This week it is all about games as the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 is in full swing in Los Angeles, California. While the show is primarily focused on console and PC games, game streaming services are certainly growing in popularity as companies like Google want in on the action.
Keen to disrupt the status quo set by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Google’s highly ambitious Google Stadia game streaming platform is looking to debut in a year or two’s time. To put it simply, think of Stadia as a “Netflix”-like service for games.
Instead of being tied down to buying a specific console, smartphone or computer, it allows gamers to seek out their games on any device they have on them. Yes, even your TV or entry level smartphone or laptop, would be able to “play” mainstream games as it will fully rely on Google’s cloud computing power to do the heavy lifting.
Details are scant about Stadia, and it is not even confirmed to be making its way to Malaysia, but it is interesting nonetheless to look at what could be. Google’s Stadia is slated to be available in 14 countries mostly in US, Canada, UK and so on.
So in order to play on Stadia, you will need to cough up at least US$9.99 (or roughly RM41) a month for a Stadia Pro membership that allows gamers to stream games at up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.
Google hints that there will be a mixture of free-to-play much like what we are used to seeing on the Google PlayStore as well as purchasing of dedicated game titles.
To enjoy this convenience of accessing games from the library, an internet connection of at least 35Mbps is required but if you don’t have such speeds available you can at least stream games at a lower 720p resolution with a 10Mbps connection.
There is also another tier called Stadia Base, that will only be available sometime next year. Instead of enjoying games at 4K resolutions, you can stream games at FullHD resolution at 60fps.
Granted there are many unknown factors about the Google Stadia service but if anything this offering will definitely level the playing field and open gaming to the masses even further. Only time will tell if we will see Google Stadia in Malaysia, but we will look forward to that.
