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When I tried Google's Stadia streaming service in March, I was impressed by its ambition, but I expressed serious concerns about the scope of this service for consumers.
After a second and longer practical experience in Cologne, Germany, at Gamescom, my cautious optimism remains more or less intact. This time, I was able to play the next Bethesda first-person shooter Eternal Doom and Warner Bros. Have recently launched the fighting game Mortal Kombat 11.
For the context, Eternal Doom was working on a Google Pixelbook in Mortal Kombat 11 Google Pixel 3 was available. The devices were connected to a 25 Mbps network and used the Stadia controller developed by Waterloo.
Both titles, perhaps more than many other titles of Stadia, require a constant frame rate and low latency. Eternal Doom it's all about speed and momentum, which can be ruined if the game does not run smoothly. Likewise, fight titles like Mortal Kombat 11 you rely on precise key-ins and timing, which can be completely canceled out by any form of offset.
That's why I was particularly impressed by the performance of both matches on Stadia. Really, I would not have guessed that any of the games ran on the cloud if I did not know how to get there already. To really test the limits of Stadia, I even wanted to try to play as chaotic as possible.
In other words, I used combinations of practically all the mechanisms and weapons available – double jumps, dashes, shotguns, rocket launchers and brutal executions, among others – to progress. Likewise, I've tried so many Mortal Kombat 11The alignment of my choice, while fighting against characters that I did not choose and who do not choose new steps each time.
Regardless of the way I played and whatever game I chose, Stadia maintained her level of performance brilliantly and without any visible hiccups. It is certainly a good idea to see these types of games play as well as on the service.
That said, the range of games is mainly composed of games that will also be offered on other platforms. This is even taking into account the many new Stadia titles revealed by Google to Gamescom, including Borderlands 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and made in Toronto Watchdogs: Legion. There are certainly very good titles in this list and in the range of launches previously confirmed, but I still wonder how many people would like to pay a high price for the novelty to be able to win.
For example, Cyberpunk 2077 promises to be a sprawling, dozens of hours of action-RPG branching not like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunting. I'm not sure that many people would choose to buy the Stadia version of the game rather than play it on a console or PC, or even double dive and get both. It's not like choosing to buy, say, Skyrim or the next Witcher 3 again on Switch where you have the guarantee (for the most part) of a coherent experience without Internet, wherever you are.
I am also disappointed that a large public demo deployment on Stadia is not planned. I've long thought that people should experience the new technology before buying it. However, a Google representative told me that demonstrations such as the one I played should only be offered at certain major gaming events, such as the upcoming PAX West in Seattle. It is unfortunate that countries like Canada – where gambling events are rare and spaced – are none the less, essentially left out. In contrast, Microsoft's Project xCloud streaming service will be playable during public testing in October.
This is to say nothing of the biggest problem of Stadia – Internet. As many have pointed out, people with a ceiling of use or living in unwelcome areas will have trouble using Stadia. Being able to test home service – as Microsoft wants with xCloud – would at least help consumers get a better idea of how home service works.
That said, I'm fascinated to see how Stadia behaves. There are many obstacles to overcome, especially in terms of infrastructure and availability, so it remains to be seen how Google solves them.
We will know for sure when Stadia will be launched in Canada and several other countries in November. The Stadia Founder's Edition – the only way to play Stadia in its debut – is now available for pre-order on the Google Store for $ 169 CAD.
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