Comic 373 - It's different this time, I swear
Posted on Wednesday, the 4th of September at 12:00 AM, 2019
in 2019
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DeepThought
Tue, 1. Oct 11:50 AM, 2019
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Actually, I'm happy about stadia, because I WANT to play these games, and have the funds, but my computer is crap.
DanVzare
Tue, 1. Oct 4:07 PM, 2019
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So yeah, I've given it a lot of thought. And while Google Stadia is something that should succeed, I feel as though the way they're handling it, will doom it to failure.
Now firstly, it should be noted that the other examples in this comic are quite different to Stadia. Ouya was a console, the Steam Machine was a... computer... I think. And Stadia is a service. They have definitely one thing in common though, and that's the fact that they all use a custom-made controller as their mascot. But with that being said, Stadia isn't really a hardware thing, unlike those other two things.
But my comic is more along the lines of pointing out that people have pointed to things before and said "This will change everything!" and then promptly forgot about it after it came out. It even happened with Google Glass. Anyone remember that thing?
And considering there's already quite a lot of services where you can buy games from, Itch.io, Gamejolt, GOG.com, Steam, Epic, Origin, Uplay, ect. And also considering that the only real competitor to Steam right now is Epic, because of them buying as many exclusivity deals as possible. I think you can see where I'm going with this.
"But Stadia is different! It streams games!" I hear you say.
And that's exactly why it should succeed. Except... I don't think it will.
People who play games on a computer, usually already have a computer strong enough to play those games. That's why they play games on a computer.
People who play games on consoles, don't need it, because their console already plays the game. And why suffer through the problems of streaming, when you can just play it on your console. Not only that, but there are already services like Stadia out there (so it's not even special). And I can't see people subscribing to a service, just to play one or two games that they couldn't play otherwise. (If that was all that was needed, the Wii U would've been a success.)
In short, you end up with a very niche audience.
And unfortunately the gaming industry doesn't want mere niche audiences anymore.
(And none of this takes into consideration: internet speeds, subscriptions within the subscription, and the fact that you will still need to buy individual games on the service. Am I missing anything?)
But with that all being said. I do indeed believe streaming games, is what the future will entail. Just not from Google Stadia... not as it stands.
I think one day, we'll see terminals being sold, that are merely there to stream from a more powerful computer via a subscription service. And eventually, no one (except the really nerdy) will even have a proper computer in their home.
It'll probably start with businesses, and eventually spill out over to the PC market. And that will be that. A horrible future, I must admit. But one that I can definitely see coming, and one that I can also see most people welcoming with open arms.
But I can't say how far away that could be.