Google Stadia is going to flop and I’m fine with that

You’d never guess it from the complete lack of hype but a brand new video game format is due to launch in exactly one month’s time. It’s not a console but it is a platform that plays its own games, that you have to buy separately just like a console or a PC. That format is Stadia and it was meant to be the future of gaming. But it’s pretty obvious that it’s going to be a footnote at best. Google has finally entered the video games business and they’ve half-assed it in spectacular fashion.

[--bienio--]

Pointless article. We all know it will flop.

[CDbiggen]

I'm pretty fine with Google failing too.

[drizzom]

Same.

[NotoriousWhiz]

If Google fails, my life is over. Gotta keep Gmail and Google drive alive. Everything else can go though.

[PS4Gamer1984]

Blah blah another sheep article saying Stadia will fail. No matter how much all you moan and cry and complain, cloud gaming is here to stay and it’s the absolute future.

It benefits everyone. It benefits companies like MS and Sony because they no longer have to invest all the money and effort to make hardware and in turn they can solely focus all their efforts on great software.

It also benefits consumers because we don’t have to worry about upgrading our PCs, buying ugly, loud and bulky consoles, nomore downloads and patches AND being able to literally play anywhere with a connection.

Before you say “but but what about game ownership tho?!?!?!” Want to know what the last physical copy of a game I actually bought was? Uncharted 2 on the PS3. I have been buying digital ever since and haven’t looked back. I don’t care about “owning” games I care about PLAYING them.

If you want further proof on why Stadia, Xcloud and PSnow will be a hit, look no further than the Switch. People want portability and want to play anywhere on the go. Period.

[Nyxus]

"Want to know what the last physical copy of a game I actually bought was?"

No, why would we?

[rainslacker]

K

[Cyb3r]

Another stadia article another appearance from PS4Gamer1984

[MasterCornholio]

Reminds me of VoostKain back on GAF.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Game streaming is the future? Maybe. But self driving hovercrafts may also be the future. But I'm certainly not riding in one tomorrow.
Based on our current technological advancements, Stadia will be a degraded experience compared to a bulky noisy console. Maybe in the future, this won't be the case. But this future will not be November.

[Parasyte]

Gotta overcome those pesky ISP data caps too.

[Elda]

LOL!! Smh.

[Master of Unlocking]

Yes I'm quite certain it will take off at some point, either with Google Stadia or in some other form, but while it's absolutely on point to say that it is in companies' interest, it's a fallacy to say it's in us consumers' best interest when we'll be made to shell out money for owning absolutely nothing (except a controller, lol). It would be nice if people like you would stop embracing all the money-making schemes all those companies constantly come up with to, well, make more money on our backs.

We now live in a day and age where we have to pay a monthly fee to an ISP to access the internet infrastructure that was built with our taxpayers' money in the first place, we have to pay to play online with a system, a game, and an internet connection we pay for, a growing number of companies demand to have full access to our bank account to directly draw bill/subscription money from it (and it's very seldom the amount that was originally intended), instead of sending us a physical bill and us having the freedom to check if it's right before sending a cheque back ... I mean, where is that taking us?

[gangsta_red]

I look at it as an option for people who want to play games on the go or anywhere for that matter.

I see no issue with Stadia and it actually puzzles me to see a few on here wish for it's demise.

Either wish for it's demise or automatically say it'll fail. If anyone were to apply that same attitude for a game for certain brands you would be met with the harshest criticisms and told to wait for it's release or try it yourself. But since Stadia is some type of threat to the conspiracy community and they have their hearts set on a Judge Dredd future they're automatically condemning Google's entry.

If Stadia takes off, cool, whatever. It's definitely not for me but who knows, i may want this option in the future when traveling to different states or staying somewhere away from home. If Stadia fails, whatever, I will still game on consoles like I have been doing for decades.

[gangsta_red]

"It's not "a few people" it's BY FAR the majority."

On this site, the "majority"? It's not surprising for the echo chamber here but outside this bubble you'll see a different story.

[DarXyde]

My friend, you are sorely mistaken. Let me explain to you exactly why it's NOT good for everyone.

