WEBVTT - The Death of Google Stadia 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.480 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.760 Jonathan Strickland. I'm ad executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.680 And how the tech are you. I am back from vacation. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.520 I was detained a bit by Hurricane Ian, which obviously 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.479 reaked terrible devastation across parts of Florida and some other regions. 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:34.199 If you were affected by Ian, I hope you and 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:38.000 your loved ones are all safe and well. Uh. I 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.760 was merely inconvenienced, but that inconvenience meant that I was 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.319 actually a little behind on the tech news. And if 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.920 you follow tech news, then you may have heard that 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:52.560 Google is shutting down its online cloud streaming game service 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.280 called Stadia. And I thought we could talk a little 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.040 bit about what Stadio was and what went wrong and 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:03.160 what comes next. But first we'll talk about the cloud 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.920 game streaming world in general, because Stadia is just one 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:11.120 of several services they're really aimed to revolutionize gaming, and 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.640 this one ultimately fell short. It's also yet another example 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.920 of a Google project that the company would pull the 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.520 plug on. And I've done entire episodes about this kind 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:25.080 of stuff that you know, Google either launched or it 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:29.399 acquired and then subsequently killed it off. So we're not 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.399 going to dwell on that too much here, but it 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.759 does play a big part, I think, in why Stadia 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:40.600 failed ultimately. Well, first, before we get to any of that, 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:46.160 let's talk about cloud streaming video game content in general. Now, 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.240 this is not a new idea like a lot of 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:54.000 things that emerged as cloud computing matured. It is and 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.480 as a service concept like I'm sure you've heard of 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:02.240 lots of things as a service, you know, like software 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.160 as a service. In this case, it's games as a 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.880 service and players pay a certain amount of money, typically 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.679 a recurring subscription fee, and in return, they can access 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.040 a library of games stored on the cloud, and they 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.800 play the game on a home device. It could be 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.640 really anything. It could be a handheld device, it could 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.119 be a connected TV, it could be a video game console, 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.520 it could be a PC or a smartphone, whatever it 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:34.720 might be. Uh, we call this the client. It's the 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:40.200 user side of this system. And meanwhile, the actual game 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:45.240 is running on a server, probably somewhere that's not too 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.400 far away, and we call the server the server and 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:53.200 a client server system. That one's easy so the reason 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.040 you want to have your server fairly close to wherever 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.800 the client is is to cut down on latency and 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.000 lag because the greater the distance between the player and 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.800 the server, the more likely you will have latency. And 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.760 that's particularly bad for Twitch based games, and by that 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.279 I mean the games that rely on fast and accurate reflexes, 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:18.480 not games streaming on the Twitch service. Now. Really the 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.720 combination of cloud and edge computing is what has made 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:29.160 these streaming services viable. But some services debuted before this 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.760 kind of infrastructure really became robust. In fact, if we 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.560 really want to go overboard, we can talk about stuff 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:40.640 like bulletin board systems or b B s. So ages ago, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.200 before most people even knew there was an Internet that 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.680 was in development, you know, there were some computer hobbyists 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.760 who began to create software that would let you turn 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:56.040 your computer into kind of a little host server. Other 0:03:56.080 --> 0:04:01.960 people could dial into your computer by using their own computers, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.760 which would be the clients, and a modem, so they 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:08.120 would have their phone connected to this modem and they 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.480 would literally type in a number that related to your 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.760 computer's phone line and dial into your computer, so it 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.159 was kind of like their computer was calling your computer 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.240 on the phone, and what would happen later would be 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.880 a conversation between the two machines. Now again this was 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.640 in the old landline phone days. Mind you you know 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.680 your computer would answer this call. The other person would 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.039 then be able to do stuff on your computer through 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:38.040 this connection. Not just any stuff, right, They couldn't do everything. 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.560 They couldn't get like administrative control of your machine assuming 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.599 you were running the right software, but they could do 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.880 stuff within the context of the BBS software you were using. 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.039 And a BBS host might allow users to leave messages 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.279 for each other kind of like email, or maintain a 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:00.000 forum that may or may not have a specific focus 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.920 us to it, like there were bbs is that were 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:06.799 really focused on things like sports, for example, or the 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:09.479 computer calling in might even be able to play certain 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.800 games that worked really well with bbs is, So typical 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:17.560 things would be like dungeon crawling c RPGs, and this 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.920 was a sort of peer to peer gaming and usually 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.359 limited folks to a single player experience, but it was 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:28.200 a start. This is also a great topic in general 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:32.680 because it makes it very easy to explain clients versus servers. