Google knows how to stir expectations. In mid-March, the company announced its game streaming service Stadia as a "new way of gaming". The talk was of "best quality games" and a "video game platform that allows you to play your favorite games on any device at any time - whether on TV, laptop, desktop PC, tablet or smartphone". What Google promised sounded like it made the consoles and gaming machines redundant. That was the optimistic interpretation.
The pessimistic was: Now Google wants to try his luck in the business of blockbuster games - and it may be that Stadia ends after some time like his Facebook competitor Google+ or his virtual reality platform Daydream. As an ambitious started, ultimately abandoned project.
At Stadia these days, the course is set in the direction of success or failure. Players who spend $ 129 on a "Founder's Edition" or "Premiere Edition" receive three months of access to the Pro version of the service. Starting in 2020, this premium version of Stadia will cost around € 9.99 a month and be offered in parallel with a free basic version. I was already able to try the offer with a "Founder's Edition" - and was both impressed and disappointed.
No fun without fast internet
If you flirt with Stadia, first a hint: You do not need a console for Stadia, but fast Internet. Otherwise nothing works, no matter how many games you buy in the Stadia shop.
For games streaming via WLAN or Ethernet cable at least 10 Mbit per second (Mbit / s) are needed in less timely 720p resolution, for 1080p around 20 Mbit / s. And for the only possible with the Pro version 4K and HDR streaming, it is even at least 30 to 35 Mbit / s.
The latter is more than most Germans available. And even with well-supplied households it could be tight for 4K streaming, if a family member in the same network just Netflix wants to look in a similar high resolution.
Google / THE MIRROR
Up to 20 gigabytes per hour: Stadia is screaming for a data flatrate
Stadia has not yet been able to make use of mobile telephony - which is only a small downside given the holey German network and the local mobile data volume. According to Google, 4K game streams have up to 20 gigabytes of data per hour. And even in the selectable via Stadia app 720p data-saving option - with the games on large TVs look noticeably worse - it is still 4.5 gigabytes per hour.
Turn the TV into a gaming platform
The Stadia app for Android or iOS is the heart of the service. From here you decide on which platform you want to play: whether on TV, on the computer or on the smartphone. The best is the experience on televisions, combined with an optimized for gaming image setting.
Markus Böhm / THE MIRROR
Pixel 3a Smarthphone with Stadia app
Turn the TV into a gaming platform
Part of both Stadia launch packages is a Chromecast Ultra. This is a 4K-capable streaming box that connects to the TV via HDMI and to the router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable. This makes it easy to convert the TV to the gaming platform (see photo gallery). The games are controlled by a Wi-Fi-connected Google controller, which also belongs to the starter pack.
In our test with a connection that comes in everyday life at 50 to 80 Mbit / s download speed, could be, inter alia, "Red Dead Redemption II" play without significant drops in quality. The Wild West game ran on Google machines. About my router and my Wi-Fi network landed the picture with me and my controller inputs at Google.
"Red Dead Redemption II" works just as exciting and decelerating on Stadia and with the Google Controller as it does on my Playstation 4. However, the game looks smarter thanks to the 4K stream, with tolerable load times.
As a further test equipment I used my working laptop (which lacks a graphics card designed for modern games) as well as a Pixel 3a mobile phone from Google, one of the few already compatible with Stadia smartphones. In both cases, the streaming worked well: on the computer via Google's Chrome browser, on the phone directly via the Stadia app.
The change from one device to another sometimes seemed a bit tedious. But you could - if you change fast enough - each resume the last game. A practical feature.
Full quality only on the TV
However, streams beyond the Chromecast Ultra have one drawback: Google delivers them up to a maximum of 1080p, even if a laptop monitor, for example, offers 4K resolution. And: Google's controllers can only be used wired beyond the TV, which is annoying on the phone, even with a Google accessory called "The Claw" (see photo gallery).
Absurdly, wireless control on both devices is basically possible: when using a Playstation-4 or Xbox-One controller, a gamepad of the competition. With the television variant of Stadia again these controllers can not be connected. Who wants to beat the TV in "Mortal Kombat 11", therefore, needs an additional Google controller.
Even otherwise Stadia is still an offer with many "coming soon" announcements. For example, there will be an Achievement System and an innovative way to share your score with others. The "Founder's Edition" and the "Premiere Edition" are not yet products that fulfill all Google promises.
It's exciting to see how far Google 2020 is when Microsoft attacks xCloud with its Project, which, in addition to Shadow digital turbo computer rental, Nvidia's Geforce Now service and Sony's Playstation Now, is the most direct Stadia rival. It will be particularly interesting, should Microsoft xCloud and its gaming flat rate Xbox Game Pass match and so have a kind of big "Netflix for Games" on offer.
Google / THE MIRROR
The Pro version of Stadia with 4K, HDR and surround sound costs 9.99 euros per month
Start with 22 games
At Stadia Pro-subscription customers get to start only two games without further costs, the space action game "Destiny II: The Collection" and the fighting game "Samurai Shodown". Both are nice additions, but probably not games for which you get extra Stadia.
20 more titles are still available, including the exclusive horror game "Gylt" and sometimes more, sometimes less available, also available on other platforms titles such as "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey" of 2018, three "Tomb Raider" games and the " Football Manager 2020 ". Most games seem a bit more expensive than on other platforms: for example, "Red Dead Redemption II" costs $ 59.99 in the US, as does "Shadow of the Tomb Raider". "Gylt" costs $ 29.99.
In the end, players have to decide individually whether a service like Stadia makes sense to them, with their monthly subscription fee, with the ability to play games only when there is enough bandwidth for Stadia. With its close relationship to the Google ecosystem, including Chrome and the Pixel phones. One should also keep in mind that - unless explicitly advertised with so-called crossplay - in the online modes of many Stadia games can probably compete only against other Stadia users, but not against users of classic PC or console versions.
So far, the service is not a switch, Playstation or Xbox killer, but especially for owners of 4K TVs without any gaming equipment interesting. But should the service be open to more iOS and Android devices in the future, get new features, and get rid of some controller throttling, it might actually be a game PC or console alternative - including announced blockbusters such as "Cyberpunk 2077" and " Watch Dogs: Legion ". Then it depends only on your own Internet, if the game streaming fun.
