1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm ad executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. I am back from vacation. 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: I was detained a bit by Hurricane Ian, which obviously 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 1: reaked terrible devastation across parts of Florida and some other regions. 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: If you were affected by Ian, I hope you and 8 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: your loved ones are all safe and well. Uh. I 9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: was merely inconvenienced, but that inconvenience meant that I was 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,319 Speaker 1: actually a little behind on the tech news. And if 11 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: you follow tech news, then you may have heard that 12 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: Google is shutting down its online cloud streaming game service 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: called Stadia. And I thought we could talk a little 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: bit about what Stadio was and what went wrong and 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: what comes next. But first we'll talk about the cloud 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: game streaming world in general, because Stadia is just one 17 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: of several services they're really aimed to revolutionize gaming, and 18 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: this one ultimately fell short. It's also yet another example 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: of a Google project that the company would pull the 20 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: plug on. And I've done entire episodes about this kind 21 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: of stuff that you know, Google either launched or it 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: acquired and then subsequently killed it off. So we're not 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: going to dwell on that too much here, but it 24 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: does play a big part, I think, in why Stadia 25 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: failed ultimately. Well, first, before we get to any of that, 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: let's talk about cloud streaming video game content in general. Now, 27 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: this is not a new idea like a lot of 28 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: things that emerged as cloud computing matured. It is and 29 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: as a service concept like I'm sure you've heard of 30 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: lots of things as a service, you know, like software 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: as a service. In this case, it's games as a 32 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: service and players pay a certain amount of money, typically 33 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,679 Speaker 1: a recurring subscription fee, and in return, they can access 34 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: a library of games stored on the cloud, and they 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: play the game on a home device. It could be 36 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: really anything. It could be a handheld device, it could 37 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,119 Speaker 1: be a connected TV, it could be a video game console, 38 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: it could be a PC or a smartphone, whatever it 39 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: might be. Uh, we call this the client. It's the 40 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: user side of this system. And meanwhile, the actual game 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: is running on a server, probably somewhere that's not too 42 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: far away, and we call the server the server and 43 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: a client server system. That one's easy so the reason 44 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: you want to have your server fairly close to wherever 45 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: the client is is to cut down on latency and 46 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: lag because the greater the distance between the player and 47 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: the server, the more likely you will have latency. And 48 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: that's particularly bad for Twitch based games, and by that 49 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,279 Speaker 1: I mean the games that rely on fast and accurate reflexes, 50 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: not games streaming on the Twitch service. Now. Really the 51 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: combination of cloud and edge computing is what has made 52 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: these streaming services viable. But some services debuted before this 53 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: kind of infrastructure really became robust. In fact, if we 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: really want to go overboard, we can talk about stuff 55 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: like bulletin board systems or b B s. So ages ago, 56 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: before most people even knew there was an Internet that 57 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: was in development, you know, there were some computer hobbyists 58 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: who began to create software that would let you turn 59 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: your computer into kind of a little host server. Other 60 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: people could dial into your computer by using their own computers, 61 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: which would be the clients, and a modem, so they 62 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: would have their phone connected to this modem and they 63 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: would literally type in a number that related to your 64 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: computer's phone line and dial into your computer, so it 65 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: was kind of like their computer was calling your computer 66 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: on the phone, and what would happen later would be 67 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: a conversation between the two machines. Now again this was 68 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: in the old landline phone days. Mind you you know 69 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: your computer would answer this call. The other person would 70 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: then be able to do stuff on your computer through 71 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: this connection. Not just any stuff, right, They couldn't do everything. 72 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: They couldn't get like administrative control of your machine assuming 73 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: you were running the right software, but they could do 74 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: stuff within the context of the BBS software you were using. 75 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: And a BBS host might allow users to leave messages 76 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: for each other kind of like email, or maintain a 77 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: forum that may or may not have a specific focus 78 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: us to it, like there were bbs is that were 79 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 1: really focused on things like sports, for example, or the 80 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: computer calling in might even be able to play certain 81 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: games that worked really well with bbs is, So typical 82 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: things would be like dungeon crawling c RPGs, and this 83 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: was a sort of peer to peer gaming and usually 84 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: limited folks to a single player experience, but it was 85 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: a start. This is also a great topic in general 86 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: because it makes it very easy to explain clients versus servers. 87 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:34,919 Speaker 1: So the client in this case is the device that 88 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: the end user has, whether it's a computer or a 89 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: game console, or a handled device or smartphone, smart TV, 90 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: web browser, whatever. The server is the machine on the 91 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: other end that's actually running the processes, and the connection 92 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: between client and server allows the client to access the 93 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: servers capabilities, almost like the client was a natural extension 94 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,799 Speaker 1: of the server itself. In many ways, it goes back 95 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: to the time sharing model of having dumb terminals connecting 96 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: to a central computer, where you have multiple people each 97 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: uosing a terminal that doesn't really do anything on its own, 98 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: It just acts as an input output device for a 99 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: centralized computing system. This is like that, but it is 100 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: enabled via the Internet. Now, way back in two thousand, 101 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: before the term cloud computing had even become a common 102 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: phrase like that wouldn't happen until around two thousand six, 