So I purchased the Google Stadia the week it was announced because it was something different for the streaming media world, after a few days with it this week I decided to share my thoughts and try my best to give a good review of it that hopefully puts those on the fence to either get it or move on without any sort of regret.
TLDR before I rant, if you already have a sizable library on either PC or console, then this brings no benefit to you as all games need to be purchased on Stadia as well. And with the required amount of data to stream, a solid connection and high data cap is needed, 4.5GB/hr is the lowest setting ti seems to have.
And now we begin!
SETUP - 7/10
I give the setup this score for a couple of reasons, I ran into some issues trying to get the accounts to link when using the Chromecast on my TV and a simple restart of the Chromecast did alleviate the issue. When it came to using Stadia through a web browser or on my Pixel 2XL, everything was a breeze as the controller required a hard wire setup on the phone and computer. Overall, it was fairly straightforward and the directions on phone and screen were simple to understand.
CONTENT - 4/10
This is where Stadia falters in its current state, all games in the library (besides Destiny 2 and Samurai Shodown for Pro) will require you to purchase them to be able to stream them through Stadia, although the Pro subscription gives you a pretty good discount for most games on it. As such there are no free games to stream on it and as mentioned before, if you own most recently released games on PC or console, then there is nothing to gain here.
PLAY TIME! - 8/10
*YMMV*
This score was given solely based on my experience playing over the course of a few days through a Pixel 2XL, Chrome web browser, and through a Chromecast all with the Stadia controller. When using it on the phone or browser, a hard wired connection is needed currently as wireless is not yet implemented. For using the Chromecast the controller uses WiFi and can be used as expected, but at times this way there was so very slight lag noticed while playing Destiny 2 when firing weapons where visuals and audio were not perfectly lined up. Outside of this there seemed to be no other noticeable issues with latency or input lag that I was aware of.
PRICE - 6/10
Given that you need to purchase Stadia to use the service at $129 USD (it comes with a Chromecast Ultra valued at $69 USD) and then follow that up with purchasing the games on the library, it can become an expensive investment, especially with the high data usage that can potentially accompany it so be careful of your ISP data caps and throttling.
OVERALL
5/10 - do not get (yet)
In its current state, Stadia leaves a lot to be desired and at this time I would not recommend it to anyone until the library grows and having a subscription is beneficial (more free games will come later as a Pro user) but at least games purchased are still playable without a Pro subscription if you cancel.
TLDR before I rant, if you already have a sizable library on either PC or console, then this brings no benefit to you as all games need to be purchased on Stadia as well. And with the required amount of data to stream, a solid connection and high data cap is needed, 4.5GB/hr is the lowest setting ti seems to have.
And now we begin!
SETUP - 7/10
I give the setup this score for a couple of reasons, I ran into some issues trying to get the accounts to link when using the Chromecast on my TV and a simple restart of the Chromecast did alleviate the issue. When it came to using Stadia through a web browser or on my Pixel 2XL, everything was a breeze as the controller required a hard wire setup on the phone and computer. Overall, it was fairly straightforward and the directions on phone and screen were simple to understand.
CONTENT - 4/10
This is where Stadia falters in its current state, all games in the library (besides Destiny 2 and Samurai Shodown for Pro) will require you to purchase them to be able to stream them through Stadia, although the Pro subscription gives you a pretty good discount for most games on it. As such there are no free games to stream on it and as mentioned before, if you own most recently released games on PC or console, then there is nothing to gain here.
PLAY TIME! - 8/10
*YMMV*
This score was given solely based on my experience playing over the course of a few days through a Pixel 2XL, Chrome web browser, and through a Chromecast all with the Stadia controller. When using it on the phone or browser, a hard wired connection is needed currently as wireless is not yet implemented. For using the Chromecast the controller uses WiFi and can be used as expected, but at times this way there was so very slight lag noticed while playing Destiny 2 when firing weapons where visuals and audio were not perfectly lined up. Outside of this there seemed to be no other noticeable issues with latency or input lag that I was aware of.
PRICE - 6/10
Given that you need to purchase Stadia to use the service at $129 USD (it comes with a Chromecast Ultra valued at $69 USD) and then follow that up with purchasing the games on the library, it can become an expensive investment, especially with the high data usage that can potentially accompany it so be careful of your ISP data caps and throttling.
OVERALL
5/10 - do not get (yet)
In its current state, Stadia leaves a lot to be desired and at this time I would not recommend it to anyone until the library grows and having a subscription is beneficial (more free games will come later as a Pro user) but at least games purchased are still playable without a Pro subscription if you cancel.
