Google Stadia

OldBloke · June 08, 2019, 01:32:27 PM

Quote from: BrotherTobious;437978All reasonable reason why not to but l want to see what it is like and I think it is worth a punt. They still have l some delopment time.

You and me both :thumb:

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

albert · June 16, 2019, 05:21:15 PM

Quote from: OldBloke;437980You and me both :thumb:

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Me 3, open to the idea, after all, things only improve over time.

OldBloke · June 16, 2019, 05:32:21 PM

Interesting angle. Last sentence noted.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/06/07/can-we-talk-about-how-stadia-absolutely-nailed-its-pricing-model-opinion/

BrotherTobious · November 01, 2019, 01:24:57 PM

A good video lots of tech info and more about how the subs work etc it is interesting but seems it is mostly tv or phone rather than running on your rig at the start.

[video=youtube;eouqoIur5c4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eouqoIur5c4[/video]

albert · November 22, 2019, 11:08:22 AM

Well? Who's already returned?

My pack arrived yesterday and I've tried a few things. So I somehow thought that the pro version got you unlimited access to the games for the time you are subscribed, like XBox Ultimate. Ohhhhh no is doesn't. You pay for everything even with the subscription.

2 games are free, Destiny 2 and some Japaenese Fighting game called Samurai Shodown. All the others, come at a price, but

1) Got the Chromecast working, took a bit of faffing, codes and keycombinations to get it all synchronised with the controller.
2) Tried Destiny 2, controllers for FPS suck, that'll take quite a bit of getting used to for me.
3) Chromecast vs PC browsers... Chromecast was a clear winner, mainly due to the smoothness of the camera movement and sharpness.
4) On PC it was still very good, no lag but the 60Hz feeling was very obvious for me, as I get a solid 144Hz on Destiny 2 on the PC
5) Still it was 10x beter than Playstation Now.
6) Tried it on my Pixel Phone, seriously a cable to conenct the controller?!!? A cable they don't even supply in the box. (It needs a USB-C to C). Fortunately the phone charging cable is C to C.
7) On the phone the quality was great, visuals and colour I would say better than PC browser, and as good as the Chormecast.

But it froze, a took a few minutes to settle but was playable. My phone is pretty empty of bloating software or background processes. I imagine a phone full of jumk will see some performance impact.

Overall: +for giving Desiting 2 in full, the other game meh. -for no unlimied content with subs -for cable to controller for phone but +for very good performance with the Chromecast and nearly very good with browser.

Price wise, easily the founder pack plus 2 games is very good value, even if you just use the hardware and never the service it's better than retail for the indivudal parts.

Considering it is Day2, I think with time they will only improve on this start.

Chaosphere · November 22, 2019, 11:16:29 AM

Nice summary mate.

Seems a lot of people are finding the service lacking, at least for now. Tech has potential, but then this isn't the first time we have seen a promising streaming tech fall by the wayside for one reason or another.

From what I've read, Google has a flop on their hands... but I am aware I tend to read more tech enthusiast stuff and may be missing the opinions of the 'mainstream'. The real question is how long Google sticks with it.. as smilo pointed out they have a habit of abandoning things that aren't going how they had hoped!

I'm keeping my eye on Stadia out of interest, but the reality is it isn't the product for me, at least not in this decade...

albert · November 22, 2019, 11:37:56 AM

I am not feeling quite as sceptical as you Ben because the main difference with Stadia for me is it is vastly superior to any previous attempt at the same product and again, in the gaming industry the first few days after launch are normally a train wreck, here with Stadia the product for me is very well crafted MVP, only more good things will be added.

I also like the use case of taking my favourite games with me without a laptop or PC.

albert · November 22, 2019, 12:59:02 PM

On the browser, 8Mbps was the download consumption for Destiny 2. On Chromecast, to my 4K screen, around 10Mbps average. I need to do slightly more careful monitoring to get better results for this but for sure I wasn't seeing high bandwidth. Of course they suggest bandwidth requirements higher than the minimum in order to cover their backs.

Destiny 2 loads actually faster with Stadia over my own pretty decent PC.

Oh and my Destiny 2 game crashing due to an nVidia bug obviously doesn't happen on Stadia.

smilodon · November 21, 2020, 12:54:43 PM

Resurrecting this as I've spent all morning playing (crashing) in GRID. It's not the best racing game but on Stadia it's a complete blast. Takes me back to my Sega Saturn/PlayStation 1 days.
I'm not a twitchy 'every millisecond counts' gamer but I saw zero problems with GRID. it just loaded fast and I was straight into blasting around Tokyo and then immediately into the barrier, so nothing much different from my Megadrive days. If there is latency it's not obvious to me and probably not an issue in arcade style games. FPS shooters and the like, who knows but I'll defiantly be getting some arcade/platformer type games for the new TV.

albert · November 21, 2020, 01:19:52 PM

Quote from: smilodon;443664Resurrecting this as I've spent all morning playing (crashing) in GRID. It's not the best racing game but on Stadia it's a complete blast. Takes me back to my Sega Saturn/PlayStation 1 days.
I'm not a twitchy 'every millisecond counts' gamer but I saw zero problems with GRID. it just loaded fast and I was straight into blasting around Tokyo and then immediately into the barrier, so nothing much different from my Megadrive days. If there is latency it's not obvious to me and probably not an issue in arcade style games. FPS shooters and the like, who knows but I'll defiantly be getting some arcade/platformer type games for the new TV.

I'd say that's a fair assessment, I use it with the same pinch of salt. Certainly it works easily well enough to make it a chill in the lounge solution. I feel with the Steam Link the hassle of booting up and getting it going is greater than just going with Stadia.

I did however try it with my old Win10 tablet and the 2.4GHz wifi is useless, doesn't even connect.

smilodon · November 21, 2020, 02:17:46 PM

I'm fortunate enough to have the TV and router right next to each other so I use the ethernet connection to connect the Chromecast direct to the router.

albert · November 21, 2020, 05:34:56 PM

Quote from: smilodon;443667I'm fortunate enough to have the TV and router right next to each other so I use the ethernet connection to connect the Chromecast direct to the router.

Ideal, cabled is perfect to the Chromecast, and when you use it for 4K even better.

smilodon · November 21, 2020, 06:51:42 PM

It's all set up and I'm just watching endless 4k YouTube videos with my jaw on the floor

albert · November 21, 2020, 07:24:15 PM

I probably need to get your missus to talk to my missus about also buying a random 4K TV.

albert · December 03, 2020, 08:40:41 PM

There's a link for Stadia Pro subscribers that lists all available free games for you if you have andactive subscription or indeed this also lists past games that are still free:

https://stadia.google.com/store/list/2001

Also Submerged, hidden depths, a Stadia only game became free today for pro.

https://stadia.google.com/store/details/3c39a33bbc064308941f9276c38c30e7rcp1/sku/07b0ea07f5554f70a2675fe696b4c9ebp

I've been using my new cheap ChromeBook as a Stadia device whilst travelling and it's awesome. Only issue is that on a ouse if you click both buttons you open th Launcher, and there is no clear wy to stop this happening. Any ideas?