Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stadia Bluetooth Mode

stadia.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 98 posts

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#21

Post by falcolas »

wjnc wrote: post #14
falcolas wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gamers said no because it was a product where you didn't own the games, didn't own the hardware it ran on, and couldn't play the games without being within a few dozen miles of a Google datacenter (an exaggeration, but I'm certainly not close enough to play anything with a reflex check, and I'm on fiber in the lower 50 states). I can't blame them; the value proposition for most gamers was approximately zero.

Happy user of Stadia here. Fit the dad gamer in off hours usecase perfectly. Spent enough on it that even the total refund felt like something. And now on top of that I own a controller to use with the GeForce Now embedded in my LG TV. Consumer galore.

I hate to put it this way, but you got lucky in getting a total refund.

Question though: Did you get to keep your progress in the games, or did you lose that with the shutdown?

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#23

Post by AstixAndBelix »

andrewia wrote: post #10
rew0rk wrote: post #3

> Available until December 31, 2023 Meaning that controllers that have the old firmware will be unable to switch after that date? This seems like a weird restriction to have if this is a firmware update?

I assume it requires something hosted, and can't be open sourced due to licensing restrictions*. Hopefully it can be reverse engineered. *I've heard from firmware engineers inside and outside of Google that licensing is the biggest reason why stuff isn't open sourced.

I mean, that's absolutely true for Android hardware. If MediaTek or Qualcomm or any other supplier for the various parts open sourced their drivers we would be able to port any new version of AOSP to basically everything that has enough juice to run it and then some.

Unfortunately these companies control the drivers and have the strictest licenses imaginable, so even companies like Samsung or Google can only offer updates as long as their suppliers allow them, after that it's just waiting for the ABI to break and the old drivers to stop working

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#24

Post by falcolas »

RulerOf wrote: post #19

Heh, the store still has the listing, but no models available: https://store.google.com/config/g1q35w?hl=en-US&pli=1 Anyone know if it's possible to buy one anywhere? I recall hearing that it was a decent controller.

Might I recommend an 8BitDo Pro2 controller if you don't find one? Fantastic wireless controller for not a lot of money.

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#25

Post by _Cr15py_ »

This is great news. I have two controllers (and many hours of fun on Stadia). It really was a great service for me... sat in the Scottish Highlands with a Starlink 'net connection I had the best of both worlds... rural living and a fast enough connection to not worry about latency.

My platform of choice is now a Steam Deck so my first test will be there, hoping it'll work.

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#26

Post by wjnc »

falcolas wrote: post #21
wjnc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happy user of Stadia here. Fit the dad gamer in off hours usecase perfectly. Spent enough on it that even the total refund felt like something. And now on top of that I own a controller to use with the GeForce Now embedded in my LG TV. Consumer galore.

I hate to put it this way, but you got lucky in getting a total refund. Question though: Did you get to keep your progress in the games, or did you lose that with the shutdown?

If I understand correctly Ubisoft even put the games I got refunded in their portal including progress for me conditional on me making an account. All other progress is lost. The Xbox days of caring about perfectly finishing games are long behind me.

I did think about the money and Google angle up front. I saw no reason Google could get away with no refunds under Dutch law. That might have been optimistic, but in the end might also have driven them to refunds. Same risk is in my eBook or audiobook collection.

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#28

Post by SkyPuncher »

james_in_the_uk wrote: post #15
skybrian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think it’s all on Google. The customers get a say too. Most gamers said no, so the product failed.

Target market = people who: (I) like to play computer games (II) haven’t already invested in hardware and a library (II) aren’t sensitive to latency. Not exactly surprising that it didn’t take off.

I can't even tolerate the latency of playing my PS5 one room over. Can't see how it'd be any fun to play a game hosted hundreds of miles away.

Re: Stadia Bluetooth Mode

#30

Post by nailer »

wjnc wrote: post #14
falcolas wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gamers said no because it was a product where you didn't own the games, didn't own the hardware it ran on, and couldn't play the games without being within a few dozen miles of a Google datacenter (an exaggeration, but I'm certainly not close enough to play anything with a reflex check, and I'm on fiber in the lower 50 states). I can't blame them; the value proposition for most gamers was approximately zero.

Happy user of Stadia here. Fit the dad gamer in off hours usecase perfectly. Spent enough on it that even the total refund felt like something. And now on top of that I own a controller to use with the GeForce Now embedded in my LG TV. Consumer galore.

I played Cyberpunk in both stadia and GFN on the same connection on the same machine in early 2021. Performance in GFN was way better than Stadia.
Post reply on HN