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Google Stadia review thread

LOL Just saw this on reddit:
QM09Ksz.jpg

One of the worst things about that picture is the bloody brand name. I hate it so much. I know it's an old discussion, but by God look at it. The word, the colour, the shape, it's gotta be one of the worst brand names I've ever seen. It's beyond corporate.
 
I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).

Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.
 
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DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).

Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.


Welcome to GAF, Im not a Stadia fan but good first post. Well reasoned.
 
I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).

Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.
The difference is how disingenuous Google have been in their rhetoric and PR speech. Coupled with the elephant in the room of control input options.

Google didn't even have the foresight to bundle in a clip or connector between the Stadia pad and a google pixle phone. Right now, a Pixle, chromecast, Stadia bundle, including clip, should be at rock bottom prices to encourage people to migrate over to the Google family.

The lack of foresight, insight and hindsight is staggering. It completely misses the mark and can't even compete with old ways of streaming, let alone chaning the current environment for a generation.

This is either the most incompetent product launch since the Xbox One or one of the best corporate tax fiddles in decades
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Destiny 2 is taking up all the bandwidth of a 4K feed to display a shit 1080p/medium level of graphics. This goes way beyond physics or input lag and says that either the hardware/sdks are shit or they were just lazy as hell and threw it out there.
 

cucuchu

Member
I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).

Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.

I think the issue a lot of people have is with google and not cloud gaming in general. Google withtheir arrogance and overstating what the average user will be able to experience put a lot of people off right from the start. Cloud gaming is still a great alternative if its done right. It should exist alongside PC's/Gaming consoles as an alternative, which is how xcloud is being marketed...as an alternative. Google just tried to have us believe that their way is far superior to everything else and now they are falling on their sword.
 
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Saruhashi

Banned
I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).


Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.

Then surely if cloud gaming is not good for fast paced games then their launch line-up seems completely ridiculous?

Similarly if it's just about giving more people the chance to play games then the launch line up should really be tailored for that kind of gamer who doesn't normally play games.

I don't think we can look at the marketing that boasts about playing the newest games on the highest performance settings but then say "it's not for the hardcore gamers though, it's for casuals looking to dabble in gaming".

This is why everyone mentions the bad aspects.
They launch the service going on about how it's the most powerful with the best graphics etc and then it doesn't deliver.

To be fair here the only good aspect you have offered is that you can play a specific couple of games on your Surface Pro.
That's fine but how does that translate for someone with a less than optimal internet connection, someone with data caps, someone who has other people, housemates, kids, etc using devices in their home also?

When something like this flops so hard it does raise doubts about cloud gaming in general.

People sensibly ask why someone with a 4K TV a great internet connection and an interest in gaming such that RDR2 and Destiny are the kinds of games they want to play wouldn't just buy a console?

Google would have maybe been better off hand picking a library of games that would NOT need a great internet connection to begin with. There are tons of good titles out there and it would seem more sensible to have a great roster of top quality games that people could legitimate stream and play.

Instead everyone is going "OK here is how Destiny 2 runs on PS4 and here is how it runs on Stadia, so what's the point".

They advertised this as 60fps, 4K, HDR support with 5.1 surround sound. That's on them.
 

Vol5

Member
Google are so full of shit around this whole thing.....It boils my blood that nobody took them to task about it when first announced. They are unable to control your end-point, router, links, ISP - but because "Google", they are ushering in a new, futuristic way to play games.

It's possible to stream games, sure, and it will kinda work out in the end once they sort their infrastructure out, but all their bluster and BS at the reveal....It was absolutely pathetic.
 
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DESTROYA

Member
I wonder how bad it gets when someone is let’s say watching Netflix and using Stadia simultaneously?
It‘s pretty up and down now using it by itself so does input lag get worse ?
Not too far fetched a household uses multiple internet devices at the same time.
 
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I wonder how bad it gets when someone is let’s say watching Netflix and using Stadia simultaneously?
It‘s pretty up and down now using it by itself so does input lag get worse ?
Not too far fetched a household uses multiple internet devices at the same time.
Pretty sure Google have already cautioned users about doing that.
 

DESTROYA

Member
Pretty sure Google have already cautioned users about doing that.
I thought as much when using Stadia simultaneously with another internet service.
Shit show just gets worse and worse, so when little Jimmy wants to play Stadia little Mary won’t be able to watch Disney+ .......... sounds fantastic if you want constant infighting in the family.
 
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FranXico

Member
While Stadia is poop, don't worry, he will praise xCloud with the same latency issues.
I am willing to believe that MS might be able to deliver better quality feed, but the latency is not going to magically go away.
But of course that that guy is going to praise xCloud to kingdom come.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I wonder how bad it gets when someone is let’s say watching Netflix and using Stadia simultaneously?
It‘s pretty up and down now using it by itself so does input lag get worse ?
Not too far fetched a household uses multiple internet devices at the same time.
During the Project Cloud beta (with Assassin's Creed) I was playing the game and just minding my own business.