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:34.919 So the client in this case is the device that 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.279 the end user has, whether it's a computer or a 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.760 game console, or a handled device or smartphone, smart TV, 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.680 web browser, whatever. The server is the machine on the 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.920 other end that's actually running the processes, and the connection 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.120 between client and server allows the client to access the 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:57.360 servers capabilities, almost like the client was a natural extension 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.799 of the server itself. In many ways, it goes back 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:05.560 to the time sharing model of having dumb terminals connecting 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.800 to a central computer, where you have multiple people each 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:11.560 uosing a terminal that doesn't really do anything on its own, 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.320 It just acts as an input output device for a 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:18.800 centralized computing system. This is like that, but it is 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.720 enabled via the Internet. Now, way back in two thousand, 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.240 before the term cloud computing had even become a common 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.159 phrase like that wouldn't happen until around two thousand six, 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:35.239 but a company from Finland called g Cluster had a 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:40.120 cloud computing concept and attended E three to show it off. Now, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.440 back then E three was a very big video game 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.880 trade and industry show. And I say back then because 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.160 well recently the conference has been struggling to remain relevant 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.480 and in fact has canceled. The last couple of E 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.360 three events. I think it's going through a real identity crisis, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:01.280 trying to figure out like what role does E three 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.280 play if any um, it's that I know that the 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.040 the organization behind E three definitely wants it to remain 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.960 a thing because it was a revenue generator. But from 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.120 the moment it's kind of in limbo. Well, anyway, back 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.440 in two thousand and the three G Cluster, this company 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:23.480 from Finland, showed off a client server gaming service, or 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.160 at least a technology not really a service yet, but 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.920 the technology that would enable that kind of thing. The 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.000 following year, in two thousand, one G Cluster revealed that 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.520 it was working on a system that would let gamers 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.440 by say a handheld system that connected to a more 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:43.240 powerful back end through the Internet. And this would in theory, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.400 let layers access games that would normally be way too 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:51.000 advanced and too demanding to play on a small handheld device. 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.360 While the gamer's device would be relatively small and thus 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.320 not able to pack in big old components like in 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.240 a beefy GPU, the hardware that was actually running the 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.480 games on the server side would not have those size restrictions, right, 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.200 You don't have to worry about how big or small 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.480 your server is assuming you've got, you know, the physical 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:16.760 space to house it, and that meant that you could 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:22.560 have a very simple end device for the user to 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.480 to take advantage of. We call this kind of model 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.640 a thin client because the end user device, the client 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.080 doesn't have to be particularly powerful. It just has to 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.480 be able to receive the signal and to be able 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:38.600 to display things and have the input output structure so 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.200 that you can interact with whatever the software is. Well. 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.520 With a fast Internet connection, this kind of model can 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.120 work great. It can bring down the price of the 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.120 hardware because the handheld device doesn't have to be packed 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.480 to the gills with all these components, so it could 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:59.280 be relatively inexpensive. The company g Cluster was still developing 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.439 this technolog Gester wasn't anything for gamers to buy. At 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.120 this point. There was no commercial use of it. It 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.920 was more like, here's the the technology that would enable 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.160 this to happen. In two thousand four, Soft Bank, the 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:19.640 enormous Japanese company, acquired g Cluster, and g Cluster did 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:23.400 provide the back end technology for several online gaming services, 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:27.320 primarily in Europe and then later almost exclusively in Japan. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.880 UM and Eventually, another Japanese company called broad Media Group 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.560 would acquire a majority steak in g cluster that would 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.599 be in t S, but we're gonna move on. That 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.120 was just one early example of the idea for cloud 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.880 based gaming. Now. According to at least some sources, the 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:50.520 first actual commercial cloud gaming service was on Life. Actually 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.520 remember when that launched. That was the summer of now 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.040 the company on Life, I've been around for several years 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.280 before that working on the project. But they did that 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:04.200 kind of in secret, not revealing it till they offered 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.200 up a fifteen dollar per month subscription service. The company 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:12.480 would later then drop the subscription service entirely. So instead 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.920 what Online looked to make money on was to h 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.480 to rent games to players, so players would be able 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.880 to use the service for free, but to access games 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.800 that would need to pay a certain amount per month 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.959 depending upon the title. This model did not work out 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.280 so well because within two years, on Life executives laid 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:36.359 off the entire staff. They essentially cut all ties with shareholders. