Not another Console?
As of today Google have unveiled their strategy for dominating the online gaming market. And why wouldn’t they? As of 2018 the video games industry generated in excess of $135 billion which is an increase of more than 10% from 2017.
Stadia is not a new console as Stadia is platform independent. In other words, you can now play your online games on any device from a browser, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or a Smart TV without any dedicated hardware. All that gaming processing is now offloaded to Google’s cloud-based data centers creating an incredibly fast experience.
This is a serious warning shot for the likes of Microsoft’s XBOX and Sony’s PlayStation as Google claims their games will run faster. The platform will allow gamers to switch between devices and continue where they left off in a game.
Stadia will be made available in a majority of the US, Canada, and Europe. But what does this mean for Australia? The service will require a minimum of 15 megabits per second with a latency of 40ms or less. The faster the connection the more exciting the game will be.
With games running at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second, the NBN might not be good enough to get over the latency hump and therefore limiting how playable the Stadia platform will be.
Getting Control!
Stadia will also include it’s own controller.
The optional controller will connect to Google’s streaming data centers over your home WiFi which hopefully would limit latency. On the controller will be a direct capture button allowing you to share capture to YouTube. Also included will be a Google Assistant button which will activate the microphone of the device will in-game.
The Games…
Google has shipped Stadia development kits to all the major players so you can expect a flurry of titles to be released. The Stadia demo includes titles such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, DOOM, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. However we think you’ll need to wait for E3 in June for further announcements.
Google has yet to release details as to the specifics of the platform and it’s a mystery as to what the games might cost the consumer.
For further reading on Stadia and other products head over to the 2019 Game Developers Conference (GDC)