103 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: but a company from Finland called g Cluster had a 104 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: cloud computing concept and attended E three to show it off. Now, 105 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: back then E three was a very big video game 106 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: trade and industry show. And I say back then because 107 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: well recently the conference has been struggling to remain relevant 108 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: and in fact has canceled. The last couple of E 109 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: three events. I think it's going through a real identity crisis, 110 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: trying to figure out like what role does E three 111 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: play if any um, it's that I know that the 112 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: the organization behind E three definitely wants it to remain 113 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: a thing because it was a revenue generator. But from 114 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: the moment it's kind of in limbo. Well, anyway, back 115 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: in two thousand and the three G Cluster, this company 116 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: from Finland, showed off a client server gaming service, or 117 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: at least a technology not really a service yet, but 118 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: the technology that would enable that kind of thing. The 119 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: following year, in two thousand, one G Cluster revealed that 120 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: it was working on a system that would let gamers 121 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: by say a handheld system that connected to a more 122 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: powerful back end through the Internet. And this would in theory, 123 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: let layers access games that would normally be way too 124 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: advanced and too demanding to play on a small handheld device. 125 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: While the gamer's device would be relatively small and thus 126 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: not able to pack in big old components like in 127 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: a beefy GPU, the hardware that was actually running the 128 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: games on the server side would not have those size restrictions, right, 129 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about how big or small 130 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: your server is assuming you've got, you know, the physical 131 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: space to house it, and that meant that you could 132 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: have a very simple end device for the user to 133 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: to take advantage of. We call this kind of model 134 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: a thin client because the end user device, the client 135 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: doesn't have to be particularly powerful. It just has to 136 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: be able to receive the signal and to be able 137 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: to display things and have the input output structure so 138 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: that you can interact with whatever the software is. Well. 139 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: With a fast Internet connection, this kind of model can 140 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: work great. It can bring down the price of the 141 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: hardware because the handheld device doesn't have to be packed 142 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: to the gills with all these components, so it could 143 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: be relatively inexpensive. The company g Cluster was still developing 144 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 1: this technolog Gester wasn't anything for gamers to buy. At 145 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: this point. There was no commercial use of it. It 146 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: was more like, here's the the technology that would enable 147 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: this to happen. In two thousand four, Soft Bank, the 148 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: enormous Japanese company, acquired g Cluster, and g Cluster did 149 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: provide the back end technology for several online gaming services, 150 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: primarily in Europe and then later almost exclusively in Japan. 151 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: UM and Eventually, another Japanese company called broad Media Group 152 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: would acquire a majority steak in g cluster that would 153 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:37,599 Speaker 1: be in t S, but we're gonna move on. That 154 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: was just one early example of the idea for cloud 155 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: based gaming. Now. According to at least some sources, the 156 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: first actual commercial cloud gaming service was on Life. Actually 157 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: remember when that launched. That was the summer of now 158 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: the company on Life, I've been around for several years 159 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: before that working on the project. But they did that 160 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: kind of in secret, not revealing it till they offered 161 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: up a fifteen dollar per month subscription service. The company 162 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: would later then drop the subscription service entirely. So instead 163 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: what Online looked to make money on was to h 164 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: to rent games to players, so players would be able 165 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: to use the service for free, but to access games 166 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: that would need to pay a certain amount per month 167 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 1: depending upon the title. This model did not work out 168 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: so well because within two years, on Life executives laid 169 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:36,359 Speaker 1: off the entire staff. They essentially cut all ties with shareholders. 170 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: They made all shares null and void. They went through 171 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: a court process to do that, so they didn't just 172 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: declare it. It was actually a legal process they had 173 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: to follow. They closed up shop, and they sold on 174 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 1: Live's assets to at the time a secret buyer, who 175 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: then opened up a brand new business called on Live 176 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: Real Bold Move. The buyer was Louder Partners, and it 177 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: was rumored that the original on Live executive teams sold 178 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: the company way way below its actual value based on 179 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: the technology it had developed and the patents that it owned. Anyway, 180 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: on Live limped on for a couple more years until 181 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: in Sony Computer Entertainment bought on Live's assets and it 182 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: effectively ceased to be Now it's possible that Online could 183 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: have made it, you know, and survived as a business 184 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: with just a few different choices, but it's really hard 185 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: to say because before the service launched, journalists expressed a 186 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: lot of skepticism about whether the company would be able 187 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: to provide a good experience to users. Some were doubting 188 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: that Online would have the processing equipment needed to handle 189 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: the extreme demands of high end performance gaming, and there 190 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: was more skepticism that broadband access in general wasn't nearly 191 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 1: robust enough to support this kind of service in the 192 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: first place, that users would not get high resolution games 193 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: that had low latency because the Internet connections just weren't 194 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: there yet. That was the fear. Whether that was true 195 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: or not, the press coverage definitely hurt on Live's chances, 196 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: and not a lot of people bought into it. Certainly, 197 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: there were reviews that found that if you had really 198 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: bad internet connection, that would lead to poor performance. But 199 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: you know, that seems pretty obvious to me. If you 200 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: know you've got allows the internet connection, it should come 201 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,679 Speaker 1: as no surprise when you experience issues with a cloud 202 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: based gaming service. That kind of goes hand in hand. Anyway, 203 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: Sony absorbed on Live's assets, or at least most of them. 204 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: Around the same time that on Live debut, a company 205 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: called gei Kai announced its own cloud game streaming technology. 