Google flushes Stadia down the toilet


Today, Google finally flushed Stadia down the proverbial toilet. And yes, the company's streaming game service was, in fact, a massive turd. Consumers never really embraced Stadia, and after a few short years, Google is admitting defeat and shutting it down.
On paper, Stadia looked great -- you could play high-end games without spending money on a console. The games simply streamed over the internet, with Google's servers doing the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, the execution and overall game library was lacking. Stadia was not fun to use or play. And now it is dead, or at least it soon will be.
Google Stadia only has a dozen launch games


The Nintendo 64 is one of the greatest game consoles of all time. I remember getting one at launch as a kid after trying (and being blown away by) Super Mario 64 at Toys R Us. Believe it or not, despite ultimately becoming a successful game system, it launched with just two games in the USA. No, that is not a typo -- it literally had a pair of games at launch. There was the aforementioned Mario game, plus Pilotwings 64. Over time, there were many classic games released for the N64, but the sparse launch library was rather shocking.
That's why today's announcement by Google that its Stadia streaming game service will "only" have a dozen games at launch (less than previously promised) doesn't disappoint me. Quite frankly, 12 launch titles is actually quite respectable. Not to mention, these are high-quality games too -- there is seemingly no filler to pad the list. With that said, three of the titles are from the Tomb Raider franchise.
Google's Stadia game streaming service launches on November 19


At this year's Game Developers Conference in March, Google took the wraps off Stadia, a new, instant-play cloud-based gaming service.
With Stadia, games are "played" on Google’s servers, and streamed to compatible devices in the home, including smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops, TVs and more. Google claims Stadia servers are capable of providing 4K, 60 frames-per-second performance.
Google's streaming game service, Stadia, launches in November with an impressive line-up of games


Google's much-anticipated cloud gaming service, Stadia, is due to launch in November. The company has revealed the launch date, as well as details of pricing and the games you can expect to play -- including Baldur's Gate III.
In all, there are over 30 games confirmed for Stadia, and Google is ramping up the hype by giving gamers the chance to pre-order right now. Anyone placing an order for the Stadia Founder's Edition can enjoy a number of benefits including a limited edition controller and three months of Stadia Pro, the subscription option that gives access to some games.
GDC 2019 