What is Google Stadia?

What is Google Stadia?

Google Stadia review from techradar by Nick Pino January 16th 2020

 Recently there have been talks in gaming about the next platform, and companies like Sony and Microsoft are preparing for streaming services for video games since there has been a lot of talk about the Netflix of video games. Google has jumped into the fray and has released a streaming service for games called Google Stadia, but what is Google Stadia and how does it perform well?

Google Stadia is Google's take on streaming games. Their idea is simple, you pay a monthly fee for the premium edition and you get a selection of free games to play games anywhere, on your phone, tablet, TV (with Chrome cast) or on your computer! If you opt for the free version (which doesn't exist yet ) you don't get the selection of free games however you can still purchase games on the platform and play whenever and wherever you like with your devices as long as you are connected to wifi, but there still are some free games on Stadia like Destiny 2 that anyone can play for free! However there are problems with Google Stadia.

One of the problems with Google Stadia right now is the lack of content. Google promised a vast library of games however as of the writing of article there are only 22 games (as of launch) and there will be more games later in 2020. However this is a very small line up when compared to the Xbox One library, the PS4 library, the Nintendo Switch library, and of its not even close to the most gaming libraries on PC especially Steam, which can be expected to a certain extent since Stadia just launched recently, however since there are only 22 games on Stadia one would expect for them to run well right?  

Yet another Problem with Stadia is that it has serious latency issues. Some of which can make it unplayable which is absolutely ludicrous. The fact that this service is being championed on little to no latency and one can have so much latency with high speed internet that makes the game unplayable is nonsense. Latency can absolutely ruin game play especially in multi-player games like Destiny 2 which was supposed to be one of the big titles that Google Stadia had to offer for free. This latency problem persist in all of Google Stadia's games. If latency was only every now and then it wouldn't be such a big deal, however when its a constant issue that compromises gameplay to the point that the game is unplayable, that's when there is an issue.

Google Stadia is a service with vast amounts of potential but as it is right now it is not worth the price tag. Other companies that are going through the route of making streaming services for games are still in beta, are free, with the around the same quality or better than Google Stadia. The mistake Google made with Stadia is marketing it as a complete product when in fact this is still a beta. Personally I look forward to the future of Google Stadia, it can revolutionize gaming as we know it, however as of the writing of this blog I can and will not recommend it to anyone unless they live in very close proximity to one of Googles servers.

Sources

Google Stadia - One place for all the ways we play. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://store.google.com/us/product/stadia_learn
Nelius, J. (2019, November 21). Here's how Stadia's input lag compares to native PC gaming. Retrieved from https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-how-stadias-input-lag-compares-to-native-pc-gaming/ 
Park, G. (2019, November 19). Review | Unplayable at times, magical in others: Stadia's dream is still in the clouds. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/reviews/unplayable-times-magical-others-stadias-dream-is-still-clouds/
Pino, N. (2020, January 16). Google Stadia review. Retrieved from https://www.techradar.com/reviews/google-stadiahttps://www.techradar.com/reviews/google-stadia 

Honorof, M. (2020, February 26). Google Stadia review. Retrieved from https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/google-stadia