206 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: Like on Life, this was a technology that the team 207 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: at Geikai had been working on for several years before 208 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: there was ever a public announcement. Geikai initially focused on 209 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: creating embedded gaming services for other platforms such as Facebook. 210 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,959 Speaker 1: In Sony would gobble up gey Kai, just as it 211 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: would later do for on Lie, and Sony would use 212 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: guy Kais technology to build out its share Play, remote play, 213 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: and PlayStation now offerings. All Right, we're gonna take a 214 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back I'll talk about another 215 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: streaming service or two, and then we'll really focus on Stadia. Okay, 216 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: let's talk about another cloud streaming service that appeared not 217 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: long after these. This one appeared in and spoiler it's 218 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: still around. That would be in Vidio's g force Now. 219 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: When it first launched, it was known as Grid. It 220 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,439 Speaker 1: was part of in Vidia's Shield platform. The Nvidia Shield 221 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: is essentially a set top box type of device that 222 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: you connect to a television and it allows you to 223 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: stream uh computer content to a TV. So, like other 224 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: services I've mentioned, this one offered gamers the chance to 225 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,599 Speaker 1: access a huge library of titles in return for a 226 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: recurring monthly subscription. It was in beta from all the 227 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: way to twenty finally launched in February. Some would argue 228 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: that was the perfect time to launch because it was 229 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: just before we were all locked down due to the 230 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: COVID pandemic. In Video created clients not just for the 231 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: Shield streaming device, but also for Windows, Mac computers, and 232 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: Android devices. It's even incorporated into some television's directly, so 233 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: that some TVs have the g force now service built 234 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: into them, and Video offers different tiers of subscriptions to 235 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: g Force Now they escalate in price as they offer 236 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: better performance. There's a free tier that lets you play 237 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: games on what amounts to a quote unquote basic rig, 238 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: and your session can last up to one hour apiece. 239 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: So that means the server you're connected to isn't going 240 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: to have all the fancy bells and whistles, so it 241 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: can't deliver a high end experience, but it means you 242 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: don't have to buy, you know, a better PC to 243 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: run current games. You can use this basic rig and 244 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: log into it as if it were your computer. Now, 245 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: for nine dollars nine cents a month, you could connect 246 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: to a premium rig and you could stay connected for 247 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: up to six hours per session with a resolution of 248 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: up to ten a d P at sixty frames per second, 249 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: which is decent, but like pro gamers look at sixty 250 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: frames per second, they're like, I can't play at that. 251 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: I need much faster. For most people, how of her, 252 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: sixty phrase per second is more than sufficient. It's really 253 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: if you're talking about like elite levels of play. So 254 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: if you go all the way up to nineteen dollars 255 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: nine cents a month, you can connect to a rig 256 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: with a g Force r T x processing card. Now, 257 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: this used to be one of the flagship graphics processors 258 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: from in Video, right the thirty eight and the thirty 259 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: nine were the two top of the line graphics processors 260 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: from the company. However, in Video recently announced a new 261 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: forty lines who would get forty eight and the thirty 262 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: eight is no longer like at the top of the 263 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: heap anymore. This subscription tier would let you play up 264 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: to eight hours percession, and you could get up to 265 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: four K resolution and hundred twenty frames per second. Though 266 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: I'd be shocked if you could do both at the 267 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: same time for sustained lengths of time, because your Internet 268 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: connection is a need to be pretty strong in order 269 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: to do that. I mean, if you live somewhere where 270 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: you've got a fiber connection or something like that, then yes, 271 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: you could probably take advantage of that. I think for myself, 272 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 1: considering the let's say mercurial nature of my Internet connection, 273 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: I'd be lucky to be able to sustain a hundred 274 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: twenty frames per second at four a K for any 275 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: real length of time. Anyway, this is an example of 276 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: a cloud based gaming service that's stuck around. It exists today. 277 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: It provides something that a lot of gamers want that 278 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: it provides access to a gaming rig that has a 279 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: killer graphics card in it, and sure that machine happens 280 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: to be in a warehouse somewhere. But considering how difficult 281 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: it was to even find a new graphics card for 282 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: the last couple of years, it's still a popular choice 283 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: for a lot of gamers now. Recently, the availability of 284 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 1: graphics cards has been improving and their prices started to 285 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: come down from the insane markups that we were seeing. 286 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: You know, back when Ethereum was both more valuable and 287 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: dependent upon proof of work system, it is now a 288 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: proof of steak system, so the demand for for high 289 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: end graphics cards for things like crypto mining has drastically 290 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: declined recently. So that gives gamers a better chance of 291 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: making a gaming rig that has one of these cards 292 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: in it for themselves, which means they wouldn't need to 293 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: use this kind of service. But it's not like they 294 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: are available everywhere, and they are still pretty darn expensive, 295 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: So for a lot of people it may make more 296 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: sense to pay say twenty bucks a month to get 297 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: access to a system capable of those levels of performance, 298 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: rather than you know, having to save up a couple 299 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: of grand to build a rig and hunt around to 300 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: find all the components you want all and now. There 301 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: are a few other cloud gaming services out there. Shadow 302 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: PC is one, though it tends to be marketed more 303 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: as a cloud based Windows PC service rather than as 304 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:16,959 Speaker 1: a gaming rig service. EA has Project Atlas in development, 305 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: which is both a cloud gaming platform for gamers as 306 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: well as a development platform for game creators, so this 307 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: isn't just games as a service, but game development tools 308 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: as a service, including access to stuff like game engines. 