Netflix ravaged the movie and TV industry when it launched. Spotify dominated the music industry when it too was released to the public. Streaming, it seems, is the future of content consumption. Will it be the same case for the gaming industry with Google Stadia?
It’s Google’s latest project and judging from the company’s other streaming service, YouTube, it’s bound for success too.
Sure, other big companies had paved the way for Google but they never really took off. As they say, first one through the door gets shot. Google’s late entry into the game streaming service could be the one to make it.
It makes high-end gaming portable like a Nintendo Switch, powerful like a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and social like iOS and Android games. It’s a gaming trifecta that’s sure to disrupt the billion-dollar gaming industry.
Versatile Cross-Platform Gaming Machine
Since it’s a game streaming service, you don’t have to have a high-end gaming beast of a machine to play the latest games. You can launch it right from your browser. This potentially means you can play games with any sort of hardware that can run Google Chrome.
This means you can play on a low-powered PC, a Chromecast, or even through your Android device. It wasn’t clear if you can play on a MacBook though, so we have to wait on that until they specifically announce it.
Since you’re playing your games on Google Cloud Servers, your saved game can easily be shared across your devices in real time. This means you can begin your game on your PC at home, pick up your Android device and continue exactly where you left off from the PC. This portability is a feature that Nintendo Switch owners love about their device. Knowing that you can now do that on Android devices makes a lot of sense for Nintendo users to switch on over to Google Stadia.
Having your game progress saved online on Google’s servers also lets you share that progress with other people. This is especially useful for games that are difficult to beat. With a puzzle game like Tomb Raider, you’ll be able to easily share your game with a friend and let them help you try to beat the game together. You don’t even have to worry about your friend’s hardware because they can play it on anything that can run a browser.
Another way to find a way to finish tough-to-beat games is by using YouTube integration and the Stadia Controller. You can find out how that works in the Stadia Controller section of this article.
Unprecedented YouTube Integration
As most internet denizens already know, PewDiePie is the top YouTuber we have today. He began his million-dollar career by streaming himself playing, reviewing, and commenting on the latest games. Other gamers are also successful YouTubers by streaming their matches live. It’s become so lucrative that some players have even made it a career out of game streaming. The Google-owned streaming site, therefore, has a huge following from the gaming community.
However, Google’s gaming arm for the past couple of years was limited to Android games. They aim to change that with the Google Stadia. More importantly, they’re taking a direct aim at the YouTube gaming community that other game streaming platforms such as NVidia's GeForce Now, Sony's PlayStation Now, and Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass couldn’t break into.
In the Game Developers Congress, the software giant demonstrated that Google Stadia can be launched directly from YouTube in various ways. The first one was through a videogame trailer. This instant access is a great way to jump right into the video game immediately after getting hyped up by the promotional content.
Another promise is that you can jump right into a YouTube content creator’s game so you can help them out. Google calls this feature the Crowd Play and it’s potentially a huge gaming community draw where creators and fans can interact via the game that they’re bonding over. Never has there been this kind of interactivity between creator and consumer.
If successful, not only will Google be able to launch a brand new product, they can also raise YouTube’s success bar even higher.
Stadia Controller
While Google has made sure that you can game with any sort of USB enabled controller, they've also announced their own controller that's better integrated with the Google system - The Stadia controller. It's specifically designed to work with the service by having a better connection to Google's servers than other controllers via its own Wi-Fi. This gives it better latency and lower input lag.
Furthermore, they’ve also installed a microphone and a quick-access button on the Stadia Controller so you can access Google Assistant. With the Stadia Controller, you wouldn’t have to shout at your laptop or Chromecast to talk to Google Assistant.
As for the tough-to-beat puzzle game I had told you about earlier, there’s an option in-game to access YouTube content related to the specific part of the game you can’t beat. This is via the Google Assistant button on the controller. It’s a nifty feature that I can imagine a lot of users will be excited for.
Performance Still Questionable Until It Launches
Since Google didn’t really give journalists any real hands-on time with the system at GDC, the similarity to the GeForce Now experience is pretty difficult to deny. It's also a game streaming service where you can access games via NVidia's cloud service. If that is the case, then we can assume that the performance is hinged on the internet connection you have available to you.
Sure you can play the latest AAA games even on trashy gaming machines with the GeForce Now but you have to contend with the high-volume of data needed to crunch the numbers between your computer and Google’s servers. As for the beta testing from Google themselves, the minimum requirements were at 25Mbps.
The video quality is decent but it’s still a bit lacking compared to games that natively run on a physical device. It’s understandable because of all the hoops that the data has to go through before it appears on your screen. But overall, it’s a lag-free experience which is much more important to gamers than clarity.
Furthermore, Google promises to have 8K gaming at 60fps available to the service as well. This will definitely entice more gamers into the service.
