Today, the Google Stadia streaming service officially launched for those who picked up the Founder or Premier Edition.
Well, sort of anyway. Some people have it, a lot of people don't, we certainly don't and it appears the team at Stadia give different answers to different people on when you will actually be able to access it. I've also seen plenty of people whose orders have been cancelled without warning or explanation. Even worse still, some people have been sent their hardware without an access code. Google have, so far, done a terrible job at communicating on Stadia and so the initial launch doesn't seem to have gone down well at all.
Oh, they also have the most ridiculous launch trailer I've ever seen:
Direct Link
The more I think about it, the more amazed I am at just how badly this has been managed. Take a look at the actual proper Stadia website for example, there's not a contact or support link in sight.
So they originally had a tiny lineup, then did a Reddit AMA where they said a bunch of the hooks they used to get people in weren't actually ready at all and hastily announced a few more games just before release. Nothing about it has so far looked like they've been in any way prepared to launch a gaming service.
One thing that I've seen confirmed now, as many suspected, is that input lag does seem to be a real problem. Google talked big about their powerful hardware and everything they were doing to bring it down, but it seems they haven't solved anything at all so far. Looking at the Eurogamer article, the input lag table included was quite impressive. This video from The Post also makes it look pretty awful.
From what Jason Schreier of Kotaku said on Twitter from "one person involved" that "preorders were below expectations". I really can't get my head around that. Somehow, they didn't get as many preorders as they had hoped and simultaneously failed to get them into the hands of people who did buy into it early. Words are honestly failing me right now. Incredible.
Eventually, at some point we will get access to it to report on how it works when played on a Linux desktop. When that is, I can't tell you, Google can't either. We're playing delivery bingo right now.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Both worked flawlessly with no noticeable input lag (wired for Chrome, wireless for Chromecast). I do have pretty fast Internet, but my roommate was also watching a stream in the other room at the same time.
I'll definitely need to try out more games and put some more time in to really make a judgement, but my initial impression is pretty good. I'm interested to hear how it goes for you, Liam.
Quoting: sypher7Got mine today and a little time to play with it. Tested it out on the Chromecast Ultra that came with it and in Chrome, both on WiFi (which they do not recommend).Well that gives me a little hope. What connection speed? How far away was your Chromecast from your router?
Both worked flawlessly with no noticeable input lag (wired for Chrome, wireless for Chromecast). I do have pretty fast Internet, but my roommate was also watching a stream in the other room at the same time.
I'll definitely need to try out more games and put some more time in to really make a judgement, but my initial impression is pretty good. I'm interested to hear how it goes for you, Liam.
Quoting: kellerkindtWell, and here is me. Me hoped that the stadia experience would be kinda solid, giving Valve enough reasons to push full steam ahead (haha! sry) using the Linux container env as cloud env allowing us to play all the AAA games as they enter steam cloud gaming... Bye bye, me playing Red Dead Redemption 2 natively on Linux... :'(
If it would fail, shouldn't they sell Red Dead Redemption 2 on Linux to get at least a little money back?
Quoting: kellerkindtOne can have dreams, okay :P
I know what you mean... :D
QuoteWell, sort of anyway. Some people have it, a lot of people don't, we certainly don't and it appears the team at Stadia give different answers to different people on when you will actually be able to access it.
I don't understand the disconcertment in the tweets linked. You wrote back then "they ship it out based on order date. Checking back on it, ours is saying to be delivered by November 27th.", so I guess people should have gotten information when to expect their start...
Micromegas Nov 20, 2019
Quoting: kaimanThat trailer must be the best thing about Stadia I've seen so far.
The hair is strong in this one.
Quoting: EikeThe entire point is, they've given no clear answers to anyone. Originally, their advertisements very clearly said Founders get access right away, which was false. They then later said they will go out in the order placed (which didn't happen) and then also said you will get you access code "Right after we ship your order" which also hasn't happened.QuoteWell, sort of anyway. Some people have it, a lot of people don't, we certainly don't and it appears the team at Stadia give different answers to different people on when you will actually be able to access it.
I don't understand the disconcertment in the tweets linked. You wrote back then "they ship it out based on order date. Checking back on it, ours is saying to be delivered by November 27th.", so I guess people should have gotten information when to expect their start...
People got both the hardware and code yesterday, who ordered months after the first lot did after they went up. Google messed up badly.
A cloud gaming platform will require a lot of innovation to be successful, and this innovation will be beneficial for a lot of different areas. Anything that increase the interest in low latency-high-bandwidth communication is good.
Quoting: KetilI am looking forward to some input lag benchmarks. How many milliseconds does it take from you push a button until you get a frame that is affected by it? How much does the input lag vary? Under which conditions does the input lag get too high? I would also like to see some statistics of where the latency is occurring, but this probably requires cooperates from the stadia team.Honestly, I've no idea on how to actually accurately measure input lag. Been looking around, doesn't sound like it's even remotely easy to do. The best guides I've seen mention using a really good camera to show both the screen and key presses, which sadly the best I have is a webcam and it's not all that great either. We just don't have the funding to splash on stuff like that.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 20 November 2019 at 12:13 pm UTC
Quoting: Liam DaweHonestly, I've no idea on how to actually accurately measure input lag. Been looking around, doesn't sound like it's even remotely easy to do. The best guides I've seen mention using a really good camera to show both the screen and key presses, which sadly the best I have is a webcam and it's not all that great either. We just don't have the funding to splash on stuff like that.
German magazine c't used a 1000 fps cam. I would guess you have some of those lying around? ;)
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