Google Stadia conference with pricing, games, and release details set for June 6th at Noon EST/ 9 AM PST

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Dante9 said:
In Finland we have no caps, and speeds are very good in urban areas, only some rural areas have DSL or 4G connections that suck.
However, I don't like the idea of this. I like dedicated hardware and I only play single player games, so the whole over the net thing just doesn't sit well with me. Too ethereal and remote. I have gone fully digital with game purchases, but I like to know that the game is sitting on my hard drive and not being broadcast to me from somewhere else with all the lag and uncertainty and whatnot. Nah. This worries me a little, because it undoubtedly is the future of gaming. I hope I can hold on to a physical Playstation for many years to come.

I guess it's like cable TV. You don't want to own everything you watch on cable TV.

So for me, I'm keeping buying physical games when I feel too and buying digital games when I find good prices. Moving forward I may want to stream some games that I just want to taste and don't care about owning.

I guess in the future, physical, digital and streaming will just co-exist.

WolfpackN64 said:
My thoughts on the whole Stadia thing.
Who is this really for?
People who already have gaming pc's or beefy PC's for video editing or other compute-intensive work won't need this, save in the scenario they game a lot on the go.
Console players already have their consoles, and as long as consoles serve a secondary role as physical/digital media boxes, people will keep buying them. So unless they want to take a lot of games on the go, I don't see many people really investing in it.
People who already have large gaming libraries, probably the same as the first group, won't rebuy a lot of their games on Stadia and all major digital platforms give free games from time to time.

So who do I see using this? Mainly people who have something like a thin and light laptop as their chief computer, or PC gamers starting out who can cheap out on hardware by getting Stadia (provided they don't have a large library already). People who game a lot on the go AND have consistent internet speeds (which isn't a given). I don't see all that many casual thin and light notebook users getting invested in AAA games all of the sudden though.

I really wonder who's going to be the main market for this platform. Me? I don't have nor want a Google account (not anymore), so I'm not using it either way.

I see casuals and people on a budget jumping in.

Mnementh said:

WolfpackN64 said:

Nope, and depending on how much that is and which games come to it will be a big factor in how much Stadia is worth. I mean, if I paid for Stadia (just the subscription fee) for 6 years running, I'd have enough money to build the PC I have now (which is now 6 years old). It can't run games at 4K, but it is a PC that can do a lot for me and I can watch Blu-Rays and DVD's on it.

People don't usually calculate that way. Psychological speaking a monthly fee seems more affordable than one big expense once. Yes, that is not rational, but human beings are seldom rational. Also you get Stadia now, not in six years.

Not at all. Some think consoles are too expensive, but after buying some games, you've already paid enough to buy another console.

WolfpackN64 said:

Mnementh said:

People don't usually calculate that way. Psychological speaking a monthly fee seems more affordable than one big expense once. Yes, that is not rational, but human beings are seldom rational. Also you get Stadia now, not in six years.

I know, but since I tend to use my devices for quite a long time (still on a OnePlus One) as a smartphone, I calculate my costs/year beforehand, based on how long I'll think I'll use my devices (and usually I keep them longer then projected).

And if you need a streaming service for everything: Netflix for movies, Spotify for music, Stadia for games (let alone a better internet plan because my datacap would be broken rather rapidly), assuming you don't need a second movie streaming service because Netflix is bleeding content. It all adds up.

And people think I'm mad buying movies and series on Blu-Ray and music on CD's and LP's. I just don't consume THAT much media (movies, series, books, games, music) where getting a subscription service for each one of those would actually save me money. That and I get to keep all content I bought.

I still do that too. I still buy music.

Barkley said:
This pricing model is the best thing they could have done. Outright purchasing games and being able to play them forever without any subscription fee? They've just removed the barrier of entry to next-gen gaming. Of course cloud gaming isn't ready for widespread adoption and probably won't be a major contender to consoles for at least another decade. But in a couple of years when a new game comes out and you have the choice of paying $400 for a new console or just playing it on hardware you already own? If you have a good internet connection that's going to be an enticing offer, and I see it working.

But how Stadia make money without any subscription?