Focusing on software exclusively is really not great. Local hardware provides the benefit of ownership, minimal lag, play any time, and peripherals for dedicated hardware. Streaming alleviates storage concerns, but necessitates a recurring subscription to maintain access. Stadia is, in the long run, more expensive than any hardware. As an option, fine. But as the sole means of consumption, absolutely not.

I love how you slipped in there "play anywhere that has a connection." Yes, anywhere with a connection... that can take the user strain of people in, say, a large coffee shop. Imagine competing for bandwidth with people doing important work or on a necessary conference call so you can play Call of Duty. And let's not forget: net neutrality isn't really a full on protection in the massive US market anymore. You think the ISPs are going to miss the opportunity to gouge gamers, especially in areas with a monopoly and all they have to do is dangle a drop in the bucket to any state legislator that can be bought to let them do it? Commendable optimism.

Wanna know the last physical game I bought? Devil May Cry V. What's your point?

Streaming services will be a hit because... Switch? Really? So how successful were PS Move and Kinect after Wii? The desire to play anywhere may be an entirely different conversation if the games are remote instead of local. The portability is a single aspect you're using to defend your assessment. What you ignore is that you don't need an online subscription to use your Switch, you can own physical copies, license digital, and play offline. The most important aspect really is being able to play Nintendo games. These streaming services are not play anywhere. They are play where there are servers, and within that, wherever the input lag doesn't kill your experience and connection speeds are sufficient.

It's not about being sheep. It's about being a consumer with a modicum of insight.

[Chaos_Order]

Don't mind me. I'm just keeping a copy of this comment so I have a good, hard laugh once Stadia is reduced to ashes. :)

[BlaqMagiq1]

Lmao look at this sheep defending garbage like Stadia. When it fails I will laugh at you while you cry about it.

[Profchaos]

Stadia seems like a reaction to their cloud products not delivering as expected so modify some of that infrastructure for graphic intense workloads and bring id software in the help with the netcode.

However history has proven that bad ideas presented with the right spin can succeed so honestly o don't think anyone here can say with 100 percent açcuracy anything is going to fail.

I'm very doubtful it will succeed but you never know

[rainslacker]

I think it has as much a chance to succeed as any other streaming service. Google itself is probably the underdog since they arent known as a gaming company, but neither was facebook and they managed to make billions off their games.

I have less faith that any one, or all these services collectively will become the way everyone plays their games. Being an option to what we have now doesnt preclude these services from being successful though.

I also think some people need to temper their expectations on how long it will take for these services to become successful, and realistically, no metric has been set for what is considered successful, so it's all hyperbole on both sides of the discussion

[LOLcheeseORZ]

I can't help but feel that Google's attempt to enter the Video game business is half-assed as well.

[rainslacker]

I'm more interested in these games they are saying they're developing. They're supposedly approaching streaming as a console maker is expected to approach a console platform, which means new games exclusive to the service. Love or hate the service, I'm always eager to see what kind of creativity is out there.

[THC CELL]

Yawn it will flop quicker than onlive, and other 3rd party attempts. Hardware is the best no matter how its spun. Cloud gaming not only u never own ya games but developers won't ever see the amount of cash they get for game 60 a pop so on and game shops like mine will go under and people will miss the physical hardware, limited edition that company's make extra money off so on its a bad idea for anyone to go full cloud.

[CrimsonWing69]

Eh, I’ll give it a shot. I like the idea of being able to play games on the go with devices I already have. With every single friggin’ article on the Stadia failing it’s hard to see that this will be any kind of success.

[BLow]

Except that you can't use it with your phones data at launch. It will be like the other 2 streaming services. Nothing new. What exclusive games will it have? Just curious...

[CrimsonWing69]

Supposedly Sega is doing something for it. I think that’s the only way this will survive is through exclusives and the mobility/play on different devices.

[Father__Merrin]

i think Stadia will work for people with ultra fast internet. You dont even need to buy the
Stadia controller

[Master of Unlocking]

It will work with a certain mature population, that wants periodically to play a certain game, if only to know what all the fuss is about, or to socialize, a population that doesn't want to actually buy a console or a gamer PC for it, because they don't actually care about video games all that much. I have a friend who's like that.

