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Google Stadia: Hands-On Impressions With The New Cloud Streaming Service
Google Stadia, a cloud-based platform that streams games from a remote data center to nearly any device, is designed to work on laptops, phones, tablets, PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, and TVs with Chromecast. All graphics processing is relegated to off-site hardware, so all you need is a strong internet connection. It’s a technologically impressive concept, and we were eager to be one of the first to experience it on the GDC 2019 showroom floor. Both Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and 2016’s Doom were playable at the event, and though they ran and looked great, I couldn’t help but notice one significant shortcoming.
Keep in mind, my hands-on time was at the Google stations on the GDC show floor, so your mileage may vary. There are a lot variables at play in addition to the internet connection, and these are early playable builds under unknown conditions. Display response time is another factor that we couldn’t account for during the hands-on demo, and it’s an important spec to consider, especially for a PC-like experience–these were not gaming-grade monitors at the demo stations.
Input lag was the worst offender during my time with Doom; this was readily apparent when swiping the mouse around to aim. The aiming reticule would trail behind my mouse movements ever so slightly, and for a game like Doom–a hyper-fast first-person shooter that relies on precision aiming–it can be a deal-breaker. Playing on a controller mitigated the emphasis on speed and precision and made input lag a little less of a factor, but it doesn’t negate the issue altogether. Another thing to note is that Google staff told me the Doom demo in particular was running in a low-latency mode available on Stadia itself. From a fidelity standpoint, the game ran at a consistent frame-rate using medium-high settings with adequate overall image quality; artifacting (or compression) didn’t affect the experience. However, it’s a bit disappointing that input lag could hold this back from being the ideal way to play a game as fast as Doom.
[Update: Google, for its part, insists latency wouldn’t be an issue for Stadia. This claim came from Phil Harrison, who sat down with GameSpot to discuss a range of Stadia questions, including exclusive games, pricing, and data caps. Not long after Stadia’s reveal, Apple announced its new foray into games with Apple Arcade. That service works like Xbox Game Pass and is not cloud-based, as Apple made it clear that–in an apparent nod toward Stadia concerns–its games can be played offline.]
I also got to revisit Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with Stadia and it felt very similar to Google’s early cloud-gaming beta that called Project Stream. Of course, Odyssey doesn’t have the same emphasis on speed and accuracy as Doom, so naturally the experience translated better to the cloud-based platform. When peeking at some of the settings, the demo was running at 1080p, 60 FPS, with a 20 Mbps bit rate. The game had decent visual quality with some discernible artifacting, but we were playing up-close on large TVs which isn’t a typical setup.
At launch, it’ll be capable of delivering up to 4K resolution and 60 FPS thanks to a brand-new AMD GPU rated at 10.7 TFLOPs that powers the data center hardware–remember, the Xbox One X, currently the most powerful console to date, has 6.0 TFLOPs. Stadia will come with a whole roster of features in addition to the convenience of playing games over a powerful cloud-based platform.
Google will also offer its own controller for Stadia which has integrated Google Assistant, its voice-controlled AI technology–developers will be able to incorporate this capability into their games. Additionally, Stadia will have seamless streaming to YouTube with plenty of features change how people will able to jump into multiplayer games (Crowd Play), and share specific gameplay moments for other players to jump into (State Share).
Google isn’t the only one staking a claim in cloud-based gaming, however. Microsoft’s Project xCloud, which also streams games from hardware at a data center to devices via an internet connection, will be having test runs later this year as well. For more on the game streaming landscape, be sure to read our quick rundown of all the gaming companies investing in cloud gaming and what they’re offering.
If Google can improve key aspects, namely the apparent issues with input lag, Stadia would be a serious competitor in the gaming landscape. Otherwise, there may be limitations as to which games would work best on this new platform. Regardless, the accessibility that Google will offer is unprecedented. While cloud gaming itself is not new, the combination of accessibility and convenience could help this service to establish a foothold. We’ll all be able to see for ourselves when Stadia launches sometime in 2019.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-stadia-hands-on-impressions-with-the-new-cl/1100-6465694/
Apple Arcade Detailed: New Game Subscription Service Coming 2019
Apple is expanding its presence in the games industry with its own game subscription service called Apple Arcade–designed to provide access to a variety of titles whether you want to play on mobile, desktop, or in the living room. Unlike Google’s Stadia, Apple Arcade won’t be a cloud streaming service, though. A brief overview trailer of Apple Arcade is linked below, and if you’re looking for more details, check out everything we know about Apple Arcade.
