I think this won't work for hardcore gamers, because of lag. On the other hand it could work for casual gamers if it's not too expensive.
Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
81–90 of 92 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
id argue by virtue of being AAA games they are games that have MASS appeal to a large portion of society, not just "gamers." The population of people who played Halo/COD/Fortnight is quite a bit bigger than people who identify with gaming subculture. googles move has everything to do with commoditizing high performance hardware FOR THE MASSES. to the same effect, plenty of people want 4k and hdr, but arent film criti…
I'd disagree that AAA has to do with mass appeal, as the industry uses that term to distinguish games in terms of development and marketing budgeting, not target audience. Many AAA games are specifically targeted at only the hardcore "gamer" demographic, because while that's a smaller group they are usually willing to pay much more for a game then a casual gamer will. I would of course agree that AAA can be targeted…
I would argue that there is a huge segment of users that would technically be interested in playing actual AAA games but can't be bothered to put up the initial investment. Many friends of mine don't have TV's or a beefy PC. Laptop and phone is pretty much the standard. But if they had the option to click a button on a YouTube video and check out a game, they might. A subscription is psychologically much more appealing to most people that a big payment upfront. Especially if there is a free trial. It's kind of like the difference between CapEx vs OpEx.
I think this segment will be a primary target of Stadia. If you want uncompressed 4K, 144hz, HDR with extremly low latency then your not currently playing on a console anyway and probably have a $2000+ machine sitting on your desk. For the enthusiast the tech is not there yet in streaming. But make no mistake. It will be there soon(ish). The day is not that far off when local machines will disappear for almost anything. And on a technical level nobody will be able to tell the difference.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#83I don't think it will work for multiple reasons. 1. Google doesn't have gaming in their corporate DNA. They will commit a bunch of faux pas that will alienate the gaming community. 2. Streaming games adds latency. Latency problems ruin the experience. 3. Gamers are a very fickle community and if they don't feel your company 'gets' them, they will not engage with you.
Can Gamers really be boiled down to such a homogeneous group though? I think many of the younger fortnite console gamers already have very different views from your average young/middle aged adult on steam.
Stadia doesn't have to steal all of steam's userbase to be able to reach critical mass for their own userbase and videogame streaming seems like a logical next step (like music and video streaming were) if a good UX can be provided (and I think they're aware of latency concerns and would not enter this market if they thought it unfeasible to provide a good gaming experience).
Disclaimer: I work for Google but am otherwise unaffiliated with the Stadia project
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#84Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you mean with "I... rented a machine to play games"? Is it a online service? Would you mind talking a little bit more about that?
Parsec, allows renting of cloud computers with quadros. Either via amazon or paperspace. It's rented per the hour. Storage costs additionally flat each month. I usually spent about 10 to 20 a month. For several nights a week with an hour or two gaming. https://parsecgaming.com/ I'm still a fan of the service. I'm using their software for hosting my in home network gaming setup.
Do you have any examples of games that worked well with Parsec? I have a super fast home internet but don't want to invest in a high-end rig.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#86I don't think it will work because most Americans don't have fast enough internet connections to work with no lag or latency.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#87Lag will always be an issue. I used to play a lot of competitive games like street fighter, tekken, starcraft. There is zero chance of a fighting game like Tekken ever being popular on Stadia due to lag. Distance from LA to New York: ~4500km. Time of light speed to travel 4500km: ~30ms Time of 1 frame at 60fps: 16.7ms There are moves in Tekken ('just frame') that require 1 frame precision to pull off. For a while it…
Render the next 60 possible frames (and recursively the next 60 of each 60 to that frame), send them to the client, then based on controller input, it knows which frame to choose next. Use AI to determine the "most likely futures" and process those branch further. It could dynamically increase and decrease the "possible futures" sent depending on how fast a person is going and how many input choices they have at any…
That would either require games to support this branching feature or have 60 instances of the same game open. Forget about this if you have any RNG or MP elements. The complexity of such task is enormous.
And that's not even talking about the performance cost. Pretty much whatever is G charging now times 60 times 1.2x for added complexity.
"lol" is the best reply.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#88I don't think it will work for multiple reasons. 1. Google doesn't have gaming in their corporate DNA. They will commit a bunch of faux pas that will alienate the gaming community. 2. Streaming games adds latency. Latency problems ruin the experience. 3. Gamers are a very fickle community and if they don't feel your company 'gets' them, they will not engage with you.
1) You might be able to say that about MS before the XBox arrived. Also, Google has always been "playful" so to speak. Changing their logos, adding a game right into the no-connection screen of their browser. They may be ready to go big here. 2) I can't imagine this going out to the public with latency issues. Netflix can stream video smooth as silk to millions very nicely. Streaming the game will be the same thing,…
1. Really, anyone who changes their logos playfully sets a precedent for a gaming culture? Do you actually play games?
2. Streaming a film and streaming the full content of Halo is a whole different ballgame. Do you know the kind of optimizations devs have to do to achieve the performance they do on pcs and consoles?
3. And how many Chrome book users is there?
I think at best this will be more like a mobile game platform. Won't put a dent on AAA games on PCs and Consoles.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#89With much less fanfare Microsoft will be presenting their game streaming service tomorrow (built on the Xbox Live brand, installed base, and tech)[0] [0] https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/project-xcloud-the-futur...
Haha thanks for the link mate.
Re: Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?
#90I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms against Google over this, when Microsoft (xCloud) and NVIDIA (Geforce Now) are also going after the same thing.
Because Google has been playing fast and loose with "Don't be evil" for a considerable amount of time. There's a substantial number of people specially in tech who are wary about Google.