Is it worth buying a Google stadia?

[goldar]

I'm a casual pc gamer who enjoys shoot em ups and racing games. I don't really have time to play games like I did as a kid, so I may play for an hour or two max on the odd occasion.

I have no idea what a Google stadia is like to play on, but it sounds ideal for casual gaming. I've got Google store credit so I'm thinking of getting one. Will it be one of those purchases that I will actually enjoy for some time? Or will be given away to next doors kids after I realise it doesn't come close to pc/console gaming?

[randlemarcus]

There's a good thread running somewhere. Be aware that Google have denied it's imminent death...

[_-XXXX-_]

https://killedbygoogle.com/

If they can't bury it with ads it will get killed. Plenty of choice out there, I'd avoid anything Google.

[mark_1974]

I wouldn't bother, I got a free one, it's OK, but nothing special as a service, pretty expensive, and the controller is horrible.

For those reasons I'd be very surprised if it's around much longer...

[goldar]

Thanks. I have seen the statement that google put out. Which is what brought the stadia to my attention again.
That killedbygoogle site is mad. They killed off some really useful things. Things such as backup and sync. That really did annoy me.

What would be a recommended alternative to a stadia?

And what do I do with £80 google store credit? Is a chromecast with google tv worth buying?

Edited by goldar on Friday 5th August 16:16

[_-XXXX-_]

Steam deck Or a MAME setup

[goldar]

What's a MAME setup?

Didn't the steam deck get a poor review initially? I'm not after a hand held console. I prefer to play on a big screen.

[the-norseman]

goldar said:

And what do I do with £80 google store credit? Is a chromecast with google tv worth buying?

Edited by goldar on Friday 5th August 16:16

I've got a Stadia controller + Stadia Chromecast. I don't use the Stadia Chromecast.

What I have done though, is buy a Chromecast with Google TV, in my opinion its better than Firestick with the exception of you cant install UKTV Play. And I run Stadia though the Chromecast with Google TV, I also run Amazon Prime, Netflix, BT Sport etc on it.

I play Cyberpunk 2077 and F1 2020 on it. Works well for me (I have cityfibre 200 down 200 up connection).

I wish I had bought Assassins Creed Valhalla on it as well!

The other night I booted up my Xbox fancied playing something, tried to play COD Warzone, AS Valhalla and GTA5 and all 3 needed updates that were going to take +1 hour, so I opened Stadia and played F1 instantly.

[goldar]

Cheers. What's a stadia Chromecast? I can't see any Chromecasts for sale that are specific to stadia.
How do you play with a stadia controller but without a Chromecast?

[bigandclever]

Nice big thread for you here .. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

You’ll probably spot, gangzoom’s a fan

[the-norseman]

goldar said:

Cheers. What's a stadia Chromecast? I can't see any Chromecasts for sale that are specific to stadia.
How do you play with a stadia controller but without a Chromecast?

I think they were called Chromecast "pro" or something. Far better off with the Google TV option as you can watch stuff on it as well.

[goldar]

Ok Chromecast and stadia ordered. Let's see how this goes.

[Cloudy147]

I bought a stadia as it was cheap at the time (maybe still is, about £30 I think including controller).

Like the OP I don’t have much time and my laptop doesn’t have a powerful graphics card but wanted to play a racing game and assassins creed ocasionally.

Assassins creed is great on it, rarely any issues. Racing games look fantastic on it as well but they require a rock solid internet connection as even a tiny momentary lag and you have crashed into the barrier and in last place.

It works well enough for me, but you do need a great internet connection I found. I like the controller too! It’s weighted and fits nice in my hands.

Edited by Cloudy147 on Sunday 7th August 00:25

[goldar]

Could your lag possibly have been down to playing over wifi? I've bought the ethernet adaptor so hopefully this won't be an issue.

[gangzoom]

bigandclever said:

Nice big thread for you here .. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

You’ll probably spot, gangzoom’s a fan

Haven't actually had much time for gaming even with Stadia this year, but I did pick up Crew 2 and Metro when they were on sale for £10 each recently.

I haven't noticed Stadia can now run without the phone at all via Chrome cast, so getting close to pretending to be a traditional console.



Still not sure how Google is going to make any $$$ from the thing though, even without paying for a monthly membership, some of these games just look amazing the OLED panel. I'm 100% GT5 is much better game, but for £10 one of cost, and the occasional dip in/out, I'm pretty happy with what Stadia offers me.

[Muppet007]

Try Geforce Now as an alternative.

It connects to your current games library (steam, epic etc) so you don't need to buy different versions of the games you want to play, and streams from a cloud, up to 4k HDR.

[gangzoom]

Muppet007 said:

Try Geforce Now as an alternative.

It connects to your current games library (steam, epic etc) so you don't need to buy different versions of the games you want to play, and streams from a cloud, up to 4k HDR.

Thanks for that, got my old Steam library to load, didn't realise how low res Left 4 Dead was .

Stadia or not, streaming seems to be pretty well these days. Good to know alternatives are around, but for now £10 for the game and zero effort ongoing, Stadia works for me right now.

[goldar]

I've just plugged in my new Chromecast. First things first, has anyone managed to get Freeview to work on it?
Plenty of guides online, but it doesn't give me the option to download the app from the store, and sideloading it is a mess and can't get the app to work properly.

[the-norseman]

Is it a Chromecast Google TV? I've not looked at Freeview on mine as I have a box.

[goldar]

Correct. My dad likes to watch a couple of freeview channels which I don't get on virgin. Ideally I'd like to do away with virgin completely and get him to use this for everything.