309 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: In two thousand nineteen, Microsoft launched a beta test for 310 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: its cloud based gaming service, formally known as Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, 311 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: it's pretty common for folks to refer to it as 312 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: x Cloud Gamers who subscribe to the company's Xbox Game 313 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 1: Pass ultimate automatically have access to this cloud gaming service. 314 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: It's part of that subscription deal. The company first hinted 315 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 1: about this service back in ten and officially launched it 316 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: in late and at that point had more than a 317 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: hundred games supported in the service. And then we have 318 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: Google Stadium. Actually, to be clear, there are other services 319 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,640 Speaker 1: out there too. I don't mean to suggest that I've 320 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: covered all of them. I haven't, but it is high 321 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: time we talk about stadium. Google first announced Stadia in 322 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen at the Games Developer Conference or g d C, 323 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:36,159 Speaker 1: which is, you know, an even more industry focused gaming event. 324 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: E three is is largely used for like PR and 325 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: marketing and networking as in, you know, business to business networking, 326 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: not like computer networking. The Games Developer Conference is a 327 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 1: little bit more focused on, you know, actual developers talking 328 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: about their work. Google held a keynote during the twenty 329 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: nineteen conference to show off the Stadia concept from the 330 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: get go. Google's goal was to create a service that 331 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: could be accessible across a wide range of devices, from 332 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: computers to smartphones, to web browsers, to televisions and beyond. 333 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: And I think of that as the Netflix strategy. I 334 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: just I think of that as this is what Netflix does. 335 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: You know. When Netflix was first branching out into becoming 336 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: a streaming service, back when it was primarily a DVD 337 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:35,360 Speaker 1: rental business, one thing Netflix really focused on was getting 338 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: a client out there for pretty much every platform you 339 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: can think of. That included devices like the Roku, included 340 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: smartphone operating systems like iOS and Android. It included apps, 341 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: for Windows PCs. It included in browsers streaming capabilities for 342 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: your various browsers. It included video game consoles and more. 343 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm pretty sure there are refrigerators out there 344 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: that have Netflix clients built into them. So essentially, Netflix 345 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: wanted to be where the people are walking around on 346 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: those what do you call him, oh feet and it 347 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,120 Speaker 1: totally worked. This was one of the many things Netflix 348 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: did early on that helped it get an early head 349 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: start on other premium video streaming services, you know, making 350 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: sure it was available wherever people were turning their attention. 351 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: If there's a screen, Netflix wanted to be on it, 352 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: and that really paid off. So Google's approach with Stadia 353 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: was set to try and follow this model, and it 354 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: was already shown to be successful for videos, so maybe 355 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: it could work for games as well. Moreover, Google demonstrated 356 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: that the service would let players start a game on 357 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: one device, they could pause their game, they could switch 358 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: to a totally differ and device, and they could keep 359 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: going in the game. So you could, for example, play 360 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: a game on your phone and then pause the game, 361 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,400 Speaker 1: switch to your PC and then play a little bit more. 362 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:14,959 Speaker 1: Maybe pose its switched to your smart TV pick up 363 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: right where you left off on your PC and keep 364 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: on going. And it was a cool idea of this 365 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: persistent game session that could exist across any platform you 366 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: got your hands on. As long as you were logged in, 367 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: you could continue the game experience. So think of it 368 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,640 Speaker 1: as a game in play and it just depends on 369 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: how you want to play it at any given time. 370 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: That was a cool idea, and the game was wherever 371 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: you went, no matter what device you used to access it. 372 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,640 Speaker 1: That was kind of the pitch now. At the announcement, 373 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: Google reps said the service could already support games of 374 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,719 Speaker 1: up to four K resolution and at sixty frames per second, 375 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: and that they planned to build on that so that 376 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,679 Speaker 1: they would eventually have support for eight K resolution and 377 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: one twenty frames per second, which really is an incredible 378 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: amount of performance. Google also introduced a Stadia controller, which, 379 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: if we're all being honest, looks a lot like an 380 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: Xbox controller, complete with dual sticks and shoulder buttons and 381 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: four face buttons. It also has a button that allows 382 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: it to connect to things like Google Assistant as well 383 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: as YouTube, and it connects to the Stadia service via WiFi. 384 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 1: So the controller is a WiFi connected controller. The pricing 385 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: for Google Stadia was a bit on the steep side 386 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:50,959 Speaker 1: initially anyway, So to get started playing on say a television, 387 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: Let's say that you just wanted you wanted to play 388 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,719 Speaker 1: on your TV like it was a video game console. Well, 389 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: assuming you didn't already have something that would work with Stadiu, 390 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: it meant that you would need to purchase a hardware kit, 391 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: and originally that would cost you a hundred thirty bucks. 392 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: The hardware kit consisted of a controller and a chrome 393 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: Cast Ultra device, so you could plug your chrome Cast 394 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: into your television and this would allow you to stream 395 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: content from a computer to your TV or just essentially 396 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: make your television and Internet connected TV that would interact 397 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: with these services. Both of these, by the way, would 398 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: come with cables and and plugs so you could charge 399 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: your controller and keep your chrome Cast plugged into power. 