Who precisely is this concept even marketable to? People with high speed internet, that also can't afford a gaming console?
But can afford a device capable of handling all of the inputs & playback of the video.
So lets low ball and say a $140 chromebook.
+ the cost of the games.
How many people is this? Genuinely.
A second point, sometimes i play coop games with my wife. Its nice not needing 2 consoles or gaming pc's. One can play on the TV and the other on a tablet or cheap laptop.
Unless you have (particularly good) fiber, this probably won't happen. The bandwidth requirements are too high.
> No wasting time downloading/installing games. No patches. Just games ready to play.
FWIW, all of the current generation consoles (even the Switch) have a standby mode that will let them patch your games while you're not playing, meaning that in most cases when you go to play, you can immediately play. They'll even download pre-ordered games without your input.
The only time you would need to be concerned about download times is when you're purchasing a new game for the first time. That's typically a one-time event per game.
On my Xbox I often don't get around to pre-ordering games and there is limited disk space so if I want to play a old game I have to wait again.
And, if I'm a little bit snarky, you can't exactly play those old games on Stadia either.
I game on PC, my kids use PC and consoles, and I can't say that "downloading/installing games" is a significant time sink - and if your network isn't good, Stadia isn't going to work either.
The other thing that I think will break the Stadia business model is that the free access costs Google money unless it recoups the spending on the games. So while we're hearing about reasonably competitive Day 1 prices for games, will we see the pattern of discounting that all other games go through? Second-hand console games?
It just feels like it's aiming at a niche while building out a huge system that's only going to be viable if it achieves mass adoption.
For example, say you want to play a particular new game but don't have the hardware for it. Stadia could be a good option to quickly get to play without having to buy new hardware.
Say I have a decent PC for most days and small games, but I'd like to try the new Forza Horizon because it looks fun. I could very well get it on Stadia. I'm not worried about losing access in 10 years, it's just to have some fun for a few months.
Actually for games with pretty high requirements such as the future Microsoft Flight Simulator, streaming could be the best option for most people.
Maybe there isn't enough high speed internet deployed in the world, but there certainly are a lot of devices capable of streaming given how many people already have an Android or iOS device on them at all times. Both of which support Bluetooth and most modern game controllers. Some of which have better screens than most people have at home. Some of which have better specs than, as just one interesting example, Nintendo's Switch.
For example, a gamer playing on PC and/or XBox might want to play Horizon Zero Dawn for some time, but not buy a PS4 just for one game. Or some Nintendo exclusive game.
Most people don't have all gaming consoles available, and exclusives are (IMHO sadly) a thing, and this might be a reasonable workaround to provide compatibility.
Of course its not available for Mac (yet).