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.560 They made all shares null and void. They went through 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.080 a court process to do that, so they didn't just 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:46.360 declare it. It was actually a legal process they had 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.880 to follow. They closed up shop, and they sold on 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:54.080 Live's assets to at the time a secret buyer, who 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:58.040 then opened up a brand new business called on Live 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.280 Real Bold Move. The buyer was Louder Partners, and it 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.240 was rumored that the original on Live executive teams sold 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:10.840 the company way way below its actual value based on 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:16.080 the technology it had developed and the patents that it owned. Anyway, 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.760 on Live limped on for a couple more years until 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:24.000 in Sony Computer Entertainment bought on Live's assets and it 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:28.720 effectively ceased to be Now it's possible that Online could 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.000 have made it, you know, and survived as a business 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.640 with just a few different choices, but it's really hard 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:39.200 to say because before the service launched, journalists expressed a 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.760 lot of skepticism about whether the company would be able 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.920 to provide a good experience to users. Some were doubting 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.560 that Online would have the processing equipment needed to handle 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:55.000 the extreme demands of high end performance gaming, and there 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:59.480 was more skepticism that broadband access in general wasn't nearly 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.720 robust enough to support this kind of service in the 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:07.480 first place, that users would not get high resolution games 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.600 that had low latency because the Internet connections just weren't 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.199 there yet. That was the fear. Whether that was true 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.920 or not, the press coverage definitely hurt on Live's chances, 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.600 and not a lot of people bought into it. Certainly, 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.240 there were reviews that found that if you had really 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:29.160 bad internet connection, that would lead to poor performance. But 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.080 you know, that seems pretty obvious to me. If you 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.920 know you've got allows the internet connection, it should come 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.679 as no surprise when you experience issues with a cloud 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.640 based gaming service. That kind of goes hand in hand. Anyway, 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.400 Sony absorbed on Live's assets, or at least most of them. 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.120 Around the same time that on Live debut, a company 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:53.400 called gei Kai announced its own cloud game streaming technology. 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.120 Like on Life, this was a technology that the team 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.160 at Geikai had been working on for several years before 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:03.240 there was ever a public announcement. Geikai initially focused on 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:07.040 creating embedded gaming services for other platforms such as Facebook. 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.959 In Sony would gobble up gey Kai, just as it 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.160 would later do for on Lie, and Sony would use 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.280 guy Kais technology to build out its share Play, remote play, 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:22.880 and PlayStation now offerings. All Right, we're gonna take a 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.960 quick break. When we come back I'll talk about another 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:39.400 streaming service or two, and then we'll really focus on Stadia. Okay, 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.760 let's talk about another cloud streaming service that appeared not 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:47.680 long after these. This one appeared in and spoiler it's 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.400 still around. That would be in Vidio's g force Now. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.240 When it first launched, it was known as Grid. It 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.439 was part of in Vidia's Shield platform. The Nvidia Shield 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:03.320 is essentially a set top box type of device that 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:05.400 you connect to a television and it allows you to 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:11.800 stream uh computer content to a TV. So, like other 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.560 services I've mentioned, this one offered gamers the chance to 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.599 access a huge library of titles in return for a 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:23.320 recurring monthly subscription. It was in beta from all the 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:28.360 way to twenty finally launched in February. Some would argue 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.520 that was the perfect time to launch because it was 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.840 just before we were all locked down due to the 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:38.880 COVID pandemic. In Video created clients not just for the 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:44.440 Shield streaming device, but also for Windows, Mac computers, and 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:49.600 Android devices. It's even incorporated into some television's directly, so 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:54.320 that some TVs have the g force now service built 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:58.480 into them, and Video offers different tiers of subscriptions to 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.040 g Force Now they escalate in price as they offer 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.960 better performance. There's a free tier that lets you play 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.360 games on what amounts to a quote unquote basic rig, 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.600 and your session can last up to one hour apiece. