“Can Google Stadia Topple Traditional Household Console Names? - WhatCulture” plus 1 more |
| Can Google Stadia Topple Traditional Household Console Names? - WhatCulture Posted: 18 Sep 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Google is poised to turn the gaming industry on its head by launching an innovative cloud-based platform called Stadia in November. It will allow you to access your favourite video games on virtually any screen, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, TVs and desktops. A remote PC performs the heavy lifting and that means you will enjoy a consistent experience regardless of the screen you use. Excitement is mounting among the gaming community and many are wondering whether Google Stadia can topple the household names in the console industry. What is Unique about Google Stadia?Stadia is a new game streaming service from one of the world's biggest tech giants. It follows in the footsteps of Onlive, NVIDA GeForce Now and Shadow, but it represents the most ambitious foray any company has ever made into this brave new world. It is not a physical console. You use it on the hardware you already own, from your phone and tablet to your computer or even your TV via a Chromecast Ultra device. It works with all existing game controllers, keyboards and mice you might have, but there is a specific Stadia controller that you can buy for $69. You can plug this controller into your phone, tablet or PC through a USB cable and play on the go. Stadia also integrates with YouTube, allowing you to share playable moments from a game. You have the option of keeping these moments private, sharing them with certain friends or making them open for anyone to experience. What are its Technological Capabilities?Google claims that Stadia is more powerful than any console currently on the market, including the Xbox One X and the PS4. If you have a 35Mbps connection, you can stream games with 4K resolution and 60fps. Over time, hardware upgrades will happen remotely at the server side, and it will eventually go up to 8K. Upon launch, Stadia's cloud hardware will use a custom x86 processor from Intel, with 2.7 GHz, AVX2 and 9.5MB of L2+L3 cache. There will be solid-state drive storage, with 16GB of RAM. If that alphabet soup means nothing to you, rest assured that it is a powerful cloud-based system and it will allow you to enjoy games in excellent resolution and everyone is very excited. When will it Launch?The streaming platform goes live in November. Google has not given an exact date, but gamers that have pre-ordered Stadia equipment have posted on Reddit to offer clues. One revealed an exchange with Google, in which it promised to ship the equipment on November 6 and it said it would be arrive by November 13. It will work in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US from November to paying customers. How much does it cost?There are two tiers of subscription: Stadia Pro and Stadia Base. Stadia Pro will cost you $9.99 per month and allow you to access games in up to 4K resolution at a rate of 60fps and with 5.1 surround sound. It will also offer a regular roster of free games, the first of which is Destiny 2: The Collection, plus discounts on some game purchases. Alternatively, you can opt for Stadia Base, but that will not be ready until 2020. The quality of the performance will be poorer, as the resolution will only go up to 1080p, but you will be able to gain a frame rate up to 60fps. You can pre-order the Stadia Founder's Edition for $129. That bundle comes with a Chromecast Ultra, a limited-edition night blue Stadia controller, three months of Stadia Pro for you and a friend and Destiny 2. What games will work with Stadia? Google Stadia will launch with a number of big-name titles, blending established classics and exciting new releases, including the much-hyped Cyberpunk 2077. The list of games is extensive, but highlights include Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate III, Watch Dogs: Legion, Borderlands 3, Kombat 11, The Division 2, Rage 2, Marvel's Avengers, Football Manager, Wolfenstein: Young Blood and many more. Along with standalone titles, it will also link up with subscription services like Ubisoft's Uplay+, which offers more than 100 titles for $14.99 per month. Google has promised a regular catalogue of free gamers for Stadia Pro customers, and it is even launching its own development studio, which will create first-party Google games. It can also emerge as a major force in the thriving esports sector, as you can see in Unikrn news, as Google Stadia is an extremely versatile device. Can it Challenge the Next-Gen Consoles?The current generation of consoles is winding down and gamers are eagerly anticipating next-gen offerings from Sony and Microsoft in the next year or so. Both firms are persisting with physical console releases for the next generation, and it will be interesting to see how Google Stadia fares against that backdrop. It has many advantages over traditional consoles. Google Stadia offers games in ultra-high settings and it is underpinned by the formidable Google infrastructure. There is no hardware necessary and it is really versatile and adaptable. The pricing is fair and very competitive and the game library appears to be growing all the time. It really is a platform for everyone, as it operates on iOS, macOS and so on, as well as Android devices. Yet it will also face significant competition, from Apple Arcade and other streaming platforms as well as the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett. It is also dependent on your connection, which could hamper its chances of success in some jurisdictions. But it has first mover advantage over its emerging competitive set and it could build up a massive customer base before its rivals are unveiled, so it does have a great chance of toppling more established names in the gaming sector.  |
