Google Stadia Could Be A Landmark For Cloud Gaming

Google Stadia can have an impact on the game industry. However, the real question players should be asking is whether or not that impact is going to be good. At NoobFeed, we believe that Stadia could just be a stepping stone into the future of cloud gaming as a whole.

Stadia can become a viable alternative to video game consoles with its economic price point. The Google Stadia Founder’s Edition is listed for $130 and currently available for pre-order. It includes a Chromecast Ultra, a Stadia controller, three months of Stadia Pro, a three-month buddy pass for one friend to try Stadia Pro for free, and Destiny 2: The Collection.

As you can see, this is fairly cheap compared to your standard home console. Not to mention, the Chromecast Ultra that’s included in the package can double down as a multimedia device with access to sites like YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu. Chromecast is designed to stream content from a smartphone wirelessly, calling up content from your phone’s apps and beaming it to your TV. On Google’s Android operating system, it also offers full screen mirroring.

The greatest aspect of Google Stadia would definitely have to be its capability for streaming. Imagine running Assassin’s Creed and Doom at 4K resolution, 60 frames-per-second, on your smartphone or TV without the need of buying a monitor. Insane!

 

This can be easily done with any device running Google Chrome, be it desktops, laptops, smart TVs, Google Chromecast, and smartphones (Pixels for now, iPhones and Androids later). Stadia will run at varying high resolutions depending on internet connection. At 35 Mbps, Stadia will run at 4K, 60 FPS with 5.1 Surround sound; at 20 Mbps, the resolution will drop to 1080p, and at 10 Mbps, the resolution will be a functional 720p at 60 FPS and with Stereo audio.

Earlier this year, Google announced close to 35 games to be released at launch or after the platform’s launch in 2020. Some heavy hitters include the long-awaited Baldur’s Gate III, Shantae 5, Final Fantasy XV, and the Tomb Raider Remake Trilogy.

Players will be able to purchase their favorite games through Google Stadia. Not only that, but once you purchase the game, you own the right to play it. In the future, it is possible that some games may no longer be available for purchase, but existing players will still be able to play them.

Users with beefy connections will have access to Stadia Pro for $9.99 a month. With this, they can have access to streaming at the highest fidelity. Of course, a good router will help keep the ping down, the speeds up, and give you plenty of overhead to reduce lag spikes and buffer issues, not to mention exclusive discounts for the platform itself.

Meanwhile, Google continues to lean heavily into the social aspect of gaming. The platform will enable players to create and manage a friends list, create parties, and use voice chat all at launch. Not to mention, Stadia won’t require a Pro membership in order to function. In fact, players could technically spend nothing more than the cost of a game.

Stadia Share is a feature that lets you capture a moment from a game and send it via a link to friends or out to anyone in the world. They can then continue playing from that exact moment, as you saved it.

Meanwhile, Crowd Play is a feature that lets YouTube streamers better connect with fans, as viewers can queue up to play a game with their favorite broadcaster. Google showed it off with 2K Games' NBA 2K19, and it looks like a very handy feature. Could it (and Stadia) pull some top streamers away from Twitch?

 

Stadia will work with third-party controllers and is playable on laptops and desktops. So, anyone with a generic controller and moderately powerful PC could sign up for a Stadia Base plan (free) and start playing instantly.

Furthermore, the Stadia’s cross-device gameplay functionality makes it a home and mobile system in one. The platform’s portability, coupled with its integrated streaming features, set it apart from the rest of the console market. However, the gaming platform is not without its drawbacks.

For example, gamers will need have a quality internet connection to use Stadia. Google noted gamers would need at least 10 Mbps of bandwidth to stream games at 720p. Not to mention, the system’s release will officially bring about the era of the always online game system. This is a strategy that Microsoft tried and failed to implement back in 2013 during the unveiling of the Xbox One.

However, even when taking these drawbacks into account, Google Stadia’s promising features makes it so that it could very well become the landmark for cloud gaming that people have, for quite a long time, been waiting for.

Also published on LevelSkip.

 

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed
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