{"id":89595,"date":"2019-03-20T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/03\/talking_point_what_does_googles_stadia_mean_for_nintendo_and_the_future_of_gaming"},"modified":"2019-03-20T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T20:00:00","slug":"talking-point-what-does-googles-stadia-mean-for-nintendo-and-the-future-of-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/03\/20\/talking-point-what-does-googles-stadia-mean-for-nintendo-and-the-future-of-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Point: What Does Google&#8217;s Stadia Mean For Nintendo And The Future Of Gaming?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/66c20d10a8956\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/66c20d10a8956\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vsaenNSjclY?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/03\/google_reveals_stadia_its_vision_of_a_cloud_gaming_future\">Yesterday\u2019s reveal<\/a> of Stadia, the boxless &#8216;future of gaming&#8217; from Google, was certainly intriguing. It promises seamless browser-based streaming of AAA games at 4K and 60 frames-per-second to all manner of devices you already own. The proposition is a clear and clean one for people with cluttered houses chock full of tech that\u2019s slowly turning obsolete with every annual hardware revision. Google\u2019s message is strong: <em>everyone<\/em>, <em>everywhere<\/em> can join in.<\/p>\n<p>Setting aside the <em>massive<\/em> hit to office productivity that implies, Stadia has the potential to transform the gaming industry and affect every company working in it. While Google\u2019s presentation itself was formulaic and dry, the content spoke for itself and initial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/google-stadia-hands-on\/\">hands-on reports<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/articles\/digitalfoundry-2019-hands-on-with-google-stream-gdc-2019\">first impressions<\/a> signal that the tech appears to perform admirably.<\/p>\n<p>If this turns out to be the case in a \u2018real-world\u2019 context, it should give the \u2018big three\u2019 players in the console market something to think about, especially as the next hardware generation peeks its head over the horizon. If Stadia\u2019s launch later this year is a success, how is that likely to affect Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft?<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, as a Nintendo site, we\u2019re primarily concerned with the House of Mario, and from what we\u2019ve seen so far, Nintendo should be somewhat insulated thanks to the portable nature of Switch. As toweringly impressive as the Stadia tech may be, WiFi blackspots and disruptions will still scupper your <em>entire<\/em> game, not just the online portion. Switch\u2019s modest chipset is hardly bleeding edge, but it\u2019s able to deliver incredible gaming experiences without being tied to an internet connection, meaning it\u2019s likely to be the best portable gaming option for a good while yet. <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SJ8YTpDddXg\"><em>You can\u2019t stop Switch by going through a tunnel.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"Phil\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/7953c6bd855fc\/phil.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/7953c6bd855fc\/phil.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Phil\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The need for a strong and stable internet connection will always be Stadia\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel, but homes where that <em>isn\u2019t<\/em> an issue present more of a worry for the traditional console companies. While Nintendo may well be affected inside the home \u2013 where <em>every<\/em> screen is turned into a more powerful console \u2013 the company has some breathing space until 5G (and beyond) really takes off and lightning fast WiFi (with reasonable data plan pricing) is the norm when you\u2019re out and about. The section of the Stadia presentation detailing Stream Connect has the <em>potential<\/em> to usurp Nintendo as king of couch co-op, but there&#8217;s a big difference between a tech demo and an <em>actual<\/em> game. It&#8217;ll be a while before Switch isn&#8217;t a fixture at the hip roof-top barbecue parties we throw every weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Nintendo also has its enviable catalogue of IP to bolster its hand. Those video game franchises cultivated for over three and a half decades are <em>hugely<\/em> valuable and have seen the company through some rocky periods. Content is king for all platforms, and putting aside some colossal hardware misstep, people will continue to go to Nintendo systems for Nintendo content.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most potent weapons Google used in its presentation was the elimination of the update bar, and this should be more of a worry for Sony and Microsoft. Anybody with one of their consoles is <em>all-too-familiar<\/em> with the process of firing it up for a quick session and facing a <em>barrage<\/em> of firmware and software updates, often at comically slow download speeds, before you can <em>finally<\/em> play the damn thing. We had half an hour spare the other day, sat down for a little <strong>Forza Horizon 4<\/strong> and 27 minutes later the game finally booted. It\u2019s okay, we played some Switch while we waited.