Google Stadia

[Osprey]

Games don't necessarily need to be design specifically for Stadia.

It depends on what you mean by "designed." It seems that they do have to be ported, so to speak. Stadia servers run Linux, so each game probably needs to be ported to Linux. It's possible that they're using Wine or another Windows emulator, but it's hard to imagine that running the game in an emulator would provide the power and speed necessary for such a service. Beyond that, there's the save game sharing feature, which I have to imagine requires rewriting each game's save game code to accommodate. I'm not too familiar with the other Stadia features, but they may require similar changes to each game. Games may even need to be optimized to work best with Stadia. In other words, there's likely a lot that needs to be done before a game can be installed on the servers and made available to gamers. If there weren't, we'd see a much larger library available at launch.

 

[Hammettf2b]

I don't know who this is for either, if you're looking to play the best versions of games then Stadia is certainly falling short right now with input delay and graphical settings:

yikes. that is a big no no

 

[RandV]

It depends on what you mean by "designed." They do have to be ported, so to speak. Stadia runs on Linux, so each game probably needs to be ported to Linux. It's possible that they're using Wine or another Windows emulator, but it's hard to imagine that running the game in an emulator would provide the power and speed necessary for such a service. Beyond that, there's the save game sharing feature, which I have to imagine requires rewriting each game's save game code to accommodate. I'm not too familiar with the other Stadia features, but they may require similar changes to each game. Games may even need to be optimized to work best with Stadia. In other words, there's likely a lot that needs to be done before a game can be installed on the servers and made available to gamers. If there weren't, you'd see a much larger library available at launch.

Ah that makes more sense. I would have thought it was a bit easier but if the system is running on Linux - and in hindsight that should be obvious as you're not going to run a server farm on Windows, that'll take some work on the devs part.

And so... does that mean Stadia could lead to more PC games being on Linux?

 

[18leafsfan18]

It's from the comparison tool here (tested on a 200mbps connection): Stadia tech review: the best game streaming yet, but far from ready

This website updated their article. Seems that's the comparison they were using on the chromecast was only running at 30 fps.
They weren't sure why, but the said they will retest. The actually have a comparison on the webpage now that shows PC @ 60fps.

Looks at though they are going to retest the chromecast as well.

[UPDATE 9:58pm: some minor drama here. Curiously from the web portal - which is limited to 1080p, Stadia seems to run RDR2 at 60fps, but having rechecked our Chromecast captures, all are 30fps. Could we be seeing quality/performance modes locked to signal type? We'll be rechecking Chromecast output soon]. It's Red Dead Redemption 2 in its entirety, it plays well, and even with the existing, very large latency built into the game, there are no issues whatsoever in progressing through the game via the streaming platform.

 

[Osprey]

And so... does that mean Stadia could lead to more PC games being on Linux?

It stands to reason. If a developer has already ported a Windows game to Linux for use with Stadia, they or their publisher might as well release a Linux version for non-Stadia users. Also, already having a Linux version makes it easier to port to MacOS, which is based on Linux. In reality, I doubt that it'll make much difference, but even just a few more titles here and there would likely be welcome for those platforms.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I can't wait to get this so I can ignore it like I do for my xbox one and ps4 games like I do currently.

 

[18leafsfan18]

It depends on what you mean by "designed." It seems that they do have to be ported, so to speak. Stadia servers run Linux, so each game probably needs to be ported to Linux. It's possible that they're using Wine or another Windows emulator, but it's hard to imagine that running the game in an emulator would provide the power and speed necessary for such a service. Beyond that, there's the save game sharing feature, which I have to imagine requires rewriting each game's save game code to accommodate. I'm not too familiar with the other Stadia features, but they may require similar changes to each game. Games may even need to be optimized to work best with Stadia. In other words, there's likely a lot that needs to be done before a game can be installed on the servers and made available to gamers. If there weren't, we'd see a much larger library available at launch.

True. I just mean that when game development is started and the developers know what systems it will be released on they can make sure up front it will run great on all systems.

RDR2 was developed before Google stadia was an option (I'm assuming).

 

[Commander Clueless]

Sounds like some people are getting their Founders Edition pre-orders cancelled and have taken to Reddit.

 

[Commander Clueless]

True. I just mean that when game development is started and the developers know what systems it will be released on they can make sure up front it will run great on all systems.

Ideally.

Unfortunately, this has historically not been the case....as primarily a PC gamer, there are many examples of poor ports over the years.

 

[sa cyred]

Some early videos of gameplay:

 

[Gardner McKay]

Some early videos of gameplay:

Honestly, that does look a little bit better.

 

[Osprey]

Ideally.

Unfortunately, this has historically not been the case....as primarily a PC gamer, there are many examples of poor ports over the years.

Yeah, and it's not just poor ports. PC versions of multi-platform games often don't get as much attention as the console versions, so a game may be available for PS4, XB1 and PC on launch day, but the PC version isn't optimized, hasn't been framerate unlocked, doesn't allow popular screen resolutions, doesn't allow changing key assignments, has limited mouse options and so on. The developers essentially wait until the game is done or even released to give the PC version closer attention.