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.520 So that means the server you're connected to isn't going 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.000 to have all the fancy bells and whistles, so it 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:25.040 can't deliver a high end experience, but it means you 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.600 don't have to buy, you know, a better PC to 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:32.080 run current games. You can use this basic rig and 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:36.120 log into it as if it were your computer. Now, 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.200 for nine dollars nine cents a month, you could connect 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.080 to a premium rig and you could stay connected for 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.240 up to six hours per session with a resolution of 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.560 up to ten a d P at sixty frames per second, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:54.800 which is decent, but like pro gamers look at sixty 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.320 frames per second, they're like, I can't play at that. 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.200 I need much faster. For most people, how of her, 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.960 sixty phrase per second is more than sufficient. It's really 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:06.760 if you're talking about like elite levels of play. So 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.800 if you go all the way up to nineteen dollars 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.240 nine cents a month, you can connect to a rig 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:18.080 with a g Force r T x processing card. Now, 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:22.040 this used to be one of the flagship graphics processors 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.720 from in Video, right the thirty eight and the thirty 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.640 nine were the two top of the line graphics processors 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.880 from the company. However, in Video recently announced a new 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:37.640 forty lines who would get forty eight and the thirty 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:39.840 eight is no longer like at the top of the 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:45.000 heap anymore. This subscription tier would let you play up 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.000 to eight hours percession, and you could get up to 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:52.600 four K resolution and hundred twenty frames per second. Though 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.800 I'd be shocked if you could do both at the 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.720 same time for sustained lengths of time, because your Internet 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.160 connection is a need to be pretty strong in order 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.240 to do that. I mean, if you live somewhere where 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:08.040 you've got a fiber connection or something like that, then yes, 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:12.240 you could probably take advantage of that. I think for myself, 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:17.880 considering the let's say mercurial nature of my Internet connection, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.560 I'd be lucky to be able to sustain a hundred 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.480 twenty frames per second at four a K for any 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:27.600 real length of time. Anyway, this is an example of 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:33.240 a cloud based gaming service that's stuck around. It exists today. 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.600 It provides something that a lot of gamers want that 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:40.800 it provides access to a gaming rig that has a 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.520 killer graphics card in it, and sure that machine happens 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.440 to be in a warehouse somewhere. But considering how difficult 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.480 it was to even find a new graphics card for 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.760 the last couple of years, it's still a popular choice 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:57.840 for a lot of gamers now. Recently, the availability of 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.399 graphics cards has been improving and their prices started to 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.840 come down from the insane markups that we were seeing. 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.880 You know, back when Ethereum was both more valuable and 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:13.040 dependent upon proof of work system, it is now a 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.920 proof of steak system, so the demand for for high 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:22.639 end graphics cards for things like crypto mining has drastically 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.040 declined recently. So that gives gamers a better chance of 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.680 making a gaming rig that has one of these cards 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.320 in it for themselves, which means they wouldn't need to 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.200 use this kind of service. But it's not like they 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:39.359 are available everywhere, and they are still pretty darn expensive, 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.400 So for a lot of people it may make more 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.600 sense to pay say twenty bucks a month to get 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:49.600 access to a system capable of those levels of performance, 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.760 rather than you know, having to save up a couple 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:57.080 of grand to build a rig and hunt around to 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.560 find all the components you want all and now. There 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.080 are a few other cloud gaming services out there. Shadow 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.640 PC is one, though it tends to be marketed more 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:11.640 as a cloud based Windows PC service rather than as 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:16.959 a gaming rig service. EA has Project Atlas in development, 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.800 which is both a cloud gaming platform for gamers as 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:24.760 well as a development platform for game creators, so this 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:29.800 isn't just games as a service, but game development tools 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.240 as a service, including access to stuff like game engines. 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.159 In two thousand nineteen, Microsoft launched a beta test for 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:43.720 its cloud based gaming service, formally known as Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.320 it's pretty common for folks to refer to it as 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.640 x Cloud Gamers who subscribe to the company's Xbox Game 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.400 Pass ultimate automatically have access to this cloud gaming service. 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.760 It's part of that subscription deal. The company first hinted 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.639 about this service back in ten and officially launched it 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.480 in late and at that point had more than a 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:11.760 hundred games supported in the service. And then we have 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:15.800 Google Stadium. Actually, to be clear, there are other services 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.640 out there too. I don't mean to suggest that I've 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.560 covered all of them. I haven't, but it is high 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:26.199 time we talk about stadium. Google first announced Stadia in 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:30.520 twenty nineteen at the Games Developer Conference or g d C, 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.159 which is, you know, an even more industry focused gaming event. 