400 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: It the chrome Cast if you if you've used a 401 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: Roku or something like that, or an Amazon fire Stick, 402 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: it's very similar to that. It just connects to your 403 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: home network and allows you to stream content from the 404 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: Internet to a television or similar device. That was the 405 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: start a hundred thirty bucks. Now if you had a 406 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: PC with the Chrome web browser and you had a 407 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 1: compatible controller that you could connect either wirelessly or wired 408 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,919 Speaker 1: to your PC, you were already good to go. You 409 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: didn't need the hardware kit if you just planned on 410 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: playing on the PC. If you have already had a 411 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: Chrome Cast Ultra and you had a compatible controller. There 412 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: are only a few of them, but if you had 413 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: one of them, then you could even play on the television. Now, 414 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: it usually meant that you had to use your phone 415 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: as a kind of liaison between your controller and the 416 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: Chrome Cast Ultra. So it wasn't an ideal solution. Uh. 417 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: And in fact, if you look at the different ways 418 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: to connect various pieces of equipment together in order to 419 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: access Stadia, Google provided an extensive and incredibly confusing array, 420 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 1: Like it all just depends on where are you accessing Stadia, 421 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,159 Speaker 1: Like what kind of platform? Is it a TV? Is 422 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,119 Speaker 1: it a computer? Is it a smartphone? Why kind of 423 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: controller do you want to use? And is their support 424 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: for that kind of controller on that platform? Uh? And, 425 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: like I said, it is a pretty confusing group of 426 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: of specifications. It almost looks like a Bingo card And um, yeah, 427 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: I don't want to go through all of it because 428 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: it wouldn't matter anyway. Stadium is not going to be 429 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: around much longer, so there's not much point in talking 430 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,639 Speaker 1: about other than to say, I think it's another very 431 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:28,880 Speaker 1: typical Google thing in that Google tends to make products 432 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,919 Speaker 1: that work really well for engineers and less well for 433 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,439 Speaker 1: everybody else, And if you're not an engineer, the system 434 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,400 Speaker 1: will not seem intuitive or simple or easy to set 435 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: up or follow. If you are an engineer, you're like, well, 436 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,640 Speaker 1: of course this all makes sense. That's not to say 437 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: that you know, your average person couldn't figure it out. 438 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: It just I feel like there's a steeper learning curve 439 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 1: with Google products in general. All Right, we're gonna take 440 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: another break. When we come back, we're gonna talk a 441 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: little bit more about the Stadia service as it was intended, uh, 442 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 1: some of the pricing that was involved with the actual service, 443 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: and what ultimately led to Google deciding to say bye 444 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: bye to Stadia. But first, let's take this quick break. Okay, 445 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: Let's assume that you wanted to play Stadia on your 446 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: television and you didn't currently have a Chrome Cast, Ultra 447 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: or any other platform that was compatible with Stadia. On 448 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,880 Speaker 1: top of the initial hardware kit purchase of a hundred 449 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: thirty bucks you then had a monthly subscription to contend with. 450 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: So the purchase of a hardware kit would give you 451 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: three months of service, and after that you would have 452 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: to spend nine dollars and ninety nine cents per month 453 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: to stay connected to the Stadia service. And you could 454 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: demo some games for free, like get a like a 455 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: demo level of a game, or a demo amount of 456 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: time with a game, and a few titles were included 457 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: as free on the service. Um later on you would 458 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: have a free tier and a Premium tier. Premium tier 459 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: had access to more titles than Free did. But either way, 460 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: if you wanted to have a game in your collection permanently, 461 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: you had to buy a copy of the game on Stadia. 462 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: That often meant buying a game at full price, so 463 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: like up to sixty bucks for the Triple A titles 464 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: at the time, and buying a title did not mean 465 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: you were downloading it. All it meant was that you 466 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: would have access to that game for as long as 467 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: Stadia was a thing. You can kind of see where 468 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: that's gonna go later on in this episode. So if 469 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: you purchased let's say Assassin's Creed, one of the Assassin's 470 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: Creed games on Stadia, you would be able to play 471 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: Assassin's Creed. Even if you let your premium subscription laps 472 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: and you went to a free subscription. You would still 473 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: be able to play Assassin's Creed. You would not be 474 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: able to play at the highest resolution or frame rates, 475 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: but you'd still be able to access it. Now, if 476 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: you didn't buy any games on Stadia and you were 477 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: just relying on the free titles that were available to you, well, 478 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: if you let your premium subscription laps, that selection would 479 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: get much smaller because free tiered subscribers got only a 480 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: handful of games. Premium got a little bit more, but 481 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: you wouldn't have access to all the games. You would 482 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: have to purchase them. Now, even with that model, it's 483 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: still cheaper than a full game console. Right, It's still 484 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: less expensive than going out and buying the latest Xbox 485 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 1: or the latest PlayStation, particularly if you also subscribe to 486 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 1: Sony or Microsoft's online subscription services. Right. If you do those, 487 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: then you have an ongoing cost with those those game companies. 