Da Face thoughts on Google Stadia

Some of you (I hope) know me as a rapper. Or rapso man. Either one is fine. But most of you won’t know that I’m also an avid gamer. I’ve steadily owned a console since the PS2 and have been a Playstation man ever since. I had the OG Xbox for a bit but I can’t see myself going back that way – no offence. My time is limited with the number of projects I have in the works but I find gaming to be an excellent stress release. So I always make time. And if is one thing, I always keep abreast of gaming news. This week, tech juggernaut Google jumped out with a huge announcement. A new console called Stadia. Except it’s not a new console. Not really.

When we think of consoles we think of a square or rectangular box that we can piong games on. We have wireless controllers, digital games, online storage for game saves and other enhancements but it has been the same basic premise since inception. You always need a VCR-type box directly connected to a screen. Stadia is more like gaming Netflix-style. The game is NOT running locally. There is no physical box that you own. The game is running on Google’s powerful servers and you stream the games via an Internet connection (at least 30Mbps is the requirement). This allows you to play games on any device that can stream basically. It’s limited to the chrome browser and android devices for now but essentially you are no longer tethered to the television or a portable device. In a vacuum, this is awesome.

WHY IS THIS NEWS?

Playing games on the go has normally been coupled with a compromise in the overall gaming experience. Personally I don’t play mobile games because they suck. Ok that’s bad to say just so. They suck because it’s lame not being able to use a ‘real’ controller with tactile feedback. I want to play God of War quality games with complex button combinations. Swipe swipe tap tap is not my idea of an engaging experience. Even with the Nintendo Switch, the games on it can’t match the graphical quality of the non-portable consoles. And I say this as someone who adores the Switch.

With Stadia, I can have the same graphical experience ANYWHERE. Just walk with a controller and I can play on any computer with adequate Internet. Even a mobile phone but I not sure about that only because of the screen size. You can easily pick up where you left off with no sacrifice in graphics and experience. I can play lunchtime on work or during downtime in the studio.

Additionally, like Netflix you instantly get access to a huge library of games. Now like Netflix, there may be plenty of garbage in the mix. But depending on the cost per month (which hasn’t been revealed), it could be good value.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Plenty could go wrong actually. First off, what Stadia is attempting has been attempted many times before. Yes Google is more technically sound and financially endowed than any of the previous companies but that doesn’t make it a slam dunk. Secondly, Internet connections for most may not be robust enough for this service. Even if you can surpass the bandwidth requirements, the stability of the connection may be an issue. A dip in Internet speed is small ting if you watching Daredevil on Netflix but imagine if you fighting a hard last boss in a game? That’s ting to mashup your whole computer screen. Input lag, the amount of time between when you press a button and the related response on screen, has been speculated on. For you to enjoy a game and ‘feel’ like how you normally feel playing a game, this number must be as low as possible. It hasn’t been confirmed what this will look like in real life.

Additionally, Google has not proven themselves very savvy at marketing sexy, consumer facing products. The Google Glass was panned as being unfashionable and dorky and quickly faded like if targeted by Thanos. Their social network Google + has suffered since inception and has been SINCE dwarfed by sleeker apps such as Instagram and Snapchat. The Chromecast, which I love, is more a tech nerd’s dream than a consumer friendly product. Even their successes such as the Chrome browser and Google search are more utilitarian than user friendly. Gaming is a sexy thing. It has action and graphics and movement. Gamers don’t buy technical specs. They buy experiences. And Google hasn’t shown much sexiness with Stadia so far besides a few numbers. They haven’t revealed a killer exclusive game that will whet appetites for the system.

COMPETITION

It has been speculated that Sony will be dropping their next console, the PS5, next year. As a Playstation man, by default I’m looking forward to that. Microsoft will also drop something sometime around then as well. Most gamers are happy with the status quo and aren’t really looking for something different. Stadia is carded to release this year so it seems like they have a small head start. They will have to wow gamers heavily before Christmas to start building some traction. No doubt Sony and Microsoft will be dropping teasers to prevent this.

Additionally, it has been rumoured that Amazon and Apple are prepping to enter a similar space. These two companies also have deep pockets. I feel like Amazon is the greater threat only because of their technical legacy and formidable cloud experience. Apple has the sexy marketing covered but I can’t see them getting the tech right in time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As a gamer, I’m cautiously excited. Streaming IS the future of gaming but I don’t know if the world is ready to accept it yet. It could be like HD gaming which was well timed in the PS3 era when everyone was looking to acquire a HD television. Or it could be like VR which was hyped heavily and still hasn’t become mainstream. It depends on how well Google can solve the latency problem. If any company can solve complex problems, Google can.

Despite this though, the best tech doesn’t always win. Betamax was better than VHS technically but reportedly lost because the porn industry chose VHS (don’t @ me). After mastering the technology, Google has to do something unGoogle-like and make the technology ‘cool’. It will be interesting to see if they can achieve this with Stadia. Hopefully I can test it early…once the price is right.