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.320 E three is is largely used for like PR and 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:44.000 marketing and networking as in, you know, business to business networking, 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:49.080 not like computer networking. The Games Developer Conference is a 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:53.200 little bit more focused on, you know, actual developers talking 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:58.080 about their work. Google held a keynote during the twenty 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:02.320 nineteen conference to show off the Stadia concept from the 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.800 get go. Google's goal was to create a service that 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:10.120 could be accessible across a wide range of devices, from 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.960 computers to smartphones, to web browsers, to televisions and beyond. 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:19.879 And I think of that as the Netflix strategy. I 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.600 just I think of that as this is what Netflix does. 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.120 You know. When Netflix was first branching out into becoming 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:30.000 a streaming service, back when it was primarily a DVD 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:35.360 rental business, one thing Netflix really focused on was getting 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.320 a client out there for pretty much every platform you 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:44.720 can think of. That included devices like the Roku, included 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.639 smartphone operating systems like iOS and Android. It included apps, 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:54.639 for Windows PCs. It included in browsers streaming capabilities for 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:59.560 your various browsers. It included video game consoles and more. 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:02.680 I mean, I'm pretty sure there are refrigerators out there 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:08.000 that have Netflix clients built into them. So essentially, Netflix 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.840 wanted to be where the people are walking around on 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:17.560 those what do you call him, oh feet and it 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:22.120 totally worked. This was one of the many things Netflix 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:25.560 did early on that helped it get an early head 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:30.000 start on other premium video streaming services, you know, making 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.240 sure it was available wherever people were turning their attention. 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:36.000 If there's a screen, Netflix wanted to be on it, 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:40.440 and that really paid off. So Google's approach with Stadia 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:43.679 was set to try and follow this model, and it 0:22:43.760 --> 0:22:46.800 was already shown to be successful for videos, so maybe 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:52.040 it could work for games as well. Moreover, Google demonstrated 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:55.600 that the service would let players start a game on 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.080 one device, they could pause their game, they could switch 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.000 to a totally differ and device, and they could keep 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:05.560 going in the game. So you could, for example, play 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.760 a game on your phone and then pause the game, 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:12.400 switch to your PC and then play a little bit more. 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:14.959 Maybe pose its switched to your smart TV pick up 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.040 right where you left off on your PC and keep 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.280 on going. And it was a cool idea of this 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:25.840 persistent game session that could exist across any platform you 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:28.160 got your hands on. As long as you were logged in, 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.800 you could continue the game experience. So think of it 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:34.640 as a game in play and it just depends on 0:23:34.680 --> 0:23:37.000 how you want to play it at any given time. 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:40.560 That was a cool idea, and the game was wherever 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:43.879 you went, no matter what device you used to access it. 0:23:44.040 --> 0:23:47.640 That was kind of the pitch now. At the announcement, 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:51.240 Google reps said the service could already support games of 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:55.719 up to four K resolution and at sixty frames per second, 0:23:56.320 --> 0:24:00.280 and that they planned to build on that so that 0:24:00.320 --> 0:24:04.679 they would eventually have support for eight K resolution and 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:10.720 one twenty frames per second, which really is an incredible 0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:16.159 amount of performance. Google also introduced a Stadia controller, which, 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:20.160 if we're all being honest, looks a lot like an 0:24:20.359 --> 0:24:24.520 Xbox controller, complete with dual sticks and shoulder buttons and 0:24:24.600 --> 0:24:28.760 four face buttons. It also has a button that allows 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.760 it to connect to things like Google Assistant as well 0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:36.480 as YouTube, and it connects to the Stadia service via WiFi. 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:42.040 So the controller is a WiFi connected controller. The pricing 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:45.320 for Google Stadia was a bit on the steep side 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:50.959 initially anyway, So to get started playing on say a television, 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:52.960 Let's say that you just wanted you wanted to play 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:56.719 on your TV like it was a video game console. Well, 0:24:56.840 --> 0:25:00.119 assuming you didn't already have something that would work with Stadiu, 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:02.840 it meant that you would need to purchase a hardware kit, 0:25:03.520 --> 0:25:06.720 and originally that would cost you a hundred thirty bucks. 0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:11.600 The hardware kit consisted of a controller and a chrome 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:15.359 Cast Ultra device, so you could plug your chrome Cast 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:20.080 into your television and this would allow you to stream 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:25.400 content from a computer to your TV or just essentially 0:25:25.400 --> 0:25:28.600 make your television and Internet connected TV that would interact 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:31.240 with these services. Both of these, by the way, would 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:34.919 come with cables and and plugs so you could charge 0:25:34.920 --> 0:25:37.760 your controller and keep your chrome Cast plugged into power. 0:25:37.800 --> 0:25:40.679 It the chrome Cast if you if you've used a 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:43.359