Google's Project Yeti

As if the gaming market wasn't full enough already, here comes Google! - https://www.t3.com/news/google-yeti-to-rival-xbox-scarlett-and-ps5-with-new-streaming-console

So, if you hadn't known about this before there is plenty of speculation out there about this 'thing' (no one is sure just what form it will take).

no one is sure just what form it will take.

More details...

Google formally reveals its new game streaming platform Stadia, works on basically any screen

Google just took the wraps off "Stadia," its new multiplatform game-streaming service. Details are still sparse (the announcement is ongoing as we speak), but we're pulling together all the pertinent details from Google's GDC Keynote as we get them. Here's what we know.

 

Stadia follows last year's Project Stream test, which Google views as a resounding success.

 

The streaming platform supports Chrome, as you'd probably expect, but Sundar Pichai (Google's CEO) also mentioned other platforms, including the company's Pixel devices, with plans to support more browsers and platforms over time. "We are dead serous about making technology accessible to everyone," Sundar said during his section of the keynote.

 

During the keynote, the company was able to do a live test of Stadia on a Chromebook, Pixel, desktop, and a Chromecast, so at a minimum, those platforms are supported.

 

Stadia's controller works over Wi-Fi, connecting to Google's data center network — the same place the games themselves run. Google's expanded its data centers to better provide an optimized experience, for even "the most demanding games."

 

The service provides instant access in as little as 5 seconds, with no updates, downloads, or installation process. It's "instantly enjoyable, with access for everyone," in the words of Sundar.

 

When Stadia launches, it will support up to 4K resolutions, with additions including HDR and surround sound. 8K support is eventually planned, and simultaneous streams to YouTube directly from Google's data centers are also supported — potentially giving Stadia a strong synergy for Twitch game-streaming types. They'll be able to capture, highlight, and share their gameplay directly from Stadia, reducing the difficulty and requirements for aspiring creators.

 

A feature called "Crowd Play" allows viewers to even join games with streamers — that will certainly go well.

 

The company touts it as cheating/hack-proof, which is a strong claim. Presumably not having access to the hardware or software will at least make the job a little harder.

 

Google pegs its Stadia hardware as around twice as fast as current game consoles, and it can further scale through multiple GPUs for enhanced performance. The company also believes its network infrastructure can better scale and deliver a lower-latency experience. "Full cross-platform play" will also be coming, assuming game developers build support for it into their products.

 

Hardware and software partners include AMD, Unity, CryEngine, and Havok. Google also apparently worked together with AMD for custom GPU hardware. Stadia itself, deep in the recesses of Google's data centers, runs on Linux.

 

Stadia isn't just a hardware or streaming solution, it's also a game development platform itself, providing developers with additional tools that can bring new and unique functionality. That includes stuff like split-screen games with no performance penalty, and other multiple effective "camera" features for unique gameplay and game coordination.

 

Rather than sending your buds gameplay vids, Stadia will allow you to share the actual moment via something called "State Share," that allows your friends to see the moment replayed in real time, in-engine. The won't be watching a recording, they'll be watching the game itself.

 

Doom Eternal will be coming to Stadia at 4K with HDR at a smooth 60fps, and RiME sounds like it might be supported.

 

Pricing, compatible games, and Stadia's full list of supported platforms at launch are still TBD.

Google unveils Stadia cloud gaming service, launches in 2019

Stadia will stream games from the cloud to the Chrome browser, Chromecast, and Pixel devices, and it will launch at some point in 2019 in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe.

 

Phil Harrison, a former Sony and Microsoft executive, joined Pichai onstage to fully unveil Stadia in his role at Google. Harrison says Google will amplify this game streaming service by using YouTube and the many creators that already create game clips on the service. Google previously tested this service as Project Stream in recent months, allowing Chrome users to stream games in their browser. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was the first and only game to be tested publicly using Google’s service, and the public tests finished in January.

 

Of course, Google won’t limit Stadia to just one game. Google demonstrated a new feature in YouTube that lets you view a game clip from a creator and then hit “play now” to instantly stream the title. “Stadia offers instant access to play,” says Harrison, without the need to download or install any games. At launch, games will be streamable across laptops, desktops, TVs, tablets, and phones.

 

Google demonstrated moving gameplay seamlessly from a phone to a tablet and then to a TV, all using Google-powered devices. While existing USB controllers will work on a laptop or PC, Google is also launching a new Stadia Controller that will power the game streaming service. It looks like a cross between an Xbox and PS4 controller, and it will work with the Stadia service by connecting directly through Wi-Fi to link it to a game session in the cloud. This will presumably help with latency and moving a game from one device to another. You can also use a button to capture and share clips straight to YouTube, or use another button to access the Google Assistant.