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"Screenshot 2019 03 20 At 14.21.44\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c70609fb80a98\/screenshot-2019-03-20-at-14-21-44.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c70609fb80a98\/screenshot-2019-03-20-at-14-21-44.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot 2019 03 20 At 14.21.44\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The other huge advantage Google has is that \u2018boxless\u2019 selling point. Offering a very similar AAA experience to the competition over devices you already have in your house with no \u00a3300 hardware purchase is <em>massive<\/em>. Hardcore gamers may baulk at the latency figures, but Google\u2019s proposition could be hugely disruptive for a more casual audience or for gamers that only really play one game (<strong>FIFA<\/strong>, say). Although it may well depend on the type of game you\u2019re playing, spending $400 on a big noisy console and having to wait for installation, update bars and all that bother may well seem like <em>far<\/em> too much trouble. Stadia removes a very large barrier to entry for a lot of people, and that&#8217;s good for the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft is reportedly lining up its own cloud-based streaming solution \u2013 perhaps in a very similar mould; it certainly has the resources to do something similar. Whether Sony is in a position to compete is up for debate, although it&#8217;s been in the streaming space for a long time already with PS Now, the platform formerly known as Gaikai. Stadia appears to be a significant upgrade to that streaming tech, though, with broad and powerful integration across the web. Whether Sony\u2019s system could be broadened to compete is difficult to know at this stage, but it has more than a foot in the door.<\/p>\n<p>There are still many unknowns and \u2018unspokens\u2019 regarding Stadia at present; namely the price. A subscription model would be the obvious choice, although subscription fatigue seems to be setting in already \u2013 there must be a limit to the number of services consumers are willing \u2013 and <em>are able to<\/em> \u2013 pay for on a monthly basis. Google is likely to offer a suite of options, perhaps billing based on playtime or the number of games you access. Outright \u2018purchase\u2019 of games is certainly possible, although that would seem strange seeing as you can only ever &#8216;access&#8217; the games rather than download and \u2018own\u2019 them.<\/p>\n<p>The total loss of ownership is one thing which may give many gamers pause. While we technically only purchase <em>licences<\/em> to play digital games on Switch, for example, we can download them, back them up on multiple microSD cards and \u2018have\u2019 them indefinitely. Stadia moves away from all this, enabling some impressive integration with YouTube and distilling game states and sharable experiences to a mere hyperlink; a <em>true<\/em> streaming platform. Thanks to Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and the like, the world is now very comfortable with streaming, although gamers are historically very protective of their physical media.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"STADIA\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/66c20d10a8956\/stadia.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/66c20d10a8956\/stadia.900x.jpg\" alt=\"STADIA\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>While Google has always been an online entity, Nintendo\u2019s history with the physical product gives its products a kind of prestige that enthusiasts cherish. For everyone who\u2019s gone digital-only on Switch, there\u2019s someone else who\u2019s willing to pay through the nose for boxed physical copies of games for a number of reasons. Make no mistake, physical media is destined to go the way of the dodo, but many Nintendo fans, young and old, <em>still<\/em> value it, giving the company another small (and ever-shrinking) cushion for the inevitable, fast-approaching bump when the ephemeral digital option becomes the <em>only<\/em> option.<\/p>\n<p>This inflection point heralded by Stadia\u2019s arrival could have a startling knock-on effect on game design itself. The technology requires Google to register (and presumably log) every single byte of player input, enabling constant analysis, tweaking and honing. This information will no-doubt influence design choices, with bottlenecks, player trends and choices examined and planned around. \u2018Games as a service\u2019 has primed us for this \u2013 the product shipped on disc in the beginning may have <em>very<\/em> little in common with the live game six months down the line \u2013 but the elimination of client-side code or calculation means gamers are <em>truly<\/em> at the mercy of Google and developers.