Then my daughter started a TV show on Netflix and it was streaming in 4K. My game almost instantly turned into a pile of mushy textures and latent controls. I think it eventually timed out and I got disconnected. Since it was beta (and free) I just figured that would be something they eventually worked out. I guess, considering the above email to customers, they didn't.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
During the Project Cloud beta (with Assassin's Creed) I was playing the game and just minding my own business.

Then my daughter started a TV show on Netflix and it was streaming in 4K. My game almost instantly turned into a pile of mushy textures and latent controls. I think it eventually timed out and I got disconnected. Since it was beta (and free) I just figured that would be something they eventually worked out. I guess, considering the above email to customers, they didn't.

There really isn't anything to figure out. The internet is the internet. Either the bandwidth is there or it isn't. Google had to have decided that people are willing to overlook these things if the convenience is worth it.
 

DESTROYA

Member
There really isn't anything to figure out. The internet is the internet. Either the bandwidth is there or it isn't. Google had to have decided that people are willing to overlook these things if the convenience is worth it.
How can they over look something this big, hell its not only Netflix it’s a lot household items in a smart home set up.
You got your new Ring doorbells, smart TV’s, home heating and cooling systems, security systems, even refrigerators!
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
There really isn't anything to figure out. The internet is the internet. Either the bandwidth is there or it isn't. Google had to have decided that people are willing to overlook these things if the convenience is worth it.
Well when I said "hopefully it's something Google can figure out" I meant gracefully falling back on low settings or prioritizing input latency over video frame relays. Let me know that something is happening, instead of just diminishing my game experience.

I have a Google router also - so even though "the internet is the internet" maybe they could release a feature update to my router that let me easily prioritize Stadia traffic over Netflix, or something.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Well when I said "hopefully it's something Google can figure out" I meant gracefully falling back on low settings or prioritizing input latency over video frame relays. Let me know that something is happening, instead of just diminishing my game experience.

I have a Google router also - so even though "the internet is the internet" maybe they could release a feature update to my router that let me easily prioritize Stadia traffic over Netflix, or something.

That would be smart.
 

Grinchy

Banned
It seems like every single thing that we predicted would go wrong has gone wrong. All of those PR answers to very real questions and what we're left with is exactly what we were expecting from the start.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
This was already a flop before the reviews. No one is going to want to have to buy games on top of a subscription fee (even if there were no performance issues). Or at least no one who only plays their games at home. A gaming netflix is the only way this is going to work or no subscription fees (just have to buy the games). I know what I just said has been probably has been said a million times already (here at least) but it frustrates me that few reviewers are nailing them to the wall for this.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
This was already a flop before the reviews. No one is going to want to have to buy games on top of a subscription fee (even if there were no performance issues). Or at least no one who only plays their games at home. A gaming netflix is the only way this is going to work or no subscription fees (just have to buy the games). I know what I just said has been probably has been said a million times already (here at least) but it frustrates me that few reviewers are nailing them to the wall for this.
Well from the beginning Google's messaging has been really unclear on this issue. Stadia Pro (their subscription service) is kinda like Xbox Live Gold or Playstation Plus. It gives you extra perks like discounts, free games, and the ability to stream in 4K.

What most people are confused by is that until next year, they're only letting people who 1) ordered Google's hardware and 2) pay the monthly subscription addon actually use the service. It'd be like if Sony launched the PS5 and said "You can only buy and play games on this if you're a Playstation Plus subscriber. Next year we'll let non-subscribers play."

So some nebulous time next year you'll be able to buy and play Stadia games without also buying their optional subscription service. But again, this hasn't been well communicated by Google.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
Well from the beginning Google's messaging has been really unclear on this issue. Stadia Pro (their subscription service) is kinda like Xbox Live Gold or Playstation Plus. It gives you extra perks like discounts, free games, and the ability to stream in 4K.

What most people are confused by is that until next year, they're only letting people who 1) ordered Google's hardware and 2) pay the monthly subscription addon actually use the service. It'd be like if Sony launched the PS5 and said "You can only buy and play games on this if you're a Playstation Plus subscriber. Next year we'll let non-subscribers play."

So some nebulous time next year you'll be able to buy and play Stadia games without also buying their optional subscription service. But again, this hasn't been well communicated by Google.

That sounds like the worst launch of a game platform ever. First impressions matter a lot, just ask MS (the first reveal of the xb1).
 
As some of you know, I ordered one of these just out of curiosity and to play around with. I figured the $130 would be worth it just to play around with. Yes, I'm that guy I guess.

It looks like I am the exception as it is working great for me. Don't get me wrong, I think this will fail spectacularly, and they REALLY fucked up their launch, but it is working really well, and I am not seeing the stutters that are being reported.

That said, I do have decent internet (450 currently) and no cap, and it is wired with an ethernet connection, so that may be why. That said, for most, there is no way the masses will be able to use this and have a good experience. I'm going to watch the usage and see if I really do see 20GB per hour usage. Most people I know have caps, so how in the world does anyone expect this to work out well?

Anyway, I AM actually getting 4k on Destiny 2, and it is playing super smoothly. I can't be sure of the framerate, as I'm not one that can confidently identify that just by looking at it, but is has been very smooth.

I'll update this if I have issues. I'll likely NEVER "buy" any games, so the only games I will have to play with are the ones they add.

