Stadia died because no one trusts Google • Hacker News Board

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#291

Post by mike_d » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:52 AM UTC

jillesvangurp wrote: post #276

No, it died because it was mismanaged as a product. There were technical issues when it launched but more importantly, there never was a good strategy for content. So, the catalogue was a combination of expensive and lacking in titles. I tried it out briefly because on paper it wasn't a bad idea. Except the free games were mostly not worth the money and the paid games were the same price as actually buying the games.…

> there never was a good strategy for content

Which was ultimately a tech driven chicken and egg problem. I know someone who is the lead for a popular game. They said they'd need to drop DirectX and effectively port the game to Linux to get Stadia working, which wasn't worth it for the user base.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#292

Post by kelnos » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:53 AM UTC

vxNsr wrote: post #217

h0l0cube wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you own a whole ecosystem Google virtually own Android, and yet they haven't innovated or taken the initiative in a way that Apple has. A distinction can be drawn with Apple here, as they've opened new markets by making devices that didn't exist yet (e.g., touch-driven mobile computing). They innovated from the beginning, not so much remaking Altavista with Bigtable.

This is such a great point. Google has been coasting on android for years now, pixel has some cool phone features (call transcription, navigating phone trees) but those aren’t shared to the wider android market and virtually everything else comes down to, let’s make a better camera. The whole reason they created android was to prevent Microsoft from winning the mobile space. Making sure the other guy loses isn’t grea…

This is also such a great point. I've never considered Google's lazy attitude toward Android through the lens of why Android became a priority in the first place. That really does explain a lot.

And the rest of it: "Ok, we killed Microsoft here, now what?" "Eh... whatever."

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#293

Post by mediumiqsad » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:54 AM UTC

mach1ne wrote: post #252

Thorrez wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they won't use one iota of their largess to help you deal with the consequences of their actions. Google's refunding all Stadia game and hardware purchases. Disclosure: I work at Google, but not on Stadia.

IMO no need for a disclosure if you're just stating a single fact.

It’s intentional, it’s a way to brag. They don’t need to at all. There’s a reason why nobody at other companies does that - people at other companies are normal and don’t think they’re gods gift to the world.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#294

Post by frouge » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:54 AM UTC

This: "To be honest I would be relieved if they screwed up Gmail so badly that I had no choice but to switch"

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#295

Post by mugivarra69 » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:56 AM UTC

i agree with broad theme. the people who work on games, are not really fan of big corps owning things. most game devs want their thing to be reflection of them and share the joy with people, rather than siloing it and milking people. that is my experience, personally.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#296

Post by kelnos » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:56 AM UTC

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #268

rippercushions wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhh, no, Altavista was the dominant player before Google and it had plenty of competition. Google's key innovations were leveraging PageRank to extract signal from what other webpages were saying, instead of relying on naive keyword search etc, and then figuring out a way to monetize search with targeted keyword ads when Yahoo and co were stuck with banner impressions.

Yep, Altavista was the one to use before Google. I'm not sure the search results were that much better to be honest when they launched, although they were good. Call me shallow, but I liked the simple, distraction free landing page and the "feeling lucky" button.

Agree with the sibling: the first time I used Google, it felt like magic. I ended up not even caring about what I was searching for; I just started throwing queries at it and marveling at how great the results were.

Altavista was certainly better than what came before, but you had to get your query just right in order to find what you wanted. And if you couldn't find the right words for the query, you were sunk. With Google, you could get ok-ish results with a sub-standard query, and the ok-ish results would often help you figure out a better query.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#297

Post by mstipetic » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:57 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.

If I were to rent a game for say 10 dollars play it and be done with it that would make me jump on it. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#298

Post by yyyk » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:57 AM UTC

Shorel wrote: post #284

_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…

It makes sense for their intended use: Google wants googlers and high school students to not use Windows for any reason, and only use chromebooks. Stadia was a way for people with a chromebook to play Windows games.

That would make sense if Stadia was targeted at casuals (high school students probably can't afford AAA).

However, the lack of subscriptions, separate purchase model, lack of discoverability (no search bar for years! from the Search company!) and porting model make it clear Stadia was very much not targeted at casuals.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#299

Post by cma » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 7:59 AM UTC

yyyk wrote: post #298

Shorel wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense for their intended use: Google wants googlers and high school students to not use Windows for any reason, and only use chromebooks. Stadia was a way for people with a chromebook to play Windows games.

That would make sense if Stadia was targeted at casuals (high school students probably can't afford AAA). However, the lack of subscriptions, separate purchase model, lack of discoverability (no search bar for years! from the Search company!) and porting model make it clear Stadia was very much not targeted at casuals.

Highschool students are a primary demographic for AAA.

Re: Stadia died because no one trusts Google

#300

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Oct 02, 2022, 8:03 AM UTC

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #267

londons_explore wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do care what the competition is doing, but the company is such a large and slow machine that it takes them many years to change course even slightly. that means when they see their competition doing something new and innovative, it takes many years to even get to the same point.

You don’t really know this, do you? You’re just forcing to see them at a certain light?

[deleted]