Web User - UK (2019-07-10)

38 10 - 23 July 2019

Will Google’s new “Netflix-for-games” streaming service prove to be

a console killer or a colossal flop?David Crookestakes a look

Google Stadia

Whatis it?

GoogleStadia (www.stadia.com) is a

cloud-basedgame-streamingservice

that will allow you to play someof the

most cutting-edgetitles availablewithout

a consoleor a high-speccomputer.

Instead, you simplyselecta gameand

start playing instantlywithout

downloadingor installinganything.

How doesit work?

In the sameway Netflixholdsits library

of films and TV shows on its own servers,

Stadia’s gamesare stored in Google’s

globalnetwork of data centres. When

players choosea game, a server runs

it remotely, streamingthe visualand

audiooutputto the player’s device.

As long as there’s a fast, reliable

connection,the player can interact with

the gameas if it were runninglocally.

Press a button on a controller to jump,

for instance, and that information is sent

to the server, whichthen performsthe

action.Players will see the result on their

device withina split second.

Will I needspecialhardware?

You won’t needa dedicated device to run

Stadia: you can access its library in a

Chrome tab on your desktop PC, laptop

or Android tablet,or use a Google

Chromecast Ultra pluggedinto your

television.It will also be availablethrough

an app on a Pixel 3 or 3a phone, and

otherAndroid and iOS devices are likely

to supportit in the future. What’s more,

Stadia shouldrun perfectlywell on low-

spec computers. Googledoesn’tstate a

minimumspecification on its Stadia

website, so it’ll be interesting to see how

low it can go.

Is myconnectionfast enough?

Stadia will display videoat up to 60

framesper second (fps) in 4K resolution

with HDR supportand 5.1 surround

sound,so if you want the very best

gamingexperience, you’ll needa

broadbandspeedof at least 35Mbps.

That said, you can still use Stadia if your

speedis less. At 20Mbps,for instance,

Stadia offers 1080pHDR videoin

surroundsound,whileat 10Mbps,you’ll

be down to 720p, whichis still pretty

good.You can test your connection

speedatbit.ly/speedtest479.

How doI playthegames?

A keyboard and mouseare all you’ll need

to play most games,althoughyou may

prefer to splashout on a controller. If

you’re playing Stadia gameson a

computer or mobiledevice, you can

connectany HID-compatible controller,

includinga PlayStation DualShock4 or

Xbox One pad, usinga USB cable. If

you’d like to go wireless or want to play

gameson your television,however, you’ll

needthe officialStadia Controller, which

FAQ

Everythingyou needto know aboutthe most

interesting new technologytrends and events

You’ll be ableto play

Stadiagameson a

varietyof devices

You canuse a PlayStation

DualShock4 controllerto

play Stadiagames

.

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