Essentially, Apple’s service takes the form of a monthly subscription that provides unlimited access to a curated selection of paid titles on the App Store; it sounds sort of like Xbox Game Pass. Development partners include Sega, Konami, Disney, Sumo Digital, and Cartoon Network, among others, and more than 100 exclusive games will become part of the service. Additional games will also be added “all the time,” the company said, although an exact cadence for new releases was not shared.
Apple Arcade covers more than just iOS games, although these will work on devices like iPhones and iPads. Beyond that, you’ll be able to play on MacOS and Apple TV, meaning these games span mobile, laptops, and TV. And these versions won’t operate independently of each other; your progress transfers between the different platforms. In other words, you can move from playing something on your phone to your TV or laptop, for instance, which is not entirely dissimilar from the vision Google recently outlined with Stadia.
Apple went on to state that every game would be playable offline, while future game updates and DLC would be included at no extra cost. Apple Arcade will have its own tab on the App Store, and the games will be free of ads and microtransactions.
Apple Arcade will be available in 150 countries “this fall.” One key bit of information–how much it will cost–has not yet been shared. Apple says pricing and more details are still to come.
During the event, we got a brief look at a few of the games coming to the service, with more being confirmed afterward in a press release. Among the confirmed games are Sonic Racing, Lego Brawls, Oceanhorn 2, Overland, Fantasian (from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi), and Beyond the Steel Sky (which is being worked on by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame). We also got a list of Apple Arcade developers and publishers, including names like Lego, Disney, Sega, and Konami.
Apple says it will be “contributing to the development costs and working closely with creators to bring the games to life,” suggesting it will do more than just pay developers for their games to be included.
“The App Store is the world’s biggest and most successful game platform. Now we are going to take games even further with Apple Arcade, the first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room,” said Apple marking boss Phil Schiller. “We are working with some of the most innovative game developers in the world to create over 100 new and exclusive games to play across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Apple Arcade games will be great for families, respect user privacy and will not have ads or require any additional purchases. We think players of all ages are going to love Apple Arcade.”
Unlike the recently announced Google Stadia, or PlayStation Now and Microsoft’s xCloud, Apple’s service is not cloud-based. The company also unveiled its new Apple TV+ service and a variety of exclusive original shows.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apple-arcade-detailed-new-game-subscription-servic/1100-6465824/
New Free Pokemon Available Now For Ultra Sun And Moon
Pokemon Sword and Shield may be on the horizon, but The Pokemon Company isn’t done giving away freebies for the series’ latest 3DS installments, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Players with a Pokemon Bank subscription can now claim two more free Pokemon in the seventh-gen games, and these are a little different from the ones you can normally catch.
For a limited time, you’ll be able to receive a free Oranguru and Passimian by signing into Pokemon Bank. What makes these particular Pokemon special is they come with their Hidden Abilities, which normally aren’t obtainable in the games. Passimian’s is Defiant, which raises its Attack any time one of its stats is lowered by the opponent, while Oranguru’s is Symbiosis, which will pass the item it’s holding to an ally in Double or Triple Battles when that Pokemon consumes its own held item.
You can claim Oranguru and Passimian in either of the Ultra games or the original Sun and Moon versions. To download them, you’ll need to insert your game of choice in the 3DS and access the Pokemon Bank app. After you see a notification that the gifts are available, you’ll need to open the game, then pick the Pokemon up from the deliveryman waiting inside any Pokemon Center. It’s unclear how long this distribution will run, so you’ll want to act fast.
Pokemon Bank is a paid cloud service that allows you to easily store and move Pokemon between all of the series’ sixth- and seventh-generation 3DS Pokemon games. Subscriptions cost $5 / £4.49 per year. As an added bonus, The Pokemon Company regularly distributes free Pokemon to subscribers; last year, for instance, it gave away all three Alola starters with their Hidden Abilities. You can also store Pokemon from the 3DS Virtual Console versions of Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal on Pokemon Bank.
Oranguru and Passimian aren’t the only freebies still available for 3DS players. You also have until September 2 to claim an assortment of rare Berries via Mystery Gift. You can see all of the freebies available for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in our roundup.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are the next “core” installments in the Pokemon series, and they’re slated to launch for Nintendo Switch in late 2019. The Pokemon Company hasn’t revealed many details about the games yet, but we got our first look at their new setting and starter Pokemon. You can read everything we know about Pokemon Sword and Shield so far here.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-free-pokemon-available-now-for-ultra-sun-and-m/1100-6465891/
