The third option, and the one
that’s a bit trickier, is that you can
connect a Stadia Controller to a
Google Pixel 3, Google Pixel 3a or
Google Pixel 4 phone, and stream
directly to your phone. Try to
stream on any other phone and the
app will either ask you to connect
to Chromecast Ultra or reinforce
the three main entry points with a
wall of explainer text.
Stadiacontent
Stadia is a bit of a mixed bag when
it comes to game selection. There’s
some really good stuff - likeRed
Dead Redemption 2andMortal
Kombat 11- plus some games that
are probably less appealing to folks
likeJust Dance 2020.
Stadia has a single exclusive in
its collection so far, a child’s first
horror game calledGYLT, and in
the future the service will play
host to some highly anticipated
titles likeWatch Dogs Legion,
Baldur’s Gate 3,Marvel’s Avengers
andCyberpunk 2077.
Originally Google Stadia was
supposed to release with 12 games
but one day before launch, that
number nearly doubled to 22
games with one extra game,
Samurai Showdown, available for
free for Stadia Pro subscribers.
Now, that last minute addition
of 10 games goes to show you what
Google can do - namely, it can, at
a whim, optimise and launch a
whole bunch of games for the
service. It’s a bold move that
shows us that the service can
update itself regularly with
new games.
Designandinterface
Stadia’s design and interface are
brilliant and drop-dead simple to
use. On both mobile and desktop,
your home screen is essentially all
the games you have in your
collection with the top-most
game the game that you
played last.
On desktop you’ll have the
option to find friends and add
them to a party, as well as access
your screenshot collection with
photos of games you’ve taken. The
If you pay for 100Mbps internet
speeds, Google Stadia will
perform wonderfully and is the
game-streaming service we’ve
long waited for.
Nick Pinomobile layout has a similar home
screen, but also has tabs for the
Stadia Store and a feed with
videos, news and blog posts from
the Stadia team.
One argument you could make
against the service is that there’s
not a lot of depth here compared
to, say, the Xbox One’s multi-
faceted interface or even the
Steam Store’s complex, curated
and very robust app. The counter
argument, though, is that Google
didn’t overcomplicate something
that should be simple, and can
always add more complexity and
depth to the apps as more content
becomes available.Features
Neither Google Assistant support
nor direct streaming to YouTube
via YouTube Gaming were
available last week for us to try.
Bummer.
So how soon will we get these
features? Google unfortunately
hasn’t given us a timeline for
Google Assistant support, and it
seems likely that it will be one of
the last things added to the
service. Direct streaming to
YouTube, we expect, will launch
much sooner as seeing streamers
on Stadia will likely encourage
gamers to sign up for the service.
The other missing feature folks
might remember from Stadia’s
announcement was the YouTube-
Stadia crossover feature that
allows you to see a game onYouTube, click a link, and have
the game start on Stadia. That’s
still in development, surely, but it
might not be here anytime in the
next few months.
That said, what Stadia does
offer right out of the box is screen
capture, a useful feature in the
social media age, and a Friends
List... which is nice if you want to
party up with friends to play
Destiny. There’s also cross-save
in the case ofDestiny, but not
crossplay yet.
Arguably the two most
important features at launch
are Controller support - which
again, works wonderfully -
and seamless transfer
between platforms.
Of course, all of this depends
on the service coming to
Australia, which is very much a
‘to be confirmed’ eventuality at
this point - and our rather less
than stellar broadband speeds
will not make it the killer app it
appears to be in countries with
faster and more reliable
connections.
But, as a model for what game
streaming can be, it’s worth
taking note of.Being able to
play AAA titles
likeRed Dead
Redemption 2on
a mobile device
is a big draw.You don’t need
the controller- unless you
want to play on
your Pixel
phone.