 

To power all of this cloud streaming, Google is leveraging its global infrastructure of data centers to ensure servers are as close to players around the world as possible. That’s a key part of Stadia, as lower latency is a necessity to stream games effectively across the internet. Google will support up to 4K at 60 fps at launch, and it’s planning to support up to 8K resolutions and 120 fps in the future.

If rumors flying around are to be believed, Microsoft's next offering will be designed around streaming. That and Microsoft Live will be coming to the Switch too.

We live in interesting times indeed!

Official website: stadia.com

https://youtu.be/HikAuH40fHc

We live in interesting times indeed!

I also wonder how the Shadow game streaming service (that @MrMat uses in this thread) will be able to compete with both Google and Microsoft?

Haven't been into games for quite a few years now, but it always used to be driving sims for me. I can't imagine lag not being an issue when streaming those sorts of games.

Will be an interesting development to watch, though. Anyone else's first thoughts run to environmental implications of this kind of thing? Will this essentially do away with high-end computing in the home, and all of the related energy cost associated with getting there, or will it just mean that tonnes more people will be firing up a high-end computing system that otherwise wouldn't have done?

Hmmmm... Interesting, but am I the only one thinking that "the future of gaming" is more about getting people to pay monthly for a subscription?

Also, unless the YT results also include "click to play" on X Box/Playstation Pay Monthly isn't that unfair competition? Not that that has ever bothered Google...

I can't imagine lag not being an issue when streaming those sorts of games.

Me neither - however, Shadow's Gaming PC service seems to not have an issue with lag, and this Google service seems to be something quite similar in concept.

Anyone else's first thoughts run to environmental implications of this kind of thing?

Environment as in energy usage? I'm inclined to think it will probably use energy more efficiently overall, with the main work being concentrated in server farms which can be powered by renewable energy.

If you mean environment as in computing environment, we could see considerable changes in the next few years, too. This service from Google is basically running games as a thin client, and if I understand correctly the resources to run the client-side bit seem to be built in to the Chrome webbrowser itself - not sure if that's as a public standard, or just as a feature Chrome happens to have. Shadow currently uses its own client available for various platforms. What would be interesting would be if Google / Microsoft / whoever were to start offering virtual desktops or individual remote apps running on this kind of technology, all accesible via a standard thin client built in to everyone's browser (or Smart TV, tablet, etc).

Edit: cost - Shadow have been targetting the kind of people who pay £1,000 every couple of years to upgrade to the latest snazzy gaming hardware, so anything under around £40 a month for that sort of service is actually cheaper. Price would have to drop further to make it more mainstream, but paying for a monthly subscription and not having to worry about how up-to-date your local hardware is might be a good option for many people.

Official website: stadia.com

I also wonder how the Shadow game streaming service (that @MrMat uses in this thread) will be able to compete with both Google and Microsoft?

Yeaaah there's been lots of chatter about that on the Discord.

It's a difficult one to predict but they're kinda offering two different things. Stadia appears to be more of a cloud based console (more like OnLive and Nvidia Now) where as Shadow is a cloud based PC.

I think if Shadow maintain their 'Gaming in the Cloud' marketing, they're get smashed into smithereens by the big boys. They simply don't have the money or resources to compete.

They'll need to find more of a niche as a Full PC in the Cloud. There's still a market for that which i don't think Stadia will appeal to. That (for me anyway) is the reason i like it so much, i can use it for whatever I want.

That's my view anyway! But it's so early doors, who knows. Either way though, it's an interesting time. Cloud Gaming was officially arrived!

Competing proprietary platforms will be the order of the day, one suspects.

Indeed - server-side, GSuite / O365 / etc are probably going to start containing thin-client based applications. I'm wondering if, with Microsoft moving the rendering engine for Edge to use Chrome's rendering engine, everything is going to be one standardised protocol for the client-side, though.

I'm also wondering when Adobe are going to announce the ability to run Creative Cloud in a similar manner - it would make so much sense, people are already using Shadow for video editing and finding that works well.

Yeah, it just looks like Google flavoured Shadow PC. Which doesn't surprise me.. When console manufacturers are still adamant about having their exclusive titles, people are getting a bit cheesed off with arbitrary segregation. Especially concerning multiplayer, when you have games like Fortnite, Sea of Thieves, Rocket League et al all supporting crossplay. Some kind of service amalgamation was always going to crop up.

