TypicalVeteran's Take on Google Stadia

Google Stadia Review!!!!!!!

Introduction

I would like to start off by saying I have only been playing Stadia for about a week now. These observations of mine are only opinion based and I will adjust the material accordingly as things change. That being said I have searched far and wide for other reviews and have so far only found negative reviews. I will answer this by saying that it is more popular to post a negative review then to post a positive review. It is a lot easier to find what they did wrong vs what they did right. Critics who post negative reviews on this with the platform only being out for 2 weeks i would say are hunting for clicks and have not given the company a fair chance to evolve and grow. I have found several reviews from reputable writers that do not even own the platform. That being said I will not post either a positive or negative conclusion here. We will be speaking about the improves (Bad) and sustains (good) and unknowns (ugly). I will give you the facts and let you the reader take it at face value to decide for yourself.

The Bad

1.Game selection at launch.

Stadia launched with only 22 games total and of those games only a few of them are proven sellers. I will list the games below with the more popular ones indicated in bold. Google has already confirmed dozens more games to release in the next 90 days.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Attack on Titan: Final Battle 2

Destiny 2: The Collection (available in Stadia Pro)

Farming Simulator 2019

Final Fantasy XV

Football Manager 2020

Grid 2019

Gylt

Just Dance 2020

Kine

Metro Exodus

Mortal Kombat 11

NBA 2K20

Rage 2

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Red Dead Redemption 2

Samurai Shodown (available in Stadia Pro)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Thumper

Tomb Raider 2013

Trials Rising

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

2. Stadia Pro games selection

So when Stadia released it only came with two games included in the pro membership that you pay $10 per month for. Samurai Shodown and Destiny 2 the collection. Just yesterday, 12/2/19 several more games were added but I am only going to comment on the initial release. To me releasing Stadia with Destiny 2 the collection is a HUGE win. Destiny 2 is probably the most proven game of 2019 and to break in a new platform and make a signature statement by offering the game with all of the DLC ($250 value) is a statement. Samurai Shodown is a fun little button masher game with a couple of different modes that will make you reminisce about the arcade days of the past. The bad part of both of these titles is that Stadia leads its pro membership charge with a huge colossal giant of a game like Destiny and a small button pushing $.99 game like Samurai Shodown. There is no middle ground and there's only two games to play for free with your membership. In my opinion Google wouldn't have hurt sales too much to offer a few $5-$10 games to the pro membership list maybe like Tomb Raider and Farming Simulator. This ended up being the case just a few days later. My heart goes out to all who purchased those games before they became free. I can only speculate that Google issued some refunds. 

3. Internet Speed Requirement

Now before I go into this, Stadia was very forthcoming about needing a very high speed reliable network in order to operate smoothly. My internet is typically 100mbps download and 10mbps upload. I anticipated 0 issues with that speed. When I first set up Stadia i noticed that i would get lag spikes or frame drops but only on rare occasions. I contacted customer support who was very helpful. Turns out that my wireless router is only a 2.4Ghz router which is preventing me from seeing it in 4k like i was hoping for. I bypassed this issue by hard wiring the Stadia which i would highly recommend. There is a very accessible ethernet port on the back of the power cord allowing you to do this. If i had a 5Ghz router this would have been a non issue. The sad truth is my router is old and tired and that falls on me not Stadia. 

4. No in game LFG system 

With other platforms evolving like xbox with clubs and playstation with communities and PC with forums and discords, Stadia has none of that in game. The only social aspect is to invite random people into a voice chat. So far theres not even a private messaging system. This makes building a community a bit harder and games that rely on teamwork can suffer the consequences. The only caveat I would say to that is that I have had very positive experiences with the in game community being very mature. Game chat works very well and so does party chat. Discords for Stadia are far and plenty so if you do hook Stadia up to a CPU it can be a positive experience and a non factor.

5. The Controller 

The controller must be plugged into a source if you aren't playing on a chromecast. Google has already announced a fix for this. 

6. No way to record clips

So far unless you are using a screen capture on a pc, Stadia has no way to stream or record clips. You can record screenshots to the app but you do not have an option to save those screenshots to mobile. A fix for this was announced with Google assistant. 

