Article from WeChat public account:AppSo(ID:appsolution), author: Musi, from the title figure: Oriental IC
Stadia, a cloud gaming platform that Google has displayed in the past six months, was officially launched on November 19.
It is still a service for a small number of people – only 14 countries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and only those who have purchased the $129 “Founder Edition” package.
This package includes a Stadia official handle and a Chromecast Ultra TV stick, plus a 3-month “Pro” member, which is equivalent to getting an early trial.
Strictly speaking, based on the characteristics of cloud games, StadiaThere are not too many mandatory requirements for local hardware. It doesn’t have a physical game console, the game runs entirely on the Google server side, so there is no download process.
In an ideal state, you only need to have a connected device that can open the Chrome browser, and connect the handle of the PS4/Xbox, and you can also play it directly.
But Google still wants users to be able to buy a handle for their own platform. After all, this may be the only hardware product that has a relationship with the Stadia platform.
Image from: Expert Reviews
According to the official statement, this Stadia controller has a built-in Wi-Fi chip, which will directly send the user’s key commands to the server, thus eliminating the need to transfer signals to the local device, which better solves the input delay. problem.
If you don’t choose the founder version, Stadia’s handle is priced at $69, but it won’t be sold until 2020.
Image from: France 24
The IGN evaluation of the actual product said that Stadia’s handle is very smooth, the grip is very similar to the Nintendo Switch Pro, but the surface texture is touched and concave.The cross key and XYAB key layout are closer to the Microsoft Xbox One handle, and the symmetrical joystick design clearly refers to the PS4 handle.
Overall, this is a peripheral that will familiarize many console players. However, the officially announced “decrease in delay” feature may be difficult for players to perceive. IGN said that this delay improvement may be “millisecond”. If the effect is not obvious, he would rather choose a cheaper and better-feeling Xbox controller.
Another pity is that the functionality provided by the Stadia handle is not complete. For example, the “Video Recording” button on the right can only be used for screenshots, and the “Google Assistant Voice Assistant” button on the left is directly disabled because the function is not open.
Be aware that Google originally focused on the feature of “Let the voice assistant assist the player to attack the level”, and now no one knows if this is a “looking beautiful” cake function.
Stadia’s main interface. Image source: EGM
In order to further enhance the platform’s appeal to players, Google announced the day before the launch of the Stadia service to increase the starting lineup from the original 12 to 22, and many of the works scheduled to be launched next year have been selected in advance. release.
But the game is more or less, not the current Stadia focus that needs attention. People who yearn for cloud games actually value the fact that they can get rid of the limitations of physical hardware and can play various game experiences on any device such as mobile phone, computer or TV anytime, anywhere.
The reality is much more complicated than expected.
Stadia’s recommended speed range
A very interesting phenomenon is that most foreign media experiencing the Stadia platform will indicate the speed of their experience and the telecom operators they use for readers’ reference.
They basically have a 100Mbps fiber environment, and some can reach 150Mbps or even 200Mbps bandwidth. According to the official Stadia range, as long as the user has at least 35Mbps network, you can get 4K HDR/60fps experience.
We also actually tested it and reached the standard of 100Mbps.
If you want to know if your network speed meets the Stadia experience standard, you can click on the link to test.
It needs to be clear that this speed requirement is only a reference value, and what kind of image quality and fluency can be obtained, and there is also a number of people in the indoor environment structure or on the net.The relationship, even the ability of the router to penetrate the wall, the placement position, etc., need to be included in the scope of consideration.
Different players have different perceptions of “delay”. For example, in some sports games such as action and shooting, professional players obviously have higher requirements for delay; and some static scenes like strategy and role playing. For more games, everyone’s tolerance for delay will be lower.
ArsTechnica discovered that when it was in the state of the wired network, it could basically achieve the smoothness of the game with the official promotion, and the picture was very clear; but once switched to wireless Wi-Fi , the “unstable connection” prompt interface will pop up, as well as the screen resolution is reduced, the frame rate is fluctuating, and so on.
Image Source: Eurogamer
Eurogamer compares the delay data of Xbox One X and Stadia with a high-speed camcorder, which is about 40ms~50ms.
And PCGamer found that the delay will be different in different bandwidth environments, where “Destiny 2” has a delay of 167ms at 115Mbps bandwidth, but if it is replaced by 35Mbps bandwidth, the delay will increase to 441ms. , At this point, the game has been difficult to achieve a smooth experience in 4K state.