It'll be interesting to see where this leads, but I don't think this will take off amongst the hardware enthusiast crowd, then again I don't think this is aimed at the hardware enthusiast crowd either. I can't imagine that Google aren't looking to poach someone like me who builds their own system, they're looking to poach a share off Microsoft, Sony and maybe Nintendo. Couch gamers who connect a console to their TV and play casually for an hour will be who they're aiming at, especially if they can get games from multiple different platforms. Their biggest selling point will be if they can get some common ground between "Well I bought an XBox One but all my mates have PS4's sadface!" crowd.

Latency and Internet speed is also going to be an issue. I read somewhere they're recommending 25MB, which is more than double the average speed in the USofA. Over here where 30MB+ is standard, mostly, it won't be too bad. I'd imagine as long as the datacentres were somewhat local, the UK's biggest issue would be input lag.

Their biggest selling point will be if they can get some common ground between "Well I bought an XBox One but all my mates have PS4's sadface!" crowd.

The idea of turning up to a friends house with just my controller and playing all my games on their TV via their Chromecast is a really, really cool concept too!

The idea of turning up to a friends house with just my controller and playing all my games on their TV via their Chromecast is a really, really cool concept too!

Also a fair point.

I have a 'couch co-op' category in Steam that has games like Gang Beasts, Castle Crashers, BroForce, Death Road to Canada, Overcooked etc in it, but that still requires me to lug my PC downstairs and hook it up to the TV.. Then again that's only because the wifi doesn't reach downstairs so good so the Steam Link is next to useless now.. But that's an issue with the construction of the house and I guess that would plague any kind of game streaming service too. In the old house where the router was next to the TV it was fine.

They'll need to find more of a niche as a Full PC in the Cloud. There's still a market for that which i don't think Stadia will appeal to. That (for me anyway) is the reason i like it so much, i can use it for whatever I want.

That's a really good point. With Amazon WorkSpaces and Windows Virtual Desktop being marketed more towards business/corporate users than home users, Shadow should be okay since there isn't as much competition compared to game streaming.

The big decider will be cost, per month and for games. Currently I find it ridiculous that a game is the same if not more expensive for a download than a physical copy. I understand they are trying to keep shops happy but the prices are unrealistic and do not decrease sensibly. There is also the issue with consoles coming with too small HDD and the downloads taking hours.

I see the Shadow service as a way round this as you can just get Steam, buy games at sensible online prices and play those games anywhere. These are the concerns Microsoft and Google need to cover. For me anyway

That's a really good point. With Amazon WorkSpaces and Windows Virtual Desktop being marketed more towards business/corporate users than home users, Shadow should be okay since there isn't as much competition compared to game streaming.

Yeah i'd hope so. I'd be quite sad to see them disappear. Not just because I use the service, but because they're 'relatively' small company doing something really quite interesting (and doing it well, most the time!).

My plan for tonight is to replicate the latency test Digital Foundry performed with Tomb Raider on Stadia in that video. I'll do the same thing on Shadow. Can't compare directly as too many variables, but can compare the additional latency caused by the Cloud. Should be a fun/interesting little test.

The big decider will be cost, per month and for games. Currently I find it ridiculous that a game is the same if not more expensive for a download than a physical copy. I understand they are trying to keep shops happy but the prices are unrealistic and do not decrease sensibly. There is also the issue with consoles coming with too small HDD and the downloads taking hours.

I see the Shadow service as a way round this as you can just get Steam, buy games at sensible online prices and play those games anywhere. These are the concerns Microsoft and Google need to cover. For me anyway

Yeah price is going to be such an important aspect. I can see them going for one of two models (or maybe both?);

- quite expensive and games included or,

- similarly priced to PSN/Xbox Live but you have to buy/rent games

am I the only one thinking that "the future of gaming" is more about getting people to pay monthly for a subscription?

It's not just you and it's not just gaming that's going that way. Microsoft have said several times (or at least hinted at it) that at some point everything they do will be subscription based from Windows OS to their XBox consoles.

It's not just you and it's not just gaming that's going that way. Microsoft have said several times (or at least hinted at it) that at some point everything they do will be subscription based from Windows OS to their XBox consoles.

I remember suggesting that MS would like to charge monthly for Windows when W10 was being released and people thought it was a ridiculous idea. Things have changed in 5 years!

I remember suggesting that MS would like to charge monthly for Windows when W10 was being released and people thought it was a ridiculous idea. Things have changed in 5 years!

It is a ridiculous idea!

Doesn't mean they're not gonna do it, though..