Then much later down the road, maybe it will become a trend, but I personally hope not. I saw Google demonstrate the proof of concept with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, as this game has a very dense and large open world, and is also quite beautiful to boot, so it was pretty impressive that they could play it on the go, switching from one device to an other, but I prefer to actually own the game, so I bought it, and I love it, which is also why I'm glad I own it in tangible form.

[Jsm89k]

Even if it bombs it won’t go away. Google is going to dump money on this thing until it becomes mainstream.

[Elda]

When I first heard about this I was interested but then once I saw it had not one AAA exclusive including having any exclusive that interested me I made up my mine that... I'll pass.

[ocelot07]

Though I have no interest in Stadia. I do get some amusement out of these types of articles. I remember reading pretty much the same thing about PS Now 3-4 years ago. How it was going to die within a year. Guess what PS Now is still a thing and has recently just had a really big and very positive change.

[P_Bomb]

A free trial would be good. Between three days to a week so people can run the gamut during peaks and valleys and put the social/community features through their paces. Potential customers might also be more inclined to pay after some time invested (ie progress). Time is priceless.

[Knightofelemia]

Kinda pointless to even collect for a video game collection

[Godmars290]

I'm not if only for the money and resources wasted that could/should have gone elsewhere. Like lower employee pay and benefits.

[RizBiz]

It won't flop. There are way too many stupid people on Earth. Just look at Apple Arcade, it's actually doing quite well and it's complete trash.

[lodossrage]

@RizBiz

Honestly, that's what I'm concerned about. Stadia should AND deserves to fail. But with enough foolish people buying in combined with the apologists, it may have a shot.

I'm hoping this Stadia is entered into Google's graveyard of dead products.

[AK91]

Latency

[Nightcyberspud]

Given how much they make on advertising and selling our data they could have easily subsidized the cost of games on the platform to account for the fact you don’t really own anything physically (Other than a controller and chrome cast) by going with them.

[Retroman]

Ouya and Onlive said : we'll be seeing you soon. come join Dreamcast, Jaugar , Wii U, Turbografx 16, Neo Geo , 3DO we all welcome Stadia to City Dumpster that's where we at celebrating your arrival.

[Edito]

I'm not just fine lol I hope it fails...

[S2Killinit]

Google’s service wont take any significant share of the market and it will die a slowly. They will keep throwing money at it for a while.

[thexmanone]

Pre ordered and can`t wait

[adaminoregon]

The US doesn't have the internet infrastructure or prices that will allow this to work. And gamers aren't stupid enough to pay for a streaming service that makes them buy games at full price even though they will never own said game.

[RizBiz]

Streaming and buying are two completely different options. You don't have to do both. As for paying full price for digital games, look at how many people do it on PC. I don't, I never buy games that aren't at least 50% off, but a lot of people do.

[demonic36]

Sick of all these negative articles about Stadia. Can't we just let it be and those who want it can be free to use it?

[strayanalog]

Hard not to be fine with it when you didn't care in the first place.

[Bluemaster77]

These streaming services are at min 5-10 years away from viability. Probably more. From a comparison stand point, aside from the upfront cost of physical hardware, there is absolutely no incentive to game on a streaming service.

[Tross]

It’s their own fault for not putting any effort into the Stadia and arrogantly assuming it will “be the future” because they said so. Sorry Google, but people are not sheep.

If you want us to want your product, make it a good one. That means securing exclusives, having a system as powerful as next gen consoles, not the current ones that are entering their twilight years, and just doing your research in general as to what people want in the type of product you’re releasing as opposed to just dropping it and assuming people will buy it because it’s a Google product.

[RGB]

In other news, water is wet.

[BlaqMagiq1]

I can't wait to see it fail so gaming can get back on track to the way it should be.

[SaveFerris]

Not interested in Stadia personally, but there are a lot of gamers (and not just casuals), out there who will sign up for it.