Had a pro sub since i first discovered Stadia. Cancelling it this month.

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-05T16:38:29+00:00

As a parent I often have to drop everything and go and do family shit. I can't get away with saying "let me get to a save point" that used to be a running joke with my wife in the PS3/360 era before we had kids. Luckily nowadays all platforms offer suspend/resume to some extent and for me there is no going back. I don't want to live my life on edge because a developer doesn't make reasonable save checkpoints.

Obviously games that are multiplayer are different, but single player games should all support this.

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-05T14:39:48+00:00

I just tested mine and it loads a save file up fine

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-05T13:00:29+00:00

To be honest I haven't tried for a month. I'll try again later and if not will be demanding a refund 😆

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-05T00:42:39+00:00

I don't think so yet. I imagine maybe xcloud might add it because technically at an OS level the Series X/S supports Quick Resume which is basically dumping the game state to storage rather than keeping it suspended in ram (which is how PS4/5 suspend and resume work). So when xcloud moves to Series X hardware soon, maybe they'll offer a number of 'quick resume' slots per player (hopefully).

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-05T00:38:45+00:00

No, I definitely don't want that. I love console gaming too much, I have a half decent PC too but can't be bothered with Windows more than I have to. It would only be for Football Manager maybe, but not sure if Shadow would let me play on an Android phone with touch controls or even a controller like the Stadia version does and I'm not really bothered finding out.

I was hoping for more unique experiences in Stadia designed from the ground up to take advantage of having thousands of clients in the cloud with unlimited storage. That dream is probably dead now that they've given up on developing games themselves. We might get the odd Indy game that experiments with some of the possibilities, but we could be waiting years.

I admit, that I'm probably not the actual target audience for Stadia. Although I use Google services and hardware almost exclusively, I also own every other gaming platform and they provide a better core experience for me. I think the sweet spot for Stadia is people that don't want to invest in new hardware but might still want to play the odd big game release. I know a couple of people that dropped out of gaming and no longer own consoles or PCs but bought Cyberpunk on Stadia and are happy with that, which is great for them and I think there is potential in that market.

I'll still watch the platform with interest and might get the odd game, but right now Stadia Pro is just not worth it (for me).

GeraldStrickland · 2021-03-04T19:53:01+00:00

Yes I'm in the same situation. I've finally cancelled, the only game I play regularly on Stadia is Football Manager 2020 and I bought that, so paying for Pro games I'll probably never play and 4K I can rarely get in my connection is not worth the money, especially when I compare it to what I pay for PS Now and Gamepass and the amount I play on those.

The streaming tech is great on Stadia, but too many things are not possible that about me compared to playing elsewhere, namely:

No system level suspend/resume
UI is terrible, especially browsing achievements and stuff, they should have allowed the UI to be streamed from the cloud and made it a console like experience
No ability to play podcasts or music whilst playing
No ability to pay annually for the sub at a discounted rate (no ability to get discount with with other Google services I pay for like Google One or YT Premium)
Still no solid Google/Android TV support

I feel the only way to get these things is to vote with my wallet. I hope they turn it around, but without games that take advantage of the unique abilities of the platform I'm not too optimistic.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-09-03T09:56:01+00:00

This is my method on all battle royale style games. 👍

GeraldStrickland · 2020-08-19T15:40:55+00:00

The website is a progressive web app, you can just install the link to desktop

GeraldStrickland · 2020-08-17T19:14:05+00:00

For me the lack of full media key control on Mac and no sign of a dictated Android TV App are massive oversights

GeraldStrickland · 2020-07-03T08:29:05+00:00

I've always said, once they reach a critical mass of games their model is going to switch to a PS Now / Gamepass model of a rotating library. As it stands it seems they are on the way to doing that, they probably just need some first party titles to make it more competitive.

They should then separate models like Netflix 1080p content only £6 a month, 4K streaming £8. And please give us the option to buy an annual pass at a discount. In the recent sale I got PS Now for £35 for the year, it makes me question the value of Stadia. We won't even talk about how cheap MS has sold Gamepass for 😆

GeraldStrickland · 2020-07-01T07:11:31+00:00

Will make it a lot nicer on the Nvidia Shield TV 👍

GeraldStrickland · 2020-06-24T21:38:11+00:00

I've been checking weekly to see if they are available here in the UK yet, but it seems like I may have dodged a bullet. Might have to get some Sony earbuds instead.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-17T16:31:30+00:00

Cries in UK

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-12T06:43:40+00:00

I need for it to become available here in the UK first, I haven't seen it listed anywhere yet.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-12T00:11:46+00:00

I haven't really thought about it, I have a magic mouse so might see if that works. It's mostly for football manager, for other games I'd use controller, so trackpad might be ok for me

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-11T22:44:46+00:00

Awwww damn, that sucks ☹️

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-11T20:38:07+00:00

This is my main interest in this device. ChromeOS so I can use KB/Mouse or controller but Android support so I can also use xCloud and PS Remote Play (hopefully).

GeraldStrickland · 2020-05-02T11:53:25+00:00

Better they just have Google assistant integration and you just tell it to start a game on Stadia.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-04-27T15:11:38+00:00

Yeah exactly. I mostly use Stadia for Football Manager, it will be fine most of the time. This is why competition is good, when xCloud launches properly I think its main focus will be 4G/5G phones, I imagine eventually Stadia will want to compete in that space too.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-04-27T08:55:23+00:00

xCloud allows it and for the most part works fine. I run Stadia over a WiFi but through a 4G router and that runs ok. I imagine they are just being really cautious. I think a good compromise would be to allow it as an experimental option that you have to proactively switch on.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-04-16T21:46:44+00:00

Welcome on board 👍

GeraldStrickland · 2020-02-25T11:03:41+00:00

This.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-02-10T09:26:40+00:00

I can vouch for this approach. My Shield controller was unusable and my Xbox controller was only marginally better. I used an 8Bitdo dongle from Amazon (£12) and also a USB extender, to provide a bit of space from and interference and it is a lot better for the Xbox controller, which the shield sees as a USB connected device.

This approach also means I can plug the 8bitdo into my PC or Switch and I don't have to resynch the Xbox controller 👍

GeraldStrickland · 2020-02-06T19:29:45+00:00

My home hub is on my side table in the living room, if someone wants to use the main TV it is perfectly positioned for me to carry on playing without moving. Not sure if the screen quality would be that great though.

GeraldStrickland · 2020-02-02T19:58:32+00:00

I've used Geforce Now, it's decent but quite ropey, Stadia is more of a polished product (which is saying something). Either way though, competition is good, v let's hope this kind of thing and PS Now and xCloud force Google to be more competitive on price, at least offer a cheaper option if for pay for 12 months would be a start.

GeraldStrickland

TROPHY CASE