Google announces their entry into the gaming arena
How much can Stadia handle?
Welcome back fellow gamers! It’s been teased that Netflix for video games was coming and Google makes this a reality with the introduction of their game streaming platform called Stadia. We have to refer to Stadia as a platform since there is almost no hardware sold specifically for playing. All games are stored remotely and can be streamed to any device. It’s designed to be compatible with any controller of your choosing but Google is also selling their own wifi controller. Googles controller would connect directly to the server via wireless signal, by doing this it will shorten one of the biggest fear with Stadia, latency.
Latency
The technical definition to latency is the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer. To simplify this, it’s the amount of time that passes when you press a button on the controller and that action is shown on screen. There are several console games that acknowledge latency between systems and monitors and offer calibration techniques to resolve this. How would calibration be done in an environment where the system can thousands of miles away. This can be a deal breaker for some. Most games for Stadia are dependent on being connected to wifi. How well will this work for our more mobile gamers.
Stress test
This leads us into Team Max@Plays question about the systems stress. There is no doubt that Google is diligent in their preparation. Any bug that surfaces will be handled expeditiously. All the prep work in the world can stop a well organized determined group bent on testing the limits or even breaking the game. We’ve seen it countless times, a person or group determined to exploit a glitch that breaks the game. Take Fallout 76 for instance, that group went through hell and high water to set off multiple nukes at 1 time. They completed their objective but shutdown the entire server. What can we expect if such a coordinated attack takes place. Will it only impact that instance of the game? Will it have a ripple effect into other games being played at the same time?
The Games
Beyond all of the power and convenience the number one thing that will prove Stadia’s longevity will be the quality of games released. What’s the point of all the bells and whistles if the catalog sucks. Luckily, Google showed off a few amazing games. One popular title was Doom Eternal. It is Google though. There’s belief they wont have difficulty recruiting triple A gaming studios to develop something amazing. Google will definitely have the developing power of Bethesda and Ubisoft.
Conclusion
Team Max@Play has high hopes for Stadia. At the bottom we have a video highlighting more specs. We are looking forward to finding out the cost of the subscription service. How much is their fancy controller? Do you own any of the games being streamed?Let’s have a discussion the comment section below.
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