Google Stadia

If you buy the early access version it comes with a free chrome dongle I believe

 

If they can get a few more games for the pro subscription, I will cancel Aa and never look back

 

The service has a great look and I hope Google stays in it for the long run. One thing I need to mention is that the touch controls aren’t too shabby and are leaps and bounds better than the touch control overlay of GeForce Now. Played Into The Breach with the on screen touchpad and it was perfectly fine. The only issue, which I hope they are able to fix, is that I can’t seem to hold down two face buttons at once which makes Steamworld Dig 2 difficult to play (can’t run and jump). Still very good touch control alternative, depending on the game atm.

I had the same issues with stuttering as I did with Geforce Now but I was able to have a much better experience streaming the games while I was next to the router (stadia recommended that in their troubleshooting). I didn’t think being in the same room would make that big of a difference but it was a all the difference in the world for using the streaming service.

added 12/23:

Played a bit of Assassin’s Creed Origins and the touch controls were decent on the iPad. The service overall is very good although still not perfect for me. Right now I still have to be in the same room as the router, there needs to be minimal load to our Internet connection (less people using the connection throughout the house the better it will be), and it seems certain times of day are more lag free and stable than others.

Still when it’s working the service is fantastic and looks better than anything that runs natively on my iPad. Much like digital distribution I have no doubt that one day game streaming will eventually become much more grand and accepted as time goes on.

 

Also want to note that when I try and play with my Xbox one controller the service gets quite laggy for me. I get much better performance results using the built in touch controls. I’ve heard that the stadia controller connects directly to the service and avoids the lag that would otherwise be there with PlayStation or Xbox Bluetooth controllers.

 

12/30/2020:
Changed my router settings from 2.4ghz to 5ghz and it made all the difference in the world using my Bluetooth Xbox One controller with Stadia. Before on my old 2.4ghz connection the Bluetooth controller would make the Stadia service stutter like crazy. Switching over to 5ghz the stutter is almost gone completely. I might get a slight stutter here and there if I use the controller while others in my house are pulling heavy from the same router but it’s night and day compared to what it was.

here is how I would measure it with my internet (40-110mbps down):

On screen Touchpad 2.4ghz connection (only me): Runs perfect.
On screen Touchpad 2.4ghz connection (others heavily using connection): Runs good, noticeable stuttering at times, still playable.
Bluetooth Controller with 2.4ghz connection: Terrible performance with long pauses every couple of seconds.

On screen Touchpad 5ghz connection (only me): Runs perfect.
Bluetooth or Stadia Controller 5ghz connection (others heavily using the connection): Runs good although a few stutters about every ten seconds. It’s definitely noticeable although not unbearable, much better than the 2.4ghz connection I was using before.
Bluetooth or Stadia Controller 5ghz connection (only me): Runs near perfect. Maybe noticed a slight stutter every now and then.

I’ve also noticed when my family is on any other streaming service (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+) my WiFi connection will be anywhere between 7mbps!! - 65mbps using the Google Stadia speed test.

I picked up the Stadia Controller premiere edition with the Chromecast Ultra and I can say that the controller is fantastic and the recommended way to play (much less input lag but I didn’t notice any lag with my XONE controller). My only complaint with the controller is that I’m always taking screenshots instead of pressing the start button since I’m used to the Xbox One controller button placement. Still if I’m in my bedroom with the iPad on a stand I’m probably using the Stadia controller for the guaranteed best experience.

The only part that wasn’t great was the Chromecast Ultra setup. For the life of me I can’t get this blasted dongle setup correctly. I can get to the final step where it says “use the Stadia app to add your account to the Chromecast” and the App doesn’t detect the Chromecast on the television. Very disappointed in that but many others have got it working correctly so I have no idea what the issue is.

Still very happy so far with the controller and the service overall.

Quick update with the Chromecast dongle:

Finally got the Chromecast successfully setup. I did two things and I’m not sure which one did the trick but I turned off the router for a good thirty seconds and turned it back on and then I turned on background App refresh in the iPad settings (and made sure the Stadia app was set to on). I had background App refresh disabled a long time ago to save on battery life but I wanted to troubleshoot a bit and decided to enable it for the Chromecast/ Stadia App/ Google home setup.

 

The reaction so far around the internet about the news has been a little extreme but everybody knows Google is well known for abandoning projects. So despite the fact that they didn’t mention that the Stadia service is being abandoned people are assuming the worst. Heck I haven’t paid full price for a game on Stadia so far since I’m a bit weary about Google’s dedication.

From reading the official statement Google seems to be allocating their resources to focus on expanding their third party efforts which unfortunately means abandoning their first party studios but I don’t think most people were using Stadia for “games created by Google”. Honestly Google needs to expand their user base before even thinking of creating exclusives for Stadia and trying to secure in-demand third party AAA games is probably a better way to go.