488 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: So Stadia was cheaper than Microsoft or Sony's approach. If 489 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: you also we're subscribing to their online offerings. If your 490 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: internet connection is good, then it could mean you would 491 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: be able to play games at incredible resolution and great 492 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: frame rates. But even despite the fact that the technology 493 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: was solid, Stadia really struggled to find a strong customer base. 494 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: Like I said, Google did introduce a free version of 495 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: the service. In this is where you really would think 496 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: this service would take off. You have a free version 497 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: where you can access this cloud game service. You've got 498 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: a world that ends up going into lockdown, so you 499 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 1: have people who are stuck at home with very little 500 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: to do. It seems like it's the ideal time for 501 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: this kind of thing to really catch on, and yet 502 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: it didn't. Now, the free version was a little throttled 503 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: compared to the premium one, so you know, you didn't 504 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: have as high resolution, you didn't have as good of 505 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: a frame rate as you would if you had the 506 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: premium subscription, but you could still use it. Uh you know. 507 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: That was the big tradeoff, right, was that you had 508 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 1: a slightly less uh powerful experience, and you didn't have 509 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: access to as many free games on the platform. You 510 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: would have to pay for more of the games, but 511 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: the actual monthly service would be free, So yeah, that 512 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: was the tradeoff. Now, a big reason that Stadia failed 513 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: might have been the fact that there were already other 514 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: products on the market that we're competing with Stadius model, 515 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: or that at least partially overlapped with what Stadia was 516 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: trying to do. There were a lot of gamers out 517 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: there already who had a console, or they had a 518 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: gaming PC or both, so they were already set, right. 519 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: They already had a device that played games. Uh, the 520 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: digital model has been around for a long time, so 521 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: people were already used to buying games digitally and downloading 522 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,160 Speaker 1: them to these devices. You had Microsoft it was already 523 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:22,959 Speaker 1: offering the x cloud service, so that was already very 524 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: similar to what Stadia was doing. But on top of 525 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 1: all of this, on top of the fact that there 526 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: was already serious competition out there, is the fact that 527 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: Google's reputation for killing off its services is widely known. 528 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: As I said earlier, the company is absolutely infamous for 529 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: launching stuff and then abandoning it later. Though to be fair, 530 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: Google many times will strip old products for parts essentially, 531 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: and then use those those components to build into other services. 532 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: So while a fully formed product might go away aspects 533 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: of that product can be worked into other Google services 534 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: down the line. So gradually certain Google services get more 535 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 1: robust and full of features, and others just disappear. Anyway, 536 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: one sign of trouble early on was that Google would 537 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: often hold promotions in which the company would give out 538 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: free hardware to people. You know, so they were selling 539 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,400 Speaker 1: this hardware kit for a hundred thirty bucks, right, But 540 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,080 Speaker 1: multiple times over the past couple of years, Google would 541 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 1: hand out these hardware kits. There was a point where 542 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,000 Speaker 1: people who were subscribed to YouTube Premium, we're able to 543 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 1: get a free hardware kit. They just had to sign up. 544 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,879 Speaker 1: And so that's how I got my Stadia controller. I 545 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:49,839 Speaker 1: was already subscribed to YouTube Premium. Actually, funny story, I 546 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: was not originally subscribed to YouTube Premium. I was subscribed 547 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: to a different Google service that you guessed it. Google 548 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,800 Speaker 1: ultimately killed off, and then they rolled over the people 549 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: who had subscribed to that older service into YouTube Premium, 550 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: and I just kept it because I turned out I 551 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: liked being able to watch YouTube without commercials. Anyway, That's 552 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: how I ended up owning a Stadia controller. It's actually 553 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: upstairs in my living room collecting dust. This was just 554 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 1: one example of Google handing out this hardware. Google also 555 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,280 Speaker 1: held promotions in which it would give away the controllers 556 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,800 Speaker 1: to people who purchased a specific game on the Stadia service. 557 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:36,880 Speaker 1: This happened a few times. So instead of paying a 558 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,960 Speaker 1: hundred thirty dollars for the hardware kit and then up 559 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 1: to sixty dollars to purchase a title on the service, 560 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 1: you could just spend the sixty bucks. You could buy 561 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: the game on the Stadia service, and then Google would 562 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: ship you a hardware kit for free. The company held 563 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,239 Speaker 1: that kind of offer a couple of times over the 564 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,239 Speaker 1: last two years, with different titles. Now until recently, the 565 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,120 Speaker 1: official stance from Google was that Stadium was sticking around 566 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: for the long haul. In fact, as recently as July 567 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:10,279 Speaker 1: twenty nine, two thousand twenty two, a Twitter user with 568 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:14,920 Speaker 1: the handle blue Fire demon forty four sent Google a message, 569 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: and it was a prescient message. The message read quote 570 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: incredible that I really have to ask this, Are you 571 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: closing down soon? End quote? And the response from the 572 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 1: Stadia team was that Stadium was not shutting down. Flash 573 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: forward to September nine, and that story had changed, and 574 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,360 Speaker 1: we're going to get there Momentarily before that, though, Google 575 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:46,279 Speaker 1: also briefly had a department that was dedicated to developing 576 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 1: games for stadium, so they weren't just going to be 577 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: a distributor for games, they were going to develop games 578 00:36:54,760 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: for their own platform. Ultimately, however, Google decided to dissolve 579 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: that department. Perhaps they discovered that the production process for 580 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,960 Speaker 1: video games is really intense and a ton of work 581 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,480 Speaker 1: and money has to go into creating a high profile 582 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,839 Speaker 1: video game. But whatever the cause, the press picked up 583 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,399 Speaker 1: on how leaders within this games division and Google were 584 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: transferring to other departments, which was kind of signaling that 585 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:28,200 Speaker 1: Google was abandoning this whole game development idea. Still, that 586 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: could have meant that Google would just simply be a 587 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,399 Speaker 1: distributor for games, right maybe they decide, oh, you know what, 588 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: this is too hard, we don't want to we don't 589 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:40,239 Speaker 1: want to dedicate resources to it. Let's do it for 590 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: other stuff. We'll just distribute games through Stadia. That just 591 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:49,799 Speaker 1: ultimately wasn't enough either. Google also cut back on the 592 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 1: personage it demanded from developers for revenue share. You're likely 593 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: aware that Android and iOS both take a cut from developers. 