Review: Google Stadia Just Isn’t Finished Yet
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The Pro version of Google Stadia that you can now pay actually $130 for is called the Founder’s Edition, and the subtitle isn’t there to just flatter your inner colonizer. After messing around with Google’s wildly ambitious reinvention for what a video game platform should even be, I was impressed by how close the tech actually came to this grand vision. But coming close isn’t the same thing as succeeding. And at least at the moment, much of my earlier skepticism has proven true. Google Stadia just isn’t finished yet.
At a core level the fundamental appeal of Stadia is that it makes gaming simpler. Instead of buying bulky hardware you simply stream the games from whatever internet-connected screen you have. But since all the pieces are not yet in place, right now setting up Stadia is arguably more complicated than plugging a box into a wall. You’ll need to download multiple apps on your phone, juggle looking between different screens, and configure multiple pieces of hardware like the wireless controller and Google Chromecast streaming dongle.
And speaking of hardware, right now Stadia’s hardware needs are so finicky that, again, it doesn’t feel all that different from just buying a traditional proprietary game console. You won’t just need a Chromecast Ultra, you’ll need the Chromecast Ultra that specifically comes in this kit at least until a later firmware update. The only currently compatible phone is Google’s Pixel series, which I used for testing. And even then you can’t play wirelessly. That only works on Chromecast. To play on a phone you’ll need to physically connect the wire to the (perfectly comfortable and fine) controller via USB-C and a little harness.
However, the phone quickly became my preferred way to play, and not just because it felt like a Nintendo Switch with a crisper display. The biggest question threatening to smother Stadia in the crib is whether or not streaming online would introduce so much input lag as to make games unplayable. And the answer is… mixed.
I tested Stadia with the WiFi here in the office as well as with my gigabit Ethernet connection at home. Playing on the phone I was astonished at what felt like a native offline experience. I experienced virtually no issues. Playing Destiny 2, a game I don’t like, still felt almost magical as I watched such a high-end shooter pipe through the tiny display with this level of responsiveness. And not bothering with loading or installations felt like the height of indulgent convenience. It wasn’t quite as novel, but I was also pleased with the results on my laptop.
Unfortunately, any sense of magic soon disappeared when I went over to the TV. For whatever reason, both at the office and at a home, lag increased considerably when I wirelessly played this way. You could see the delay with your naked eye between pressing a button and getting a result onscreen. A fighting game like Mortal Kombat 11 is basically unplayable. And even my girlfriend could notice the unpleasant feeling of wading through thick soup trying to play Just Dance 2020.
Streaming massive modern video games over the internet is a monumental task. While I found the visuals on the office TV weirdly gray, at home the visuals were clear and colorful on my 4K TV. Again, it’s impressive how close Google gets here. And maybe if I could wire the controller to the TV like I can with the phone, the issue would vanish. Or maybe the phone’s lower resolution makes the difference. But as it is now, whatever the cause, Stadia’s input lag is just untenable. And who’s to say that an influx of new users won’t make the problem even worse.
That’s not the only issue here, though. While a healthy amount of publishers have pledged support in the coming months, since these are just PC games at max settings, the initial limited launch lineup leaves much to be desired. Aside for the admittedly moody original adventure game Gylt, you just have a small grabbag of ports like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption 2. The situation was dire that at the last possible minute Google doubled the launch lineup from 12 to 22, but even then it’s still full of titles we’ve already seen before.
Also keep in mind that you still need to pay full price for these games that only exist on the cloud. While subscribers can snag Destiny for free, the paid subscription only gives you the ability to purchase these games. It won’t be until next year that you’ll get games in your library just for signing up. Some still see this as a better bargain than dropping a few hundred dollars on a console, like paying for Xbox All Access in small installments, but your mileage may vary.
And that’s far from the only substantial Stadia feature not arriving until next year. According to a recent Reddit AMA, you’ll be waiting until 2020 to get features like 4K PC streaming, achievements, family sharing, cheaper 720p Stadia Base, and Buddy Passes. Sure sounds like a beta release to us. At least the game saves your place for a few minutes if you briefly go offline.
Google Stadia could still go either way. Steam’s launch was a mess but soon enough it became the standard of PC gaming marketplaces. Virtual reality headsets are still sticking around. And clearly Google aren’t the only ones thinking about the potential of a streaming future. Just ask Microsoft. There’s a chance these are just the birthing pains of a truly futuristic service that Stadia even today frequently offers tantalizing glimpses of.
Or maybe the lag can never been fully fixed. Maybe the internet data cap restrictions of most people are too harsh to make this make sense on the market. Maybe the games you buy here will soon be buried in the Google Graveyard. That all also feels depressingly possible. In any case, our best advice for Google Stadia is to just wait. Even compared to other experimental tech, being an early adopter here just doesn’t seem worth the purchase. It’ll crash and burn or become the real deal, and either way your patience will be rewarded.