I still think one day cloud gaming will eventually be as popular, if not more popular, than localized console boxes but I’ll definitely be surprised if Google is the one that carries the banner of cloud gaming in the future despite the service being the most responsive for me in the present.

 

Finally found a easy fix to make Google Stadia work mostly stutter free on my iPad while other streams are running. Using the Chromecast Ultra I’m able to play without many hitches on my TV while other people in the household watch streaming content on other televisions but that has not been the case with trying to play on iPadOS/Safari with my iPad Pro. For some reason IPadOS/Safari is much more sensitive than my Chromecast Ultra while others are streaming content. Usually I would have to wait until nobody is streaming to use the iPad for a smooth Stadia experience.

A few days ago I moved all the streaming televisions to the 2.4ghz network which were originally using the 5ghz network (I set up two different bandwidth networks on my modem/router a few months ago) and kept the two iPads on the 5ghz network that use Stadia cloud streaming service and lo and behold the TV’s while streaming no longer interfere with Stadia streaming on the iPad’s. So my advice in a nutshell is if you’re using Stadia or any cloud streaming on your Apple device is try and separate the streaming devices to separate networks if possible for a much better experience.

 

Touchscreen gameplay arriving soon according to 9to5 Google.

https://9to5google.com/2021/03/24/stadia-3-9-touchscreen-gameplay-player-notes-android-tv/


This will be great for iPhone and iPad users for the games that support touchscreen options!

 

I think the most concerning thing about Stadia is that the world's largest ad company has a marketing problem, in which an awful lot of people think Stadia's business model is a lot worse than it actually is.

Some people prefer buying games individually. Some people prefer subscription-entertainment, where they pay one subscription price with a bunch of stuff included. Stadia recognizes that and gives potential customers a choice: you can either pay a subscription and get some games included (but you lose them if you cancel your subscription), Or you can buy games individually and keep them as long as Stadia exists. Yet somehow, a myth has cropped up that Stadia requires customers to both subscribe and pay for games individually: a substantially worse proposition than what Stadia actually offers. It's completely bogus, yet somehow a lot of people believe Stadia's pricing model is a lot worse than it actually is.

Which means Stadia has an advertising problem. If only there was a multi-trillion dollar ad company that could help them! Oh, wait, there is. Google is the one company that ought to be able to turn around any advertising failure. The fact that Stadia has an advertising problem, IMO, means the higher-ups at Google aren't taking it seriously. And that means I'm hesitent to spend much on games on Stadia, because I expect it won't stick around long-term.

 

Google has added around 100 new items to the collection since its introduction, and it shows no signs of slowing down. What this means is that, like Microsoft with Xbox Game Pass, Google has the capability and funding to release a slew of new titles, but, like Game Pass, the well of material will always be restricted when compared to other services like Steam, which are far less of a walled garden.

 

Hopefully

 

Google is an ad service though, not exactly specialized in creatives. All in all, despite their own production of devices, they're fairly silent on internet. They could literally spam the world with their own homemade ads but when we compare the power they have and how much of it they actually use, the gap is very wide. They're into collecting big data and there's not much to be done with games unless we turn them into social simulations. They can only be used as teasing systems to drag users into Google's environment where to bleed their own privacy.

But how many times have we heard that no new gaming platform/system can succeed without its own exclusives and internal studios? They could buy tons of AA studios and even pay for exclusives rights. It seems they just do not want to be that gaming platform at all.

 

Believe it or not the Stadia service does use user data for an all around better experience. As Stadia users play a certain game over and over again the game becomes “smoother” or “faster” in certain areas as time goes on. An easy way to think of it is like a pathway in the forest that gets easier to walk on over time as more people use the path.

Here is the Stadia dev blog:
https://stadia.dev/blog/cutting-jank-and-load-times-in-the-cloud/

I agree. Some reporters speculate that they’ll turn into “a white label” service where they offer their superior server tech to other big name publishers so they can start their own storefronts…and that might happen but I’ll take the let’s wait and see approach.

Even if they go that route I don’t think Google will end their own service or at the very least the service still existing in some form. Ultimately I believe their going for the Google Chrome approach where they keep slowly expanding despite the fact they’re trailing behind (and despite reactionary critics). Eventually they probably hope to be in the position where the service is everywhere and people gravitate towards it by default and, much like Chrome, Google is playing the long game hoping to replicate their success.

 

But wasn't the stadia Exclusive for android users???

And what about its regional coverage, is it available in Asia region

 

Without having read any paper on this, I'll speculate that they improve the network on focal points and spare broadband in unnecessary places somehow, cutting on useless calculations and data packet duplication. But good netcodes already have a similar inbuilt reactivity as they're "responsive" to bottlenecks and dataloss too. The good point is that Google applied this technique to the support of their system. I'll into it and see how fighting games fare on this system because in terms of reactivity they're very demanding.