3 ms·

PC Games with the power of an always-upgraded PC. Maybe not 100% top of the line, but above average, always, with no upgrade cost. Plus you can play on your T

PC Games with the power of an always-upgraded PC. Maybe not 100% top of the line, but above average, always, with no upgrade cost. Plus you can play on your TV, mobile device, computer, etc, with the same game saves seamlessly moving between all of them. No initial $400+ cost. It offers a lot of the same benefits as consoles, including a monthly subscription that provides good, free games. The downsides are latency and having to have an internet connection, and the latency is actually pretty decent. Oh, and having to buy the games from Stadia, even if you already own it on Steam, but that's no different than other "consoles". It's a very compelling platform that they've completely failed to market correctly. With them giving up on first-party games, it seems pretty inevitable that they'll give up on the whole thing now, too. A lot of people never thought it'd last in the first place, and that's partly from their history and partly because Google didn't show enough commitment to it. Those studios that they just shut down were the best proof of their commitment.

dharmab 6y ago
> but that's no different than other "consoles" Worth pointing out that Microsoft has opened up their platforms so you can buy a single copy of a game and play on any supported Xbox or Windows PC: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere
deadmutex 6y ago
> partly because Google didn't show enough commitment to it. Those studios that they just shut down were the best proof of their commitment. I dunno about that. Counter example: YouTube got huge before Google made original content for it. So, I don't buy the whole "not serious cuz they don't have first party content" argument.
ntsplnkv2 6y ago
Thanks for sharing. Can you only play select games in the subscription? Do they ever get removed? I'm just trying to see why it is struggling. It seems like a great concept
- wccrawford 6y ago
  In general, you pay for games on Stadia, just like any console. They're only available digitally, of course. They also offer a paid subscription (like XBL and PS Plus) that offers certain benefits (higher resolution, etc) as well as free games each month. If you cancel your subscription, you can no longer play the games you got for free, and you can only play your paid-for games up to (IIRC) 1080p. It's a great concept that a lot of people don't really see the point of, since they've already invested in PCs and/or consoles, and they don't really want to game remotely at all. There's also very, very few exclusive games, and they're all pretty weak. The system as a whole looks good until it's compared to other systems, and then the problems start to show up. This was all made worse by them requiring that you buy $100+ of hardware to get started at launch, when one of the best use cases for it is people who can't afford to put much money up-front for a console. You can now play it for free, but that wasn't the case at launch when the hype as at its peak. They ruined their best marketing window, and they didn't trumpet the change loud enough when they finally made everything available to anyone. They've basically screwed up marketing on this in every way possible, and now they aren't even committed to making first-party games, unlike every other console.

dharmab 6y ago

> but that's no different than other "consoles" Worth pointing out that Microsoft has opened up their platforms so you can buy a single copy of a game and play on any supported Xbox or Windows PC: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere

deadmutex 6y ago

> partly because Google didn't show enough commitment to it. Those studios that they just shut down were the best proof of their commitment. I dunno about that. Counter example: YouTube got huge before Google made original content for it. So, I don't buy the whole "not serious cuz they don't have first party content" argument.

ntsplnkv2 6y ago

Thanks for sharing. Can you only play select games in the subscription? Do they ever get removed? I'm just trying to see why it is struggling. It seems like a great concept

wccrawford 6y ago
In general, you pay for games on Stadia, just like any console. They're only available digitally, of course. They also offer a paid subscription (like XBL and PS Plus) that offers certain benefits (higher resolution, etc) as well as free games each month. If you cancel your subscription, you can no longer play the games you got for free, and you can only play your paid-for games up to (IIRC) 1080p. It's a great concept that a lot of people don't really see the point of, since they've already invested in PCs and/or consoles, and they don't really want to game remotely at all. There's also very, very few exclusive games, and they're all pretty weak. The system as a whole looks good until it's compared to other systems, and then the problems start to show up. This was all made worse by them requiring that you buy $100+ of hardware to get started at launch, when one of the best use cases for it is people who can't afford to put much money up-front for a console. You can now play it for free, but that wasn't the case at launch when the hype as at its peak. They ruined their best marketing window, and they didn't trumpet the change loud enough when they finally made everything available to anyone. They've basically screwed up marketing on this in every way possible, and now they aren't even committed to making first-party games, unlike every other console.