Prediction: Google Stadia won't last a year.

RJ 17

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Beyond the fact that most regions don't have the internet infrastructure to allow streaming games without issue to be viable, there's the little matter of the pricing that was discussed in a recent interview.

Step 1: Buy the $69 controller.
Step 2: Sign up for the $10 per month subscription to gain access to all the super-amazing-extra-awesome features that were originally discussed.
[del]Step 3: Enjoy a streaming service in which you trade some lag for the convenience of having a "Netflix of Games" service.[/del]
Step 3: Purchase each individual game at full price.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Google intends to sell you imaginary games. Games which, should the servers ever go do, will evaporate. At least with a digital storefront if a game gets delisted the files are still on your system. With physical copies that game is physically yours and no one can take it away from you. With cloud gaming - as Stadia is going to be - if something goes wrong or this service goes tits-up, there goes all your games.

Google tells us you should expect to buy, not rent cloud games for the same retail prices you?d find on other platforms like PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam.

?We will sell these games like any other digital storefront,? Google?s director of games Jack Buser tells The Verge.
Calling it right now: Stadia is going to be dead in the fucking water if they launch with this as their business model.

Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/6/18654632/google-stadia-price-release-date-games-bethesda-ea-doom-ubisoft-e3-2019
 

sXeth

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I mean, people buy Chromebooks (those laptops that are a monitor, keyboard, and an internet connection to use Googles online apps)

Though yeah, trying to hit the gamer market who expect a bit more then casual wayfarer laptop crowd might strain that. Not that gamers won't buy crap in droves. But with a concept that's already only properly supported infrastructure wise in maybe 10% of the market, trying to also sell everything at full price or a premium isn't a smart strategy.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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The selling point of the stadia is supposedly that you don't have to spend money on a console...but the $10 a month subscription fee means that in 3 years it'll be the same price as a new console. These days console generations last 7+ years, so paying for a stadia subscription will actually be more than twice as expensive as just buying a console, all for games that will run significantly worse.
 

Squilookle

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I sure hope it fails. But then I don't see the point of media streaming services like Netflix unless it has everything, all the time either, so what do I know?
 

Catfood220

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Well I'm not getting one. I don't know how much that's going to effect the overall numbers.
 

RJ 17

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Adam Jensen said:
The idea is dumber than Google glasses. Remember those?
No, I most specifically don't. :3

Squilookle said:
I sure hope it fails. But then I don't see the point of media streaming services like Netflix unless it has everything, all the time either, so what do I know?
When originally announced, it sounded like Stadia was going to be a streaming device that would unite the consoles. All games for a simple subscription price. Essentially combining PSNow and Xbox(I forget what their all-encompassing game pass is called). It honestly sounded like something that might be worth a try. But now that they've clarified "Yeah, no, you're still going to be buying every game for the full retail price" it suddenly went from a "Eh, why not give it a shot?" to a "Why in the hell would I ever consider giving this a try?"

Again, it's the fact that it's streaming games that you've bought. You pay full price for a game that you don't even theoretically own.
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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Your big publishers won't be content sharing profits with Google. They'll want a pie of their own, rather than a slice. That's why pretty much all of them are talking starting a streaming service of their own. So, $10 a month for Stadia (probably more on a Premium sub to make Stadia not suck), but also $10 to access the Ubisoft library. $10 for EA, $10 for Bethesda, for Microsoft, for Sony, for Square, perhaps Nintendo, and so on. Pretty much what's happening to the tv streaming landscape now.

So if you want a 'Netflix of games', assuming Stadia does actually gather everything on a single platform (unlikely), you'd likely be looking at paying for half a dozen or more subscriptions for the privilege of gaining access to the games on top of paying full price for those games.
 

Squilookle

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RJ 17 said:
Adam Jensen said:
The idea is dumber than Google glasses. Remember those?
No, I most specifically don't. :3

Squilookle said:
I sure hope it fails. But then I don't see the point of media streaming services like Netflix unless it has everything, all the time either, so what do I know?
When originally announced, it sounded like Stadia was going to be a streaming device that would unite the consoles. All games for a simple subscription price. Essentially combining PSNow and Xbox(I forget what their all-encompassing game pass is called). It honestly sounded like something that might be worth a try. But now that they've clarified "Yeah, no, you're still going to be buying every game for the full retail price" it suddenly went from a "Eh, why not give it a shot?" to a "Why in the hell would I ever consider giving this a try?"

Again, it's the fact that it's streaming games that you've bought. You pay full price for a game that you don't even theoretically own.
Oh.

Oh I see.

Well when you put it that way, it's actually doubly shit.
 

meiam

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I mean, even as a streaming service it was doomed to fail... but wow, what idiot though this was a good idea? At that point, why don't you just remote desktop into your home computer?

Although I do kinda get why this is happening, I just read an article in the economist about it, it's really rare that they have anything video game related so I don,t think they have anybody on staff who cover them. The article sounded like it was possibly going to become the next big thing, with few mentions of the massive drawback. So google probably has the same problem, there only video game people only cover shitty mobile game and can't understand why stadia will burn.
 
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They've invested a lot of money into it, and partnered with AMD for special hardware, so I think they will persevere for a couple of years if for no other reason than that they have contractual obligations to meet. That said, I think it will fail and they will wind it up as soon as they are able to.
 

CaitSeith

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I mean OUYA lasted until this year, and that was just a Kickstarter project. Who knows for how long Google will try to prolong Stadia's lifespan?
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I would be more sure it would fail if a lot of other companies werent trying to get into the game streaming thing also. I still dont personally think it will work well, but there is something all these companies are sure about and I don't think all of them are blinded by there being good internet in their cities. Although I suppose they all just might be trying to jump on the new thing that will give them unprecedented control over their games.
 

Eacaraxe_v1legacy

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The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's not designed to fail so Google can patent/copyright troll and/or gain leverage on the cloud gaming market in some way. Look at the relationship between Google Nexus, Android, and the smartphone market; the Nexus line was never terribly successful, but the success of the phones themselves was never Google's end zone. And if I had to wager on it, the intent is to beat Amazon and limit their options for breaking into the cloud gaming market.

Of the entire developed world, only a miniscule portion of it has the precise combination of sufficient broadband penetration, infrastructure, and affordability, but way more important telecom regulatory landscape, to actually allow its use. Stadia's effectively DOA in any country that doesn't have net neutrality provisions, and that doesn't even include the country in which it's being developed.
 

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Seth Carter said:
I mean, people buy Chromebooks (those laptops that are a monitor, keyboard, and an internet connection to use Googles online apps)
A chromebook does have purpose. It's to use a laptop pretty much to browse the net(I like to have an actual keyboard, so a tablet/smartphone isn't worth it for me and full lappy is too expensive for just web browsing).

Stadia, on the other, yeah, it's dependent on a high speed, constant web connection so that's a major strike against it from the start. Not to mention you don't get to keep anything. Once it rotates off the service, it's gone. Once Stadia dies, it's gone.
 

RJ 17

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Dirty Hipsters said:
The selling point of the stadia is supposedly that you don't have to spend money on a console...but the $10 a month subscription fee means that in 3 years it'll be the same price as a new console. These days console generations last 7+ years, so paying for a stadia subscription will actually be more than twice as expensive as just buying a console, all for games that will run significantly worse.
Not to mention look and sound worse. But google won?t care as long as they?re able to skimp on hardware cost, and more than double profits off of whoever doesn?t care or isn?t aware enough to know any better.
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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Silentpony said:
Isn't stadia what Yoga teachers put in their coffee?
That's stevia. Tho that's known for having an unpleasantly bitter aftertaste, so perhaps not that disimilar.