594 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 1: It's a healthy source of revenue for these companies. Um. 595 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:06,560 Speaker 1: Google had a certain revenue share percentage when it first 596 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:11,240 Speaker 1: launched Stadia, but then reduced that percentage so that developers 597 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to share as much of the money that 598 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: they were making on Stadia. This was an effort to 599 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: try and foster a stronger developer community on Stadium. Didn't 600 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 1: really work because again, for developers to commit to a platform, 601 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:29,319 Speaker 1: they need to see that there's an audience there, and 602 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,120 Speaker 1: if there's no audience, then it makes no sense to 603 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,799 Speaker 1: make that investment. Right if you were to make a 604 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: lemonade stand, You're not gonna put your lemonade stand in 605 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:43,160 Speaker 1: the middle of a forest, away from any trails, because 606 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,800 Speaker 1: you're not going to see any customers. You'll get eaten 607 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: by bears. What you do is you set up your 608 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 1: lemonade stand. You know at the end of like the 609 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: course for a marathon. You're gonna get a killer business 610 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:01,240 Speaker 1: that way, So you know, you pick your moments. So 611 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 1: this was, you know, one of the things that developers 612 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,319 Speaker 1: were doing. They saw like, well, Stadius just doesn't have 613 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,719 Speaker 1: enough people there, doesn't make sense for us to devote 614 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 1: our resources toward developing for Stadia. Some developers did they 615 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,160 Speaker 1: were working on. In fact, some of them were working 616 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:20,880 Speaker 1: on it up until the announcement that Google was closing 617 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: down the service. Uh, and that also ends up being 618 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: a cautionary tale that not only are our customers affected 619 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,960 Speaker 1: by this, but developers are affected by it too, And 620 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:37,160 Speaker 1: it almost feels like, you know, it's Google being Google 621 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:40,840 Speaker 1: shutting down something all over again. Now, on the technical side, 622 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,920 Speaker 1: Google build out data centers around the world, and that 623 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 1: meant that most gamers were not that far away from 624 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 1: the closest Stadius servers. So the actual experience of using 625 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:55,880 Speaker 1: Stadia from a technical perspective was pretty darn good. Like 626 00:39:55,960 --> 00:40:01,520 Speaker 1: the latency issues were mostly eliminated, and reviews of Stadia 627 00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:05,799 Speaker 1: praised the technical performance of the platform and said, now, 628 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:10,480 Speaker 1: this is impressively effective. But ultimately Stadia just didn't gather 629 00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:17,760 Speaker 1: enough customers. So again September two, Phil Harrison, the general 630 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: manager for Stadia, posts a blog post that says that 631 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:26,680 Speaker 1: it just hadn't gained enough quote traction with users end quote, 632 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: and so ultimately they had to make the decision to 633 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:34,840 Speaker 1: sunset Google Stadia. And you know, this really seems to 634 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: be an area where Google struggles frequently. Maybe it just 635 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:44,400 Speaker 1: has a real marketing issue when it comes to reaching 636 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: a broad audience. There are Google devotees who will follow 637 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,880 Speaker 1: events like I O, which is Google's big developer conference 638 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:56,840 Speaker 1: each year. There are fans who will follow that stuff closely. 639 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:03,640 Speaker 1: They will await each auduct launch eagerly with anticipation. But 640 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:07,880 Speaker 1: beyond that small group of fans, I don't think there's 641 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:13,000 Speaker 1: as much interest in the general market, which is pretty 642 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,960 Speaker 1: surprising given that the Android operating system is the dominant 643 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,040 Speaker 1: operating system in the smartphone market around the world. There 644 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: are way more Android phones than there are iOS phones. 645 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,440 Speaker 1: But Google is not really able to tap into that base. 646 00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:31,759 Speaker 1: Again and again, We've seen it many times. The fact 647 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:34,640 Speaker 1: that the company has this long track record of abandoning 648 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:40,960 Speaker 1: projects might very well have something to do with they're 649 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,759 Speaker 1: not being enough people using Stadium. I think a lot 650 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:47,040 Speaker 1: of people were just scared off. They just assumed, like, Oh, 651 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,799 Speaker 1: if I buy into this, Google is going to abandon it, 652 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,440 Speaker 1: and then I'm not gonna be able to use it anymore. 653 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,520 Speaker 1: So I'm not even gonna bother. It becomes a self 654 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: fulfilling prophecy because of Google's history of dumping projects, and 655 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,799 Speaker 1: obviously stating is is not helping that reputation because it's 656 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 1: another abandoned project and only is a self fulfilling prophecy. 657 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:12,280 Speaker 1: It continues to perpetuate that that view of Google products 658 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,480 Speaker 1: in general. Now, Google said that it's going to start 659 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:20,680 Speaker 1: to shut down Stadius servers in January, and that leads 660 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: us to talking about refunds. Now, remember when I said 661 00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:27,439 Speaker 1: that you can purchase games on Stadia, but you don't 662 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,840 Speaker 1: download the games that you purchase like that, You don't 663 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,440 Speaker 1: save those to any local device. They live in the cloud, 664 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:38,160 Speaker 1: and you continue to have access to your purchase library 665 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,040 Speaker 1: as long as there is a service to use. But 666 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,640 Speaker 1: since the services going offline in January, what happens to 667 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:48,279 Speaker 1: your games? Google is working on that now. One thing 668 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,560 Speaker 1: that the company is offering is refunds on hardware and 669 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:56,360 Speaker 1: software purchases that includes stuff like downloadable content a k 670 00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:00,440 Speaker 1: a d l C. This is content that supp laments 671 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:04,279 Speaker 1: a game, it expands games in different ways. So you 672 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:08,200 Speaker 1: can get refunds for your purchases on Stadia. You can 673 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:10,799 Speaker 1: get a refund for your hardware kit, and you can 674 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: get a refund for any of the games or DLC 675 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 1: that you purchased through the Google store. In some cases, 676 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,560 Speaker 1: Google is working with game companies in an effort to 677 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:25,760 Speaker 1: transfer game files from Stadium to other platforms, which means 678 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,439 Speaker 1: that players