Google is getting into gaming and
actually I'm kind of surprised they
didn't just call this thing Google
gaming or Google games Gigi I was
telling Kirk before like missed
opportunity they're calling it stadia I
gotta say it's kind of interesting this
this this idea this concept it kind of
makes sense to me the execution of
course it's up in the air we're all
skeptical here whether or not it's going
to deliver what Google is claiming this
idea this crazy idea of 4k top shelf
games at 60fps streamed over the
internet with no need for gaming
hardware in your presence it's kind of
an amazing claim I mean it makes sense
everything else you do online is
streamed you can stream 4k video there's
obviously more complexity when it comes
to gaming and input and so on but
streaming in general has become the
standard in so many entertainment
segments whether you're talking about
YouTube Netflix music services like
who's downloading stuff you you of
course never want to download stuff if
you don't have to during the live stream
there was a moment where a person's
watching a clip of Assassin's Creed
being broadcast by another youtuber and
then they quickly hit the play button
and they're instantly playing the game
they're playing Assassin's Creed no
download the idea of that if it works as
advertised and as showcase is obviously
better than stopping what you're doing
going into a transaction paying for
something downloading it and then
playing an hour later or who knows how
far down the road and then in many cases
having to deal with the various stores
that different game developers utilize
to distribute their games whether it's
EA with their own stuff or purchasing
games on Steam and so on there's there's
some friction introduced through those
various services so when we sat here as
a group talking about whether Google can
or can't deliver this thing how excited
we should actually be I thought about
Google through the lens of what they've
been able to do with YouTube because I
remember I mean
upon a time the idea of streaming 4k
video even via YouTube seemed insane it
seemed impossible Google has a
tremendous number of resources I mean
they could be the first company to crack
this thing as usual there's people that
are skeptical and they should be there
are plenty of Google products that come
and go so people have a right to be
skeptical but Gaming is this area that's
G it's just massive and Google really
has no play they have they're not
involved in the space outside of YouTube
where people watch gaming so they have
the watching piece it makes sense to add
the playing piece and some of the
integration they showed with YouTube
even though who knows if it will be as
smooth as they were showcasing it it
just makes a lot of sense people who
play games watch games who could have
predicted people would be watching as
much gaming as they are people could
integrate with the gamers that they're
watching and the games that they're
watching they could join in I mean
there's so many cool potential scenarios
that could take place by combining these
different worlds
now the other thing that struck me about
this idea coming from Google is that
Google through Android through Chrome
and and their various other products has
reached into places where game consoles
and gaming PC's haven't really taken
hold where they're not really popular or
ubiquitous places like India China
emerging markets with huge audiences who
may not be able to enjoy triple-eight
games at the moment or maybe they're
only computing devices the smartphone in
their pocket with this service here you
could potentially take your game as a
developer and broadcast it send it out
and make it available to individuals who
couldn't possibly be your customers in
the past because they didn't own the
hardware didn't have the big display to
play your titles so during the
presentation they showcased this
streaming game service working on
smartphones low powered laptops
computers and even on TVs as well that
was kind of interesting through
chromecast they were able to store
I believe it was a 4k feed once again of
Assassin's Creed and apparently the new
doom they're gonna deliver it at 4k
60fps by offloading the processing to
the cloud to Google servers it's all
happening out there then you just have a
screen and no input lag and this
controller that they launched which
again I have to try it out it looks
pretty cool but then they went a step
further and said oh you can also use any
controller you already have or of course
if you're on a laptop you can use your
typical keyboard input as well it has
you questioning the viability of all
kinds of gaming companies and gaming
hardware gaming software what happens to
steam what kind of a connection do you
need there's a lot of questions that
come out of a presentation like this
they didn't say a price and the launch
date is is kind of vague they just said
2019 it's got to be delivered first it
can't be laggy people will not put up
with it it's got to be smooth it's got
to be fast especially if people are
gonna use it in a competitive fashion we
need to know how fast the connections
have to be and what about the economics
are we just buying games at full price
like we're already doing in places like
Steam or is it some type of subscription
service similar to Netflix is it more
questions than answers maybe but at
least we know it's a real thing it's
happening there appear to be developers
on board and this really could change
the landscape of gaming in a big way if
Google does what they say they're gonna
do that's the big question can they do
that time will tell