1uwlxEX.jpg
 
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Your stream is 4k. The game is not rendered in 4k--it's 1080p.

That very well may be the case. I don't normally play Destiny 2, so I can't fire that up at 4K on the PC (that is connected to the same TV) to compare. I have to say that actually it looks good though.

EDIT: Actually, didn't I see somewhere that Destiny 2 has gone F2P? If so, when I get some time (likely not until the weekend), I'll download it and see how big of a difference it is. The PC has an RTX 2080 in it (not Super, not ti).
 
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I am playing star citizen and sea of thieves on my shadow blade pc (cloud pc). I ownes nearly all consoles since Gameboy. Gear 1 was one of my most played games in my life. I know what lag causes.

With cloud gaming you had to change your way to play games a little bit. Fast paced shooters whrer every single ms is important, it's the wrong decision.
For me... I am 40 years old it is a very comfortable way to play games without having a console or pc (star citizen).

Calm down... They didn't want to force hardcore Players to give up your home consoles, they yust want to find a way to give more people the chance of playing games.

I am very satisfied with my shadow PC an I don't understand why everyone mentioned just the bad aspects.

Guys... Just don't buy it.

I am glad that I can sit in my living room. Switch on my Surface Pro and play Sea of thieves with highest settings possible with a amount of lag that doesn't count. No loud water cooled PC hardware... No wasted space in my small room. An I can play it at work on my Phone.

Ok, Google promised things and don't deliver them, that's awful, but don't judge over cloud gaming itself.

Because it's great for a lot of people.
Nope. We'll judge as we please, Mr. Stadia.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
That very well may be the case. I don't normally play Destiny 2, so I can't fire that up at 4K on the PC (that is connected to the same TV) to compare. I have to say that actually it looks good though.

EDIT: Actually, didn't I see somewhere that Destiny 2 has gone F2P? If so, when I get some time (likely not until the weekend), I'll download it and see how big of a difference it is. The PC has an RTX 2080 in it (not Super, not ti).

Can't wait to hear your comparison, because you have a good GPU in your PC.
 

Nero_PR

Banned
Not even Voost Kain or Gigabit internet can save this terrible launch. Saw the guy from IGN's Destiny Podcast trying to stream it with his 1GB up/down internet and after some time he was getting terrible stuttering and lag. I give it a month to Google to try and get to sort it out. But we know that they won't.

Imagine trying to watch Netflix or use any other services while someone is using Stadia? It must be a nightmare.
 

Dizzan

MINI Member
As some of you know, I ordered one of these just out of curiosity and to play around with. I figured the $130 would be worth it just to play around with. Yes, I'm that guy I guess.

It looks like I am the exception as it is working great for me. Don't get me wrong, I think this will fail spectacularly, and they REALLY fucked up their launch, but it is working really well, and I am not seeing the stutters that are being reported.

That said, I do have decent internet (450 currently) and no cap, and it is wired with an ethernet connection, so that may be why. That said, for most, there is no way the masses will be able to use this and have a good experience. I'm going to watch the usage and see if I really do see 20GB per hour usage. Most people I know have caps, so how in the world does anyone expect this to work out well?

Anyway, I AM actually getting 4k on Destiny 2, and it is playing super smoothly. I can't be sure of the framerate, as I'm not one that can confidently identify that just by looking at it, but is has been very smooth.

I'll update this if I have issues. I'll likely NEVER "buy" any games, so the only games I will have to play with are the ones they add.

I would be that guy if it was in Australia. Interested to hear more impressions.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
I will echo DigitalScrap DigitalScrap here. Got my founders edition today BUT I did play it on PC when it released on Monday and didn't have any issues there either.

Set up was a breeze (yes even with the emailed code....."do you people not have phones?!?!") I was playing in less than 5 minutes.

Impressions - As good as (quality wise read: input lag and picture quality) my PSNow or xcloud beta. Yes I get a "4k signal" yes it is up-sampled, no destiny 2 does not look as good as it does my 2080 super using a 55" oled as a pc monitor.

I only played Destiny 2 and Samuri Showdown as they were the games that were included with the 3 month pro trial.

I had used Stadia a few other times and I swear the controller was "better" at those events. I cannot quite say why I thought they were better, maybe it was a weight thing or something, but I don't like the feel of the "just black" controller I used today.

I have only played on Wifi but both my Wifi speeds and internet speeds are extremely fast.

Samuri Showdown was surprisingly good. To the point where I didn't have any slow down at all. I don't know if I can say there were no missed inputs....where I did screw up I would chalk up to my lack of knowledge around that games meta since I have not played as much as I have SF or MK.

What I wish:
I could try it over 5G - playing it in my house when I have every other console doesn't make much sense obviously. I do wish I could us my laptop and a controller instead of lugging around a PS4 or heavy laptop to play games on while traveling.

Does it work for me - yup. Can I see myself using this to play games on the go....I want to believe that it will have support in the future (say what you will...Google does start and stop lots of services.....but when they get it right like Google Fi they knock it out of the park).
Will I just use Steam if they develop their own cloud based streaming platform - yeah for sure.
 
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