At the end of the day, network and bandwidth are still key factors in determining the quality of the Stadia experience. This also explains why multiple media with 100 Mbps bandwidth think that Stadia’s latency is within an acceptable range, and that it is only 50 Mbps users, the situation may be completely different.
At the same time, considering that they are testing the frame rate of “Most Reality 11”, “Destiny 2” or “Wild Dart 2″Seeking a higher game, and ensuring a 60fps experience in the case of cloud streaming, this has been a big improvement over the previous cloud gaming platform.
Image from: CNET
Stadia also brings another benefit: the steps to download and install the game are eliminated, that is, click-to-play, game progress and archives are saved in the cloud in real time.
Eurogamer also said that in order to compare with the Xbox One X console, it took several nights to download several games up to 100GB, and Stadia did not have to consider this issue.
Image from: IGN
However, there are quite a few gaps in the actual picture perception between the two. According to the comparison screenshots provided by several media, under the same resolution specification, the modeling texture and picture clarity in the Stadia picture are obviously worse than the local platforms such as Xbox One X and Steam, and the light and shadow details are also obvious. The lack of it will be more obvious on large screens such as TV.
The top is Xbox One X, the bottom is Stadia, if you are interested, you can go to the original website to view more pictures
This gap has caused many people to be disappointed. Even if we all know that cloud games will definitely compress the images when they are transmitted, the gap between the two is still invisible to the naked eye. This means that it is difficult for Stadia to rely on the “same quality experience” to convince players to pay.
Stadia claims that the 4K resolution seems to be untenable, and The Verge said that the “1080p picture” they saw in the Chrome browser is more like 720p level.
And Eurogamer found out that the actual resolution of the Stadia platform is only 1440p, which is 2K level. Although this is the best transmission quality cloud game screen, Compare Xbox OneThe native 4K level of X is high and low, and it is still clear at a glance.
Image from: Gigazine
Multiplayer gaming is also subject to some restrictions. At present, Stadia does not support cross-platform services with other platforms such as PS4 and Xbox, so you can only interact with users in the Stadia platform. Perhaps it is difficult to find a teammate to survive on a desert island.
Replaced is a game that emphasizes the single-player experience. You still need to pay for each game separately. The so-called “Pro” members are just for players to get some specific games on a regular basis, as well as certain purchase discounts, this and Sony. PSN members or Microsoft Live Gold members are similar, but how much game support Google can get is still a question.
Overall, the first show of Google’s cloud gaming platform seems to be unable to be accepted by players or developers.
It proves from the side that the traditional host manufacturer controls the periodic iteration of the game terminal with unified hardware, there is no reason. This is equivalent to helping every player to eliminate hardware concerns and ensure that everyone gets a near-consistent gaming experience.
In this mode, players only need to care about the quality of the game itself, regardless of the terminal.
But Stadia is different. We seem to get rid of the physical limitations of hardware and scenes, but it also spawns other new problems – speed, delay, regional differences, etc. are all different factors, but they are It is also closely related to the actual game experience.
This is also the paradox of Stadia or the cloud game platform. When so many uncertainties are combined, to some extent, the cloud gaming experience written by others is actually not worthwhile, because as long as it No one is inconsistent, and no one dares to ensure a completely consistent experience.
Cloud games or the future? Most people in the game industry will still give a positive answer. The mainstream game makers, including Sony and Microsoft, have also been deployed in this field, within the foreseeable 5 to 10 years. Cloud games will definitely bring profound changes to the entire game industry.
I also remembered “Final Fantasy 13” which I tried on the iPhone 3 years ago. It used the Japanese cloud game service “G-cluster”, which allows you to experience a series of hosts on the mobile platform. Level works. But what you actually see is the tearing of various pictures and the horrible smearing, and the handling experience is even more catastrophic.
In contrast, Stadia is no doubt much better now, at least it has solved the most basic use problems. The slot is mainly focused on the shrinking quality of the image, and there are many services that were originally promised.
The Guardian believes that Google’s practice of grabbing its first chance to go online is still too hasty, especially for the first players who bought the “Founder Edition”. “Paid Tester.”
However, As long as Google is willing to invest time and money to continue to improve, we can finally see that Stadia is getting better, but for now, it’s obviously not enough for Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft. The game giant has caused too many threats.
The author of GameSpot left such a sentence at the end of the experience, which is to say the voice of the majority of players:
“I still haven’t thought about whether to dedicate those $60 full-price games to a sub-platform that is just emerging and not yet mature.”
The establishment of trust is not meant to be done overnight. This is important for Stadia and important to Google.
Article from WeChat public account:AppSo(ID:appsolution), author: Moose