The future is online gaming
Almost everyone plays computer games. On phones, tablets, computers and consoles the current generation tap away for hours on end. But all this comes at a cost. New games always push consoles and computers to their limits so you end up in a never-ending process of upgrading your hardware just so you can keep up with the latest titles. There are four versions of the PlayStation, endless Xboxes and a vast array of different Nintendo boxes all slowly going out of date, and eventually disappearing into the attic to gather dust.
But what if you never had to buy another console again? What if all you needed was any device that could connect to the Internet with enough power to play a YouTube video?
Well that's the vision for Google's latest cloud gaming service, Google Stadia.
"Cloud gaming?" I hear you ask. Come closer my friend. Basically, you use any internet-capable device to connect to the gaming service - phone, tablet, laptop, etc. This becomes your screen for viewing and your gamepad for controlling the game. The actual game runs on the gaming service computers in a datacentre in the cloud. Your device streams a video of the game which you control using your local game controller or other input device. There's no longer any need for you to own a high-end gaming PC. All that expense is taken care of by Google Stadia.
This is not a new idea. OnLive launched a cloud-based service about 10 years ago offering essentially the same deal. They had a good range of games and the whole system worked extremely well… if you had a reliably fast broadband connection! At the time people found that delays between pressing buttons and the game responding made the system unplayable much of the time. OnLive eventually petered out after a few years.
But the concept was sound and now Google has brought its technical power to the problem. Along with far superior household broadband connections, Google's extensive range of datacentres throughout around the world can provide up to 4K game play with almost zero lag on the controllers.
The service costs a monthly subscription fee for access to the game servers on top of which you'll need to buy your games. These games can then be played on any of your compatible devices, or you can buy one of Google's custom controllers that will connect wirelessly to your TV to turn it into a games centre. A 'free' service should also be launching in the first half of this year which will probably offer a range of slightly older titles for anyone to play - note that this will be free games, not free subscription, which you'll still need to pay!
New game titles are being added all the time so check out the Stadia website for the current library.
If the kids are pestering for a computer upgrade because the latest FIFA is glitching out, this service might be just what you need.
By Robert Grant