Unlike the others that came before it, Google Stadia has a massive market so this will surely have some eyeballs on it when it launches. Whether those eyeballs translate into a subscription is another question.
It’s Google’s latest project and judging from the company’s other streaming service, YouTube, it’s bound for success too.
Sure, other big companies had paved the way for Google but they never really took off. As they say, first one through the door gets shot. Google’s late entry into the game streaming service could be the one to make it.
It makes high-end gaming portable like a Nintendo Switch, powerful like a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and social like iOS and Android games. It’s a gaming trifecta that’s sure to disrupt the billion-dollar gaming industry.
Versatile Cross-Platform Gaming Machine
Since it’s a game streaming service, you don’t have to have a high-end gaming beast of a machine to play the latest games. You can launch it right from your browser. This potentially means you can play games with any sort of hardware that can run Google Chrome.
This means you can play on a low-powered PC, a Chromecast, or even through your Android device. It wasn’t clear if you can play on a MacBook though, so we have to wait on that until they specifically announce it.
Since you’re playing your games on Google Cloud Servers, your saved game can easily be shared across your devices in real time. This means you can begin your game on your PC at home, pick up your Android device and continue exactly where you left off from the PC. This portability is a feature that Nintendo Switch owners love about their device. Knowing that you can now do that on Android devices makes a lot of sense for Nintendo users to switch on over to Google Stadia.
Having your game progress saved online on Google’s servers also lets you share that progress with other people. This is especially useful for games that are difficult to beat. With a puzzle game like Tomb Raider, you’ll be able to easily share your game with a friend and let them help you try to beat the game together. You don’t even have to worry about your friend’s hardware because they can play it on anything that can run a browser.
Another way to find a way to finish tough-to-beat games is by using YouTube integration and the Stadia Controller. You can find out how that works in the Stadia Controller section of this article.
Unprecedented YouTube Integration
As most internet denizens already know, PewDiePie is the top YouTuber we have today. He began his million-dollar career by streaming himself playing, reviewing, and commenting on the latest games. Other gamers are also successful YouTubers by streaming their matches live. It’s become so lucrative that some players have even made it a career out of game streaming. The Google-owned streaming site, therefore, has a huge following from the gaming community.
However, Google’s gaming arm for the past couple of years was limited to Android games. They aim to change that with the Google Stadia. More importantly, they’re taking a direct aim at the YouTube gaming community that other game streaming platforms such as NVidia's GeForce Now, Sony's PlayStation Now, and Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass couldn’t break into.
In the Game Developers Congress, the software giant demonstrated that Google Stadia can be launched directly from YouTube in various ways. The first one was through a videogame trailer. This instant access is a great way to jump right into the video game immediately after getting hyped up by the promotional content.
Another promise is that you can jump right into a YouTube content creator’s game so you can help them out. Google calls this feature the Crowd Play and it’s potentially a huge gaming community draw where creators and fans can interact via the game that they’re bonding over. Never has there been this kind of interactivity between creator and consumer.
If successful, not only will Google be able to launch a brand new product, they can also raise YouTube’s success bar even higher.
Stadia Controller
While Google has made sure that you can game with any sort of USB enabled controller, they've also announced their own controller that's better integrated with the Google system - The Stadia controller. It's specifically designed to work with the service by having a better connection to Google's servers than other controllers via its own Wi-Fi. This gives it better latency and lower input lag.
Furthermore, they’ve also installed a microphone and a quick-access button on the Stadia Controller so you can access Google Assistant. With the Stadia Controller, you wouldn’t have to shout at your laptop or Chromecast to talk to Google Assistant.
As for the tough-to-beat puzzle game I had told you about earlier, there’s an option in-game to access YouTube content related to the specific part of the game you can’t beat. This is via the Google Assistant button on the controller. It’s a nifty feature that I can imagine a lot of users will be excited for.
Performance Still Questionable Until It Launches
Since Google didn’t really give journalists any real hands-on time with the system at GDC, the similarity to the GeForce Now experience is pretty difficult to deny. It's also a game streaming service where you can access games via NVidia's cloud service. If that is the case, then we can assume that the performance is hinged on the internet connection you have available to you.
Sure you can play the latest AAA games even on trashy gaming machines with the GeForce Now but you have to contend with the high-volume of data needed to crunch the numbers between your computer and Google’s servers. As for the beta testing from Google themselves, the minimum requirements were at 25Mbps.
The video quality is decent but it’s still a bit lacking compared to games that natively run on a physical device. It’s understandable because of all the hoops that the data has to go through before it appears on your screen. But overall, it’s a lag-free experience which is much more important to gamers than clarity.
Furthermore, Google promises to have 8K gaming at 60fps available to the service as well. This will definitely entice more gamers into the service.
Unlike the others that came before it, Google Stadia has a massive market so this will surely have some eyeballs on it when it launches. Whether those eyeballs translate into a subscription is another question.