The Good

1.Stadia is absolutely gorgeous 

4k at 60FPS delivered through a console less console? Count me in!! Its real people.the first game I played was Metro Exodus and i felt like i was there in Russia surviving the apocalypse with the characters. Red Dead Redemption 2 made me go buy a belt buckle and Destiny 2 runs better on my Stadia then it does on my PC. So far I have absolutely 0 complaints about the graphics and nothing but praise. Google got this one right.

2. Convenience

Google Stadia is designed to function at home or on the go. The only components are the controller and the puck. Need to switch TVs in the house or want to move to your computer or Google pixel phone? Done and easy. I was going to put the phone play on my improve list because so far the only compatible devices are the pixel series phones but Stadia has already confirmed more phone compatibility is coming. 

3. Mature community 

So far I haven't ran into any immature or toxic people. This platform is definitely designed for the adults. Stadia works better if you have a phone making the audience a little more mature to start with with the exception of that one 12 year old who has parents that allow them to have a smart phone.

4. Easy set up

Step 1 plug in chromecast ultra step 2 connect chromecast to network step 3 connect controller to network. Stadia app on your phone will walk you through this flawlessly 

5. The Controller 

Long disputes over which controller is better ps4 or Xbox One. Finally someone who has found a happy medium. This controller is lightweight like the ps4 but is ergonomically designed to fit your hand like an Xbox One. 

6. Potential 

To me this cloud gaming service has unlimited upward mobility. I will admit that it has had a shaky start but so has every platform released ever. With Google assistant coming soon you will be able to speak to your stadia and give it commands. This increases the convenience factor.

7. Chromecast Ultra 

In your stadia purchase you will receive 3 months of pro free and a Chromecast Ultra. So not only can you stop your game with your phone but cast your netflix episodes from your chair for bedtime without having to even stand up. 

8. Wonderful Customer Support 

I called Stadia customer support and their was no wait time and they were open on Thanksgiving to assist me. Not only was my issue resolved I was offered a Google Play gift card for my inconvenience.

9. Input lag

Everyone is murdering Google on their reviews for this. I will tell you this i have experienced 0 input lag or at least not enough to be noticeable. I will use Destiny for example. I have Destiny on PC,Xb1,PS4 and Stadia. By far it plays best on Stadia. Now that being said my PC is only set for 60FPS on Destiny so this really cant be compared to PC's that are capable of more.Go ahead PC gamers i will meet you in the comments lol.

Conclusion 

To close, I will say I have had loads of fun on Google Stadia so far and I fully believe that it will continue forward progress. A platform for $120 that can deliver 60 FPS at 4k you really can't go wrong. I don't believe it to be perfect so I won't pass judgment on if it is for you or not. Everyone has a different situation and I wanted to give my 2 cents on it to hopefully help you make a decision on it if you are on the fence. To keep my word here i will not speculate good or bad i will let you answer the question for yourself and form your own opinion. I would like to state a few things below that i think will or won't happen. I will leave you all to answer in the comments.

• Stadia needs to release an LFG and a Message center of some sort.
• Stadia rushed the release to meet the Christmas deadline to increase sales and did not have enough titles or tech issues worked out.
• Stadia will be more popular than X cloud because it will be the curiosity factor. I am going to make a bold outrageous prediction here that I know everyone will scream at me about in the comments and to be fair it is a coin toss if it actually happens, but here goes nothing. Google has enough buying power and financial backing to support other console exclusives on its Stadia platform but not allow other platforms to support Stadia exclusives in theirs. This is a wild prediction that Google could bully Sony Nintendo and Microsoft, but they are Google.
• Google has a 14 day or 2 hour play time money back guarantee no questions asked on games.
• It is imperative that Google Stadia focus on its exclusive content and comes out with Stadia only games that are outrageously addicting.
• Stadia needs Google Assistant ASAP
• Stadias app needs help badly. The FAQ section leaves their tech support in for some nightmarish phone calls.
• Google Stadia will be less then $100 by the time X-cloud comes out. 
• Google Stadia will soon take away google play rewards points so sign up while you still can and hope for a grandfather clause. Right now you can earn points on the dollar for every game purchase in google play INCLUDING STADIA GAMES!!!
• Very soon Google will fold their cards and release stadia to big name stores.
• Google stadia Population will triple by April 2020!
• Google will launch a streaming service to compete with mixer and twitch by July 2020
• Hardwire your Stadia if you can! Your experience will be 10X better.

Yours Respectfully,

TypicalVeteran