would then be able to continue to play 679 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:34,120 Speaker 1: their purchased titles elsewhere without losing any progress. So instead 680 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:37,239 Speaker 1: of just like, Okay, well you can't play Assassin's Creed 681 00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,719 Speaker 1: on Stadia anymore, um, we're working with Ubisoft so you 682 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,920 Speaker 1: can play Assassin's Creed through their surface. They're trying to 683 00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:46,800 Speaker 1: go one step further than that and say, we're also 684 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,640 Speaker 1: making sure that you're in the exact same place in 685 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,399 Speaker 1: the game when you pick it up on Ubisoft as 686 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,760 Speaker 1: you were when you were on Stadium. This, by the way, 687 00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:59,120 Speaker 1: is a case by case scenario. It may not apply 688 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,280 Speaker 1: to all titals across the board that we're supported on Stadia, 689 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,120 Speaker 1: but I think it's a pretty decent move on Google's part. 690 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 1: The premium users will not be refunded their subscription fees, 691 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:14,279 Speaker 1: so that nine dollars cents per month that's gone like 692 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:18,640 Speaker 1: that is not getting refunded, and the fate of Stadia 693 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,719 Speaker 1: really does bring into focus a huge issue with the 694 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:26,080 Speaker 1: as a service model in general, and that is, if 695 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:30,280 Speaker 1: the service platform fails, you can lose all your stuff 696 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:33,520 Speaker 1: on it. With Google, the company is at least giving 697 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:38,000 Speaker 1: players a chance to salvage their purchases, either by refund 698 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 1: or by moving the data to another service, or both. 699 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,400 Speaker 1: But sometimes companies just go under and that's it. Pof 700 00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:50,000 Speaker 1: all that stuff that was on those servers can be gone. 701 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:53,560 Speaker 1: This is one of the big cons stacked against all 702 00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:57,920 Speaker 1: the other pros that are part of cloud based services. 703 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:01,240 Speaker 1: So there are pros. I don't want to just dismiss 704 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:03,960 Speaker 1: cloud based services in general. I think there are real 705 00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:08,439 Speaker 1: value to cloud based services. But the pros include things 706 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,520 Speaker 1: like you don't have to invest thousands of dollars in 707 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:15,600 Speaker 1: equipment to run the software you depend upon. So if 708 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,480 Speaker 1: you wanted to access the latest games at really good settings, 709 00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,680 Speaker 1: you didn't have to spend five thousand dollars to build 710 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:27,239 Speaker 1: a gaming rig um. You don't have to purchase maintain 711 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:31,520 Speaker 1: an upgrade storage for all your data using cloud based storage, 712 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,839 Speaker 1: right you know someone else is using computers to store 713 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,399 Speaker 1: your information. You don't have to find space in your 714 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:42,960 Speaker 1: own home and transfer things and back up things if 715 00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:45,160 Speaker 1: you don't want to, although you should always have a 716 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,680 Speaker 1: local backup if you can. But but you know you 717 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:52,279 Speaker 1: don't have to do all that. That's a huge benefit, right, 718 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:57,600 Speaker 1: not being responsible for maintaining these various devices for things 719 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,440 Speaker 1: like gaming rigs. That also includes not having to upgrade 720 00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:05,960 Speaker 1: your graphics processing card every few years. So there's also 721 00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:09,120 Speaker 1: other benefits, right. With cloud based services, there's often a 722 00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:14,879 Speaker 1: way to share work or material between users that makes 723 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,400 Speaker 1: things way easier. Like online photo albums are a great 724 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,520 Speaker 1: example of this. You don't have to get physical copies 725 00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 1: of photos produced and then put those photos into photo 726 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:29,319 Speaker 1: albums and then track down that friend of yours to 727 00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:34,680 Speaker 1: inflict upon them every excruciating detail of your last vacation 728 00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:37,480 Speaker 1: to Myrtle Beach. You can just send them a link 729 00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,800 Speaker 1: to an online photo album and then you can pestor 730 00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:43,040 Speaker 1: them about whether or not they looked at the dang thing. 731 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:49,800 Speaker 1: But if the company that provides this hosting service goes under, 732 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:55,640 Speaker 1: if that photo album platform goes under, well, then your 733 00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:59,640 Speaker 1: photos disappear too, and that's a big risk. You don't 734 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:05,239 Speaker 1: actually own anything tangible with these cloud based services. What 735 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:10,480 Speaker 1: you're really doing is purchasing access to the service. That's it. 736 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:15,280 Speaker 1: You don't own music on streaming music services, you don't 737 00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,200 Speaker 1: own videos on the streaming video services. You own a 738 00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:25,160 Speaker 1: way to access that content, but if the platform goes away, 739 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,840 Speaker 1: your your access to that content goes away, and you 740 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:32,560 Speaker 1: can feel like you just sunk money into something that 741 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:36,279 Speaker 1: that was taken from you. And that's a real big 742 00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:39,759 Speaker 1: problem with the as a service model. It's the big 743 00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:43,720 Speaker 1: difference between owning physical media and using a streaming service, 744 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,960 Speaker 1: one of the many big differences I should say. As 745 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,480 Speaker 1: for Google, I think that it's pretty likely Google is 746 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:55,080 Speaker 1: going to incorporate Stadia technology into other services. They've said 747 00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:58,560 Speaker 1: as much that they're going to use some of the 748 00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:02,720 Speaker 1: technologies they developed for Idea to do other things, which 749 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,239 Speaker 1: makes sense. This way, Google can still make use of 750 00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:08,080 Speaker 1: the work that they put into building Stadium. It's just 751 00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 1: that it won't be for cloud based gaming anymore. Anyway. 752 00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:17,160 Speaker 1: That's the story of cloud gaming in general and Stadia 753 00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:20,200 Speaker 1: in particular. If you have suggestions for topics I should 754 00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:23,320 Speaker 1: cover in future episodes, reach out to me. You can 755 00:48:23,560 --> 00:48:26,520 Speaker 1: reach out on Twitter. The handle is tech stuff h 756 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 1: s W, or you can download the I Heart Radio 757 00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:32,640 Speaker 1: app and navigate over to the tech Stuff podcast. There 758 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,719 Speaker 1: you will find little microphone icon. If you click on that, 759 00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:38,040 Speaker 1: you can leave a message up to thirty seconds in length. 760 00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:39,880 Speaker 1: Let me know what you would like to hear in 761 00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:43,839 Speaker 1: future episodes, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 762 00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,759 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For more 763 00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:56,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 764 00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:59,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 765 00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:01,600 Speaker 1: Three