Google Stadia - “being buried in a deep hole next to Google Circles and the rest”

[Jonny5]

1 hour ago, jonny_rat said:

You might be able to grab an extra 3 months of Pro free for this, even if you've used a trial before:

 

https://gleam.io/J9mE4/vantage-stadia-codes-20k

 

Once you get the Claim link, you can copy and paste the code from the link itself and redeem it in your account.

 

I can't see anywhere to redeem it in my Stadia account, any tips?

 

Edit: Stadia Settings -> Redeem Code

 

It worked, my next payment was due on the 27th of June, and is now due on the 27th of September

[jonny_rat]

30 minutes ago, Jonny5 said:

 

I can't see anywhere to redeem it in my Stadia account, any tips?

 

Edit: Stadia Settings -> Redeem Code

 

It worked, my next payment was due on the 27th of June, and is now due on the 27th of September

That took me ages to find as well! On mobile I had to scroll right in the settings sections (but there was no way to actually see that there were more options off the screen).

[Uzi]

2 hours ago, jonny_rat said:

You might be able to grab an extra 3 months of Pro free for this, even if you've used a trial before:

 

https://gleam.io/J9mE4/vantage-stadia-codes-20k

 

Once you get the Claim link, you can copy and paste the code from the link itself and redeem it in your account.

Yep worked for me saw it on HUKD! Got free pro until end of Sept - finally time to play Borderlands 3 UE that I bought on Stadia for £1

[Mike1812]

Didn't work for me, said I'd already used a similar code. I can't remember if I have or not tbh. 

[ZOK]

Nice, it worked for me too, thanks @jonny_rat!

[Gorf King]

I'd had a three-month free trial before and I got the message 'Account ineligible to use this code. A similar offer has been used on this account.' Tant pis.

[Dr_Dave]

Been playing (and loving!) Orcs Must Die 3 recently, but I was finding that the game looked really washed out and indistinct. Really flat, nothing popped and nothing I could do in the game settings made much difference.

 

On a whim, I tried disabling HDR in the Stadia settings and, lo and behold, the game has come alive! Looks lovely!

 

(now I wish they'd patch out the stupid voices and it would be perfect)

[Hass]

I setup my son on this with family sharing at the weekend. Google's family sharing stuff is a little confusing as you get bounced around between different apps in the Play ecosystem and then Stadia itself, but once it's setup it's great. Really nice parental controls over what he can and can't play, and he inherits all the games I've bought and through the Pro sub. There's a lot there for younger audiences these days.

 

[bear]

Next months Stadia Pro games.

 

Quote

Google has confirmed the four new video games that Stadia Pro members can claim in July 2021.

 

Moonlighter

Terraria 

The Darkside Detective  

Street Power Football.

 

Solid but not their best month. 

[Jonny5]

That’s a pretty terrible list. If I hadn’t just got 3 months for free I might skip that month. 

[bear]

Quality wise it's fine, with the possible exception of that soccer game, but they aren't the newest games. 

 

Judging by the amount of games in the store it feels likes its only a matter of time before most of the indie stuff ends up in pro for a month or two. 

 

 

[Jonny5]

So recently there was a Google Game Developers Summit with a fair bit of interesting stuff announced.  The biggest being that people no longer need to port their app specifically to Stadia.  

 

It looks like they've got native support in Unreal & Unity, and to help with custom engines it looks like they've built a DirectX to Vulcan translation layer so developers don't have to do this themselves.

 

 

 

There was also a load of stuff about better revenue splits on sales, and how pro games now get a cut of the pro subscription revenue based on player engagement (I assume this is like Spotify, where the big games rake in the vast majority of cash leaving the scraps for everyone else).

 

[Paulando]

I wonder if the porting required is partially what makes Stadia streaming so much better than the other services though? I’ve been trying Xbox Cloud Gaming and it’s utterly fucking useless in comparison. So hopefully this won’t ruin anything!

[Jonny5]

The porting is because Stadia runs on Googles OS and so doesn't have the DirectX graphics library.  

 

I'd agree with you on XCloud, but I think that's more to do with Google's better encoding performance and likely just more devices closer to users than MS currently have.  I hope XCloud gets close to Stadia performance soon though as the game selection there is good.

