Stadia died because no one trusts Google • Hacker News Board

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#91

Post by adgjlsfhk1 » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:55 AM UTC

quicklime wrote: post #48

aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a vicious cycle, for which the blame falls solely on them. Should be a cautionary tale for all companies.

I'm hearing it a lot less after the recent tech backlash, but a few years ago it was fashionable to say things like "take risks" and "embrace failure". But the cautionary tale that most companies are going to take from this is to take fewer risks and to avoid failure at all costs, which I think is a bad outcome. Google shouldn't stop cancelling products that fail to get traction, they just need to learn to fail grace…

the problem isn't that Google cancels risky projects, it's that they will make 3 different chat apps, cancel all 3, and make 3 more. any remotely sensible company would when making a new messenging app throw their eggs in one basket to take advantage of network effects rather than intentionally fracturing the market with multiple products.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#92

Post by Kukumber » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:56 AM UTC

The world uses google search and trust their email service even for their professional and civil uses, that journalist is dishonest on purpose, shame

Stadia died due to:

- business model

- cloud only

- conjuncture and anti-competitive nature of their competitors

cloud gaming is 20years too early anyways, i'm not saying it's pointless, i am saying it shouldn't be your sole offering

they own android and they didn't capitalize on it, instead they went rogue with web only

a dedicated handheld gaming console with cloud capabilities would have been 1000x better and smarter strategy to penetrate the premium gaming market

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#93

Post by throwawaysleep » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:56 AM UTC

klodolph wrote: post #74

_zgx0 wrote: post #66

I feel like some of these perspectives are very tech industry focused rather than gamer focused. As a gamer, I think Stadia failed because the system they created doesn't make sense. You had to buy games at real $40-$60 prices but you could only play them through this limited service. I don't think anyone wants that. Compare that to paying the same price for a regular PC game which you can play via streaming using a…

I think the idea is that while you still pay $60 for the game, you don’t pay $400 for the console.

Do the kinds of people shelling out $60 for a game find the $500 console a big barrier?

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#94

Post by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:58 AM UTC

cududa wrote: post #44

Dalewyn wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a specific example of latency incompetency that immediately came to mind while reading this: Chrome. Chrome will not run properly on first execution, as in ran for the first time after a cold start of the computer, when executed off a HDD. Why? Because the HDD takes too long to read off data. Chrome expects SSD latency and fuck your computer if it's not residing on one. When executed off a HDD, I've found Chrome…

Made some offhanded comment about Chrome perf on Twitter earlier this year and a Google friend replied something like "Well, pretty much the whole Chrome team just got upgraded to local test machines with at least 32gb of RAM. Godspeed everyone."

Makes you wonder what would happen if companies occasionally did the exact opposite to their engineers.

"Oh, you know that 32 GB machine you've got? We're replacing it with this new 16 GB one. If the test suite is too slow on your new machine, I guess you'll just have to make the tests faster."

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#95

Post by 3746648 » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:59 AM UTC

_zgx0 wrote: post #66

I feel like some of these perspectives are very tech industry focused rather than gamer focused. As a gamer, I think Stadia failed because the system they created doesn't make sense. You had to buy games at real $40-$60 prices but you could only play them through this limited service. I don't think anyone wants that. Compare that to paying the same price for a regular PC game which you can play via streaming using a…

No post body was provided.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#96

Post by bluedino » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 2:59 AM UTC

cududa wrote: post #20

aeturnum wrote: post #14

The thing that I find odd about Google is that it feels like they drink their own coolaid. Reports I've seen suggest that nearly no one knew this was coming. Teams who have been working on ports for months were blind-sided. Employees generally did not know. It just seems like a very poor way to run a business. It feels sloppy and needlessly messy. Especially when providing soft landings is so possible for a company w…

Obviously this isn't the same thing, but yes - this seems right. But, I remember my first time going to Google's campus in 2010 and connecting to their guest wifi network. 1Gbps! Insanely cool! Pulled up gmail and google docs and it worked PERFECTLY! My first thought was "...oh this is why their webapps suck - they have no idea how it's being used in the real world where latency is above 10ms"

You'd think everyone working from home where they have real-world internet speeds would fix that.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#97

Post by JohnHaugeland » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 3:06 AM UTC

klodolph wrote: post #74

_zgx0 wrote: post #66

I feel like some of these perspectives are very tech industry focused rather than gamer focused. As a gamer, I think Stadia failed because the system they created doesn't make sense. You had to buy games at real $40-$60 prices but you could only play them through this limited service. I don't think anyone wants that. Compare that to paying the same price for a regular PC game which you can play via streaming using a…

I think the idea is that while you still pay $60 for the game, you don’t pay $400 for the console.

This model has been tried many times in gaming, and has never succeeded

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#98

Post by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 3:06 AM UTC

quicklime wrote: post #48

aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a vicious cycle, for which the blame falls solely on them. Should be a cautionary tale for all companies.

I'm hearing it a lot less after the recent tech backlash, but a few years ago it was fashionable to say things like "take risks" and "embrace failure". But the cautionary tale that most companies are going to take from this is to take fewer risks and to avoid failure at all costs, which I think is a bad outcome. Google shouldn't stop cancelling products that fail to get traction, they just need to learn to fail grace…

It's the circle of life, though.

Companies grow old and fearful. They stop taking risks and treat failure as a "bad" thing to be avoided. In so doing, they become blind to new frontiers.

That, in turn, finally opens the door for a new wave of hungry startups who are willing to take risks and embrace failure. They come in, disrupt the old guard, and spend 10-20 years becoming giant corporations in their own right. In time, the cycle repeats again.

It's been a very long time (20+ years!) that some of these companies have been going. If they're just starting to become fearful and risk-avoidant, then perhaps the next wave of interesting startups is finally (For what it's worth, the current bear market also has me thinking it'll be a good time to start a startup in the next 5-10 years. If I were still young and spry, I'd be champing at the bit to save up a few bucks, stockpile some ramen, and go for it.)

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#99

Post by HungSu » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 3:06 AM UTC

As Google Stadia's target user, in my opinion a stronger reason Stadia died is because GeForce Now was a competing and better product.

GeForce Now allowed me to play the games I already own with a more powerful machine than I could buy myself, for just $10/month. Artifacts were noticeable but not enough for me to care. If I bought my own gaming PC later, I would be able to continue playing the game there. GeForce Now offered "Hey, you're playing Cyberpunk at 720p@25fps? Wanna play at 1080p@60fps for $10? And you can leave any time" And I said heck yes.

Stadia would have denied me the ability to continue playing on my own machine while charging me even more money. There are a bunch of stories of people with saved games trapped in Stadia. Google made no attempt to be better than the competition. It's like they're unaware of anything other than themselves.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#100

Post by lern_too_spel » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 3:07 AM UTC

encryptluks2 wrote: post #68

puyoxyz wrote: post #7

This article feels like I’m being mansplained to. They’re clueless and are acting like an expert

I think it is just opportunism. The cool thing these days seems hating on Google, even if you have a really poor reason. It is just confirmation bias for those that have tried to convince themselves that Google is a failure despite their profits literally showing they are not failing as a business.

They can be incompetent and still successful. Look at Android. Its competition is an absolute joke, but Android still can't get dominant market share in the US even though it is cheaper than free to use in products. That's just bad management.