Google Stadia (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/12/18262215/google-gdc-19-keynote-event-teaser-video-project-stream

 

[DaveF]

Will it live long enough to be used by anyone?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/04/googles-constant-product-shutdowns-are-damaging-its-brand/

One of my favorite examples came from a Kotaku interview with Phil Harrison, the leader of Google Stadia. In an audio interview, the site lays this whopper of a question on him: "One of the sentiments we saw in our comments section a lot is that Google has a long history of starting projects and then abandoning them. There's a worry, I think, from users who might think that Google Stadia is a cool platform, but if I'm connecting to this and spending money on this platform, how do I know for sure that Google is still sticking with it for two, three, five years? How can you guys make a commitment that Google will be sticking with this in a way that they haven't stuck with Google+, or Google Hangouts, or Google Fiber, Reader, or all the other things Google has abandoned over the years?"

Yikes. Kotaku is totally justified to ask a question like this, but to have one of your new executives face questions of "When will your new product shut down?" must be embarrassing for Google.

Harrison's response to this question started with a surprisingly honest acknowledgement: "I understand the concern." Harrison, seemingly, gets it. He seemingly understands that it's hard to trust Google after so many product shutdowns, and he knows the Stadia team now faces an uphill battle. For the record, Harrison went on to cite Google's sizable investment in the project, saying Stadia was "Not a trivial product" and was a "significant cross-company effort." (Also for the record: you could say all the same things about Google+ a few years ago, when literally every Google employee was paid to work on it. Now it is dead.)

Harrison and the rest of the Stadia team had nothing to do with the closing of Google Inbox, or the shutdown of Hangouts, or the removal of any other popular Google product. They are still forced to deal with the consequences of being associated with "Google the Product Killer," though. If Stadia was an Amazon product, I don't think we would see these questions of when it would shut down. Microsoft's game streaming service, Project xCloud, only faces questions about feasibility and appeal, not if Microsoft will get bored in two years and dump the project.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Honestly, I think Stadia is most compelling in two ways:

1 - To play any game on any device anywhere
2 - For custom-made massive online experiences

Unfortunately, number 2 has zero value for me personally and number 1 doesn't matter if the game isn't good. I like Mario, I like Final Fantasy, I like Uncharted...and I don't see those ending up on Stadia. Or, if they do (like Final Fantasy could), I would most likely still want to own a PlayStation or Nintendo system and they'd be on that, too.

I've come to realize that there are only 2 ways to launch a successful product in an existing market. First method: be ready to fail for a whole generation and spend a billion dollars (Microsoft's Xbox strategy, which in the long run was profitable but not nearly as big as they wanted). Second method: launch a new product under a pre-existing brand (the Nintendo Switch strategy, since tablet gaming and even removable controls already existed but the product concept only took off when it had Zelda and Mario on it). Like Dave brought up, Stadia might very well fail and be shelved before the Xbox strategy could work. And I doubt Google will successfully pull off the whole thing with any high-quality exclusive IP for the second strategy.

 

[Sam Posten]

Dead on arrival

 

[Morgan Jolley]

For what it's worth, I don't have a data cap on my internet and I refuse to pay more than $150 for a phone (and even at that price I'm not happy about it). So the argument from Adam Conover is a bit off for someone like me (though I admit there aren't many like me).

I think the bigger problem with Stadia is that anyone who wants to play games already has a better method of doing so, the price of the whole thing is not that competitive right now, the selection of games (at full price PLUS a subscription fee?) is not too attractive, and the reliance on good internet is problematic. I could see it being an excellent service for someone who wants to get into their free-to-play MMO while they take the bus to work but I don't see anyone playing like competitive Mortal Kombat or Call of Duty on it.

 

[Steve Y]

Although I think game streaming is the future (for better and worse), I think this service is far ahead of the infrastructure (or the consumer needs) required for it to succeed. Can't wait to try it myself, though.

I think any language of "launch" is there to drive enthusiasm for early adopters. The subscription fee is a way for them to hedge their bets; it helps subsidize (probably very little of) what is essentially a public beta. Next year, expect to see more "free" games included with the subscription fee. Also note that many of the early adopters are tech enthusiasts who are still getting a much better experience with local hardware, so the "meh" reviews aren't driving enthusiasm to a market that didn't ask for cloud gaming in the first place. Google, as it's done many times before, is solving a problem that doesn't really exist yet.

PS Now has upped its game recently, seemingly in response to Microsoft's too-good-to-be-true Game Pass service. With decent internet, Sony's PS Now streaming is VERY passable, since it inherits tech that has been around a lot longer than PS Now. From a technical perspective, Microsoft's Azure/Xcloud ventures promise to be even more impressive.

Lastly, the Stadia Games and Entertainment studio in Montreal is still in its early days of development, so I wouldn't expect to see many "big" games that take advantage of cloud computing. Not anytime soon. That's still 100% hype.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I don't have any links or anything as it's something I heard in passing on a forum, but apparently Amazon is launching it's own streaming gaming service next year.

 

[Sam Posten]

The peasants are revolting...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stadia/comments/eusxgc/stadia_has_officially_gone_40_days_without_a_new/

 

[Morgan Jolley]

A friend of mine got the Stadia controller and bought into it around a month ago. He seems to be having a lot of fun with it but I think his expectations were kind of low (he used some "extra" gift money from Christmas to buy in so he doesn't feel like he's really lost any money on it).

There's a lot of rumors coming out right now because of the PS5 and XBSX, including some stuff about Stadia regarding exclusive games and future plans. I expect Google is trying to find a way to counter-message whatever Sony and MS announce, so the radio silence is probably due to them waiting out the competition. I get why the players are upset but...isn't this whole situation basically why gaming culture has moved towards "never preorder, wait for reviews?"

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Ha, Stadia had been completely erased from my memory until I saw this thread got a post. Then I realized I haven't heard a single peep about it in months. I guess I just assumed it was DOA.

 

[Sam Posten]

It’s dead, Jim…

A message about Stadia and our long term streaming strategy

We’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.

blog.google

 

[John Dirk]

I'm not even a gamer but it's sad when a company's track record makes them this predictable. I miss the days when tech companies did one thing extremely well instead of everything mostly poor.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

A friend of mine is a big fan of Stadia because of how easily it just works on pretty much every device he owns and the number of games included in the subscription so he's pretty disappointed, but I think even he saw this coming a long time ago.

I am part of a volunteer organization and we're looking for a way to change our record-keeping systems. Google Tables is new and looks like it will perfectly do what we want. It's not even released yet (out of beta but not at full release) and we're already talking about what we'll do when the service is killed because it's Google.