[Hitcher]

 

[K]

The new Hit Points covers this:

 

https://hitpoints.substack.com/?utm_campaign=pub&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

 

Interesting, in that it positions it less as the death knell of gaming and more as just another fuckup by Google - why would anyone want to develop anything but service games for Stadia? Devs will just go elsewhere. Also, a weird paradox - you subscribe to a service like Stadia Pro or Game Pass for the variety. It’s almost impossible to play more than one service game at a time, so what’s the point of a subscription service full of these games?

[Hass]

I seem to remember Phil Spencer saying they'd ended up with a variety of developer remuneration options underneath Gamepass because different developers wanted different things. IIRC, he talked about many developers wanting an up-front payment which basically de-risked the entire process for them. 

 

The thing that immediately struck me on Stadia's new model was the "session days" thing. If you're going to do this on time in some way then surely you want to use elapsed time and not penalise infrequent long gaming sessions over frquent short ones? 

 

The announcement that Stadia will only take a 15% cut on sales I guess is welcome but I don't know what the comparators here here. They didn't even say what it was coming down from so it's hard to tell. 

[Jonny5]

Apparently Sony & MS take 30%
 

 

[Hass]

Given that Stadia's cut there covers an entire hosting environment rather than just a digital store and market place that sounds like pretty good value. 

[Isaac]

1 hour ago, Jonny5 said:

Apparently Sony & MS take 30%
 

 

Nope, Microsoft takes 12% on PC.

 

Sony and MS still take 30% on consoles though.

[BeeJay]

Whatever system that a platform holder puts in place for income, the developers/publishers will target toward that system. Therefore having a very prescriptive income system in place will necessarily lead to a very narrow product range which isn't good for the platform holder. MS will find it hard to continue to be as versatile with their income models for game pass, as they are now, but undoubtedly it is the correct approach. Thankfully we currently have a market with loads of competition, be it physical media, downloads or streaming. When you look at the shit-fest that the music industry is currently in, gaming is in a much better place.

[Hass]

I had a go with "tandem" mode where you connect your Non-Stadia controller to the Stadia controller. I used my Xbox Elite controller and it all worked as intended from my perspective, no difference in input latency or anything. The only issue from my end is that I use a USB-C wireless headset so can't use tandem and this headset at the same time. Nice feature though.

 

 

[ZOK]

No Switch Pro though. 

[bear]

 

Hotline Miami 2 is leaving Pro next month so get it claimed if you haven't already. 

[Hass]

Control Ultimate Edition just went onto Stadia. I'm quite tempted as I've not played it before but heard great things. It's got a 60fps mode at 1080p. 

 

Torn between getting it on Stadia where I can play it on many TVs in my house versus the XSX which has the 4k 60fps version but is confined to my office. Decisions decisions.

 

[bear]

Quote

It’s almost time to claim your latest free games with Stadia Pro. Starting September 1, Darksiders 2, Little Big Workshop, and Wave Break will be ready to grab with your Pro membership. You or a friend can get a free month right now and get your hands on all these games!

Also, August 31 is the last day for you to claim Gunsport, Blue Fire, and Chronos free with Stadia Pro, so don’t wait. Pick them up today and keep playing!

 

Another fairly meh month. 

[Stanley]

On 28/07/2021 at 18:37, Hass said:

Control Ultimate Edition just went onto Stadia. I'm quite tempted as I've not played it before but heard great things. It's got a 60fps mode at 1080p. 

 

Torn between getting it on Stadia where I can play it on many TVs in my house versus the XSX which has the 4k 60fps version but is confined to my office. Decisions decisions.

 

Such a good game. 

[Tim]

On 23/06/2021 at 09:35, jonny_rat said:

You might be able to grab an extra 3 months of Pro free for this, even if you've used a trial before:

 

https://gleam.io/J9mE4/vantage-stadia-codes-20k

 

Once you get the Claim link, you can copy and paste the code from the link itself and redeem it in your account.

 

Thanks for sharing this offer @jonny_rat I've just got the 3 months Stadia Pro this afternoon and the free Paw Patrol game is working wonders to help my 5 year old adapt to joypad controls.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Have they figured out how to get this running through smart TVs yet? Might be tempted if they have. 

[Mike1812]

1 hour ago, Chadruharazzeb said:

Have they figured out how to get this running through smart TVs yet? Might be tempted if they have. 

Yes, only certain Android TVs though I think.