released a package for people who buy into the stadia. We all know that the provider slow your net down once you hit a certain threshold, that really could be their selling point.
Its a better piece of kit than the PS4 as a pure gaming device even though it does not have the games yet. Virtually no loading times absolutly blows away SSD that was in my PS4. if a game launches on PS4 and Stadia I will buy on stadia .
@wiiware
There are successful PC streaming services that offer a virtual gaming PC on any device they work well. Also require you to buy ther gamrs you want
@hotukdeals The one I remember is on-live and it's dead now.
It seems to me it’s the platform holders that want game streaming, not actual gamers...
Just as I knew it would be...Stadia was DOA.
Respecting the competition is smart, Google have a lot of money to throw around, it would have been foolish to underestimate them. Wouldn't be worth risking the assumption that they would mess up the launch so badly.
@hotukdeals Why put a SSD in a PS4 anyway for the few seconds.
They should rename it - 'Google Empty Stadia' I use to like Google but can't stand them now(+ 99% of these internet companies who just take all our data and use it without us knowing) :-/
@MadAussieBloke the irony being that they built a gaming platform for nobody
Do you like gaming but not enough to bother buying a console or PC? Do you really want to play that Tomb Raider game that came out 6 years ago? Finally do you already pay a significant amount of money for stupidly fast internet that you're clearly not using? If the answer is yes then we have a product for you 😂
@GodGamer Here's a tip, never state you studied something in college and profess to know all there is. It just implies you don't really know anything. Especially when it's preceded and followed up by inaccuracies. It's quite obvious you don't even know what the term 'The Cloud' means.
ie, when you misinformed @JoeBlogs and @FullbringIchigo. Get it right. All servers are physical. There's really no such thing as a 'cloud server'. It's just a term used to imply the server is connected to the internet.
'The Cloud' is just an all encompassing word for the internet. You are talking about it like it's a little niche thing invented for businesses. What you are referring to, in regards to businesses, is PaaS and SaaS. Which is an entirely different use of 'The Cloud' (God I hate that term) to what Stadia is trying to achieve. Perhaps you missed the part where they outlined that in your lecture? Either way, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Especially when the person who has it is going to put everyone else straight, so they can be just as ill informed.
The industry keeps forcing things down the consumers throat and claims it’s the future. When given a choice time and time again more traditional choices are made by the masses. This was never gonna be a worldwide success. A high percentage still say no to “always online games” many don’t even like having to give an email to access a game (see doom recently).
People still want to be able to buy physical kit and physical games and they still want full single player games that work day one with no loot boxes.
Digital and Multiplayer is wanted don’t get me wrong but industry still wants to make everyone believe no one wants physical solo player games. We do
All data needs to be stored on a physical unit. Why do people believe there is an actual cloud with data in it??? 😂
And try and pretend they are an expert.
@Eldritch well i don't know bugger all about how it works but what your saying is that everything is held on a box somewhere and we just play it our screens
so it's basically works like remote play just over a greater distance?
@FullbringIchigo That's basically it. Just that their box/console has far more power than we could ever hope to own at home. Where it falls apart is the wiring that connects their box to your TV. But obviously, as connection technology improves, that'll get better over time. But I think that's a fair way off for now.
Had stadia any exclusive games?
@Eldritch yeah in the area i live the average speed of the internet is 30mbs (i live in a rural area if your wondering) so a service like Stadia isn't really going to be working it's best here
@FullbringIchigo Same here. Where I live, out in the sticks, fibre was only installed about 4 years ago. 30mbps is certainly more than enough for online gaming but streaming games it'll struggle.
Google will soon launch a new platform similar to stadia, and then drop Stadia. Because Google
I think terrified is a very dramatic word here guys? Sony has built something Google will never have for a long time if ever! a gaming ecosystem tied to there brand & fans that have been with them for decades! Stadia is never going to stop me from playing my PS4 or buying the PS5 next year simple as that.
Though to give it a go... But decided that I'm not gonna eat raw meat... At the last minute.
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