I suspect that that may be the case with Stadia. Developers probably won't spend much time during development worrying about Stadia, especially because the revenue potential doesn't compare to all platforms. They'll just wait until the game is done and then do what needs to be done... unless Google pays them enough money to have a Stadia version available at launch.

 

[syz]

Google Stadia’s data use is over 100MB per minute at 1080p

 

[Warden of the North]

Google Stadia’s data use is over 100MB per minute at 1080p

Yikes!

 

[RandV]

Damn more than anything that will be the real killer right there. I bet ISP's are just going to love Stadia

 

[PeteWorrell]

So i guess no gaming if you have a family? Because most households share an internet connection and there is no time to just start playing at 2 AM when everyone else is asleep.

 

[Chubbinz]

Using the 119MB used per minute from that article it works out to just shy of 16Mbps which is completely inline with what google states on their website. It's been a few years since I worked for an ISP so this is likely on the high side of things now a days but HD Netflix was around 10Mbps and when 4k launched it was close to 30Mbps. Again that is probably improved but is probably still in the ballpark. Stadia will also require a constant upstream of data to provide controller state. I can't imagine that being much of a data hog but it's something that the other streaming services won't have.

Dropped packets, especially on the upstream, would be my biggest concern with Stadia.

Also RIP to all the people at smaller ISP's who are going to be verbally abused by let me speak to your manager moms who buy into this as an xmas present for lil Timmy.

 

[Osprey]

Using the 119MB used per minute from that article it works out to just shy of 16Mbps which is completely inline with what google states on their website. It's been a few years since I worked for an ISP so this is likely on the high side of things now a days but HD Netflix was around 10Mbps and when 4k launched it was close to 30Mbps. Again that is probably improved but is probably still in the ballpark. Stadia will also require a constant upstream of data to provide controller state. I can't imagine that being much of a data hog but it's something that the other streaming services won't have.

An issue that I see is that Stadia seems like a budget form of gaming, since you don't need an expensive PC or console, or even a TV, yet requires one of the more expensive tiers of internet packages. If you're well off enough to afford a 4K-capable, uncapped internet tier, you're more likely to have a good PC or console. Also, if you're on a tight budget and Stadia appeals to you, but you have to upgrade your internet package just to use it, it becomes much more expensive and less appealing.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Woah Woah Woah hold up, so those games they added recently are not part of the subscription service, but are just games you can buy on the stadia app? This is getting more and more convoluted.

 

[syz]

Woah Woah Woah hold up, so those games they added recently are not part of the subscription service, but are just games you can buy on the stadia app? This is getting more and more convoluted.

The only thing a subscription gets you with Stadia is 5.1 surround sound and 4K resolution. With no subscription you're limited to stereo audio and 1080p.

You will always have to pay full price for games regardless, outside of any freebies they throw out.

 

[aleshemsky83]

The only thing a subscription gets you with Stadia is 5.1 surround sound and 4K resolution. With no subscription you're limited to stereo audio and 1080p.

You will always have to pay full price for games regardless, outside of any freebies they throw out.

Lol, so this is a ps plus type service for streaming, and not a gamepass/ea access service for streaming. I never knew that. So dumb.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Lol, so this is a ps plus type service for streaming, and not a gamepass/ea access service for streaming. I never knew that. So dumb.

That is one of the biggest questions that most people are asking... who exactly was Stadia designed for? Reviews haven't exactly been kind to the product.

 

[Hivemind]

Yeah, it looks like it's actually doing pretty well on the latency front, but I think the key seems to be the 35mbps requirement was a touch optimistic. Some reviewers with 100mbps connections seem to think it runs smoothly (keeping in mind, it is best case scenario - with the actual Stadia hardware). Unfortunately, this obviously does limit its user base, but we'll see what happens going forward.

This is a misconception of the relationship between “internet speeds” and latency. A higher internet speed means more data can be sent per second, not that the data actually arrives at its destination any faster. Latency is the result of the time it takes for the data to pass from the client to the server and back. It’s unlikely that the users internet speeds are going to have a significant impact on latency, although they could very well impact other aspects of gameplay (and avoiding bottlenecks will be essential for many titles). But you can have a 1000 Mbps connection and still experience high latency simply because of the distance between you and the server and the computation time on the server.

 

[Beau Knows]

The only thing a subscription gets you with Stadia is 5.1 surround sound and 4K resolution. With no subscription you're limited to stereo audio and 1080p.

You will always have to pay full price for games regardless, outside of any freebies they throw out.

You don't even get that in some (maybe all?) games.

 

[Commander Clueless]

This is a misconception of the relationship between “internet speeds” and latency. A higher internet speed means more data can be sent per second, not that the data actually arrives at its destination any faster. Latency is the result of the time it takes for the data to pass from the client to the server and back. It’s unlikely that the users internet speeds are going to have a significant impact on latency, although they could very well impact other aspects of gameplay (and avoiding bottlenecks will be essential for many titles). But you can have a 1000 Mbps connection and still experience high latency simply because of the distance between you and the server and the computation time on the server.

Correct, those were two separate observations taken from reviews of the product:

1) Latency seems good
2) The estimated 35mbps internet service requirement might not be enough (for performance reasons, AKA "runs smoothly")

Good thing to clarify though.