Google Stadia - A thread.

As you may have seen, Google has been running a promotion allowing YouTube Premium members to get themselves a free Stadia kit and month of Stadia Pro.

I felt, despite my previous criticisms, I should give it a fair go.

The hardware is very nice, the controller expecially. Feels well made with satisfying buttons. Most similar in feel to Switch Pro controller, with Playstation stick placement.

There's a few steps to getting it all set up with the chrome cast but it's simple and explained well.

So onto the games. This is my first experience of a game streaming service, and straight away I have to say it's very impressive. With Stadia Pro you get a handful of free to play games, with Sniper Elite 4 being the closest to a console game.

All I can say is that the experience is excellent. No discernible input lag, and the visuals were spot on. For note my BB speed is about 280 mbps. SE4 was always a little rough around the edges, even on console, which still shows. Performance on my S10 was also excellent.

Next I tried Panzer Dragoon remake, another free Stadia Pro title. Again performance here was stunning, both through the chrome cast and mobile.

Finally to really put it through its paces, I used a promotion to get 2016 Doom for under £5. A fast run and gun experience would highlight any flaws. Alas I experienced non. Visuals are stunning 4K and input lag was non existent. On the technology, I am sold.

Sadly where I am not sold, is the Stadia business model. Stadia Pro is £8.99 and gives access to 4K gaming and a handful of free games, only a few being AAA titles. And thats it. You still need to 'buy' most of the games. The prices can be eye-watering say compared to Amazon.

A lot of money to spend through a service that has an unknown life span. Google is known to cancelling support for its various inventions. It would make me a little nervous spending £90.99 on Assasin's Creed Valhalla: Ultimate Edition. Stadia base is free, but limited to 1080p.

I wish it was more the Netflix of gaming, a model similar to Xbox's Game Pass. £12 a month with all you can eat gaming. It would offer people a much cheaper, and mobile, gaming option, with the Stadia kit costing just £89.99. Nothing when compared to a Series X or PS5.

Alas its not. In short Stadia is a very impressive technical acheivment, a far cry from the humble beginnings of Onlive ten years ago. It gives the illusion of console gaming without the set-up cost. But it's then the cost of acquiring the games that makes it fall short.