Digital Foundry : Google Stadia Specs Analysis + Exclusive Performance Testing

[Darwinianevolution]

JRPGfan said:

I want physical hardware.

I dont care if input lag is only 20 ms worse or so, when streaming, its 20 ms too much.
I dont want compression artifacts, due to streaming and compression, when its not needed if you just had physical hardware.
I dont want to pay a subscription, have games locked behinde it. (I want a box that plays games, even 10years from now if I feel like it)

I really hope streaming isnt the future of gaming.
I believe a physical box will always be able to have a slight edge, when it comes to Image Quality + latency, and theres some die hard collectors out there that will want a physical box + disc too. So hopefully a physical box isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

But Im slightly worried now that everyone seems to be putting so much focus on streaming.
Is it really needed?

Publishers are really interesting in getting full control over the distribution of games, and even digital only is becoming too unruly for them. Streaming guarantees full control of their software (always online by default, no piracy, no ownership of the software bought, no competition with older and cheaper software, the ability to erase one game from existence if they needed to...). Considering how long they've been campaigning against physical media, it's no wonder this "Netflix of videogames" is getting so much interest on their part.

Of course, this is all incredibly dangerous on a consumer level. We'd be at the mercy of big publishers, and that has proven harmful to the extreme in regards of consumer rights.