| Cloud gaming faces challenges as Google prepares launch - Tech Xplore Posted: 24 Aug 2019 12:00 AM PDT  Urging fans to plunge into a virtual high-res surround sound universe of extraordinary games, Google hopes its cloud-based Stadia platform will take the world by storm on its November launch. The US digital behemoth unveiled details of its nascent streaming video platform at this week's Gamescom trade fair in Cologne in the hope it can gain massive traction among hardcore gamers to zap past other providers of existing gaming fare. Gamescom, styling itself the biggest event in the European gaming industry, is a sizeable window on the state of play in a mushrooming market worth an estimated $135 billion globally last year, according to analysts—with mobile platforms accounting for about half. Stadia, details on which first publicly emerged in June at E3, the world's premier event for computer and video games, offers as its USP the chance for users to play their favourite game on a range of platforms in high resolution quality on different media from smart TV to console or smart phone. That presages something of a gaming revolution. "People have been talking about cloud gaming for ten years—we are on the third generation of actors. The signals have not yet turned green but Google has got solid enough guts to try it. We've never been so close," says Laurent Michaud, director of studies at French digital market consultancy Idate.  Gamescom represents a chance for some hands-on experience and the brand's huge logo, plus its battalion of hostesses on its stand are helping to pull in the curious as they compare relative attractions with rivals led by Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai explained at E3 in Los Angeles the idea is "to build a game platform for everyone" following an initial rollout in 14 countries using a subscription model after an initial bundled hardware purchase. Some games will be free and others will require payment. Even so, the Gamescom evidence after Monday's opening suggested interest had yet to hit the heights of neighbouring stands Nintendo or Konami—the latter being the developer of Pro Evolution Soccer's latest gambit PES 2020. "I find their concept interesting but I have doubts as to their capacity to guarantee good connectivity," commented stand visitor Rishil Kuta, 22. A keen console user he said he would nevertheless be "ready to pay" a premium for a "stable" product.  Not sharing that opinion was Steven Mertes, 28, who said he did not see himself as ready to log off from his PC or close his console "which propose games of much better quality." "I have always been used to playing on a computer—it's much more comfortable." Whichever way the cloud gaming cards fall the race is on to hook players, especially the hardcore ones, for next-generation gameplay. Technical constraints "The most difficult gamers to convince will be the 'hardcore gamers'. They may not be as numerous as occasional players but they are the ones who count. If they don't go to a platform things could be difficult," predicts Michaud.  The hardcore brigade tend to be willing to pay out for the rig and content they want—but are often very attached to their favoured support environment, be it console or PC-based. Beyond the task of converting gamers to Stadia, Google must address various technical obstacles that go with the territory of developing cloud gaming. Although Stadia is promising 4K high resolution at 60 frames per second for minimal time lag, it remains to be seen how the platform can persuade players who may not have suitably adapted screens along with fibre optic broadband or 4G connections to subscribe. "We have a small doubt on the development of cloud gaming," says Wandrille Pruvot, CEO of Xtra Life, a cloud-based apps manager for Apple. "The challenge will notably be technical as the better the resolution the greater the need for a quality internet network. "The games we are working on are simpler, more based on gameplay quality and that requires less bandwidth for the graphics," says Pruvot. "One mustn't forget that video games are not just about big productions!"  The bet for cloud gaming is thus to push independent, if not always very visible titles—a means for Google and rival producers to position themselves as a 'Netflix for gaming' by providing original content. "This type of platform can free the creative aspect from technical constraints ," says Fanny Renard, a community manager with independent indie game developer Goblinz. "A form of Netflix could be a production aid for the smallest independent studios. But this will then raise the question of remuneration, which could be complicated." Overall, though, just as consoles did not kill off PC gaming, cloud gaming could essentially offer an extra strand of choice for fans of video games. "There will always be a place for the PC or the console," forecast Renard. "Gamers remain more at ease with different platforms. What they want is to be able to choose which game to play and how." Explore further © 2019 AFP Citation: Cloud gaming faces challenges as Google prepares launch (2019, August 24) retrieved 22 September 2019 from https://techxplore.com/news/2019-08-cloud-gaming-google.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.  |
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