<\/p>\n<p>If successful, this has ramifications across <em>all<\/em> facets of gaming. What will happen to mods, for example? And as exciting as playing on any screen in the house may be, it\u2019s also concerning for game preservationists \u2013 if code only ever exists on mainframes at Google\u2019s ominous sounding \u2018data centres\u2019, how do you preserve these games for posterity? This is something that video game historians are already struggling with as thousands of iOS and Android titles are taken offline each year and vanish forever.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"Screenshot 2019 03 20 At 14.22.46\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/06305f714fb0c\/screenshot-2019-03-20-at-14-22-46.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/06305f714fb0c\/screenshot-2019-03-20-at-14-22-46.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot 2019 03 20 At 14.22.46\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Hardcore gamers may well be bristling at this relinquishment of ownership and control, let alone the unavoidable lag which will likely keep high-level players of fighting games and twitch-based first-person shooters playing locally. Realistically, it could be another decade or more before the tech reduces lag to the point where it\u2019s indistinguishable to a game running under the TV in a way that will satisfy the hardcore community, but Google isn\u2019t <em>really<\/em> making a play for hardcore gamers \u2013 a difficult-to-please and small (in Google terms) demographic that isn\u2019t worth chasing, at least at this stage. As Nintendo has done in the past with its Blue Ocean strategising, it\u2019s looking to access a wider audience instead, to grow the market in a broader sense through the scalability of its platform and the fact that Chrome is already sitting on millions of devices across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>All this begs the question: Could Switch become one of these \u2018screens\u2019 we play Stadia on at some point? It\u2019s not beyond the realms of possibility. It\u2019s conceivable it could work as well on Switch as any other device and as we\u2019ve seen with the Japanese cloud-based experiments with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/resident_evil_7_cloud_version\">Resident Evil 7<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/assassinrs_creed_odyssey_cloud_version\">Assassin\u2019s Creed: Odyssey<\/a><\/strong>, there\u2019s plenty of room for improvement over the existing methods companies are employing to get around the limitations of Switch\u2019s silicon. As an aside, it\u2019s curious to note that Stadia isn\u2019t scheduled to launch in Japan this year \u2013 a country with an <em>excellent<\/em> internet infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>All the possibilities Stadia offers and the direction in which Nintendo and others might head if it\u2019s a success are dizzying, but there\u2019s also a tinge of sadness in the air. Instant access and gratification is a concept that younger gamers today naturally take for granted, and the <em>further<\/em> elimination of that delicious moment of anticipation puts dinosaurs like us in a melancholy mood. In the presentation, industry veteran Phil Harrison \u2013 part of the team that launched the original PlayStation, for crying out loud \u2013 highlighted how you could click a button in a YouTube trailer and be playing the game in as little as <em>five seconds<\/em>. Incredibly impressive, certainly, but for people who used to pore over <em>tiny<\/em> screenshots in games mags and <em>devour<\/em> instruction manuals in the car on the way home until we could <em>finally<\/em> plug our fresh cart into the console, the reality of always-online, always-accessible is bittersweet. As attention spans get ever shorter, we\u2019ve got nostalgia for the old ways (because we\u2019re old) and that anticipation from our youth \u2013 something we even occasionally try to emulate now by <em>not<\/em> tearing directly into a present or new purchase \u2013 is now reduced to a click and five short seconds. <em>Oy.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ADvP1n6jNQs?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>But that\u2019s been the past for a <em>long<\/em> time already. The future arrived a while ago but if Google can make a success of Stadia, we\u2019re on the cusp of a <em>massive<\/em> leap towards the console-less future people have been predicting for years. Whatever happens, it\u2019s going to be interesting\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vsaenNSjclY?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507] Yesterday\u2019s reveal of Stadia, the boxless &#8216;future of gaming&#8217; from Google, was certainly intriguing. It promises seamless browser-based streaming of AAA games at 4K and 60 frames-per-second to all manner of devices you already own. The proposition is a clear and clean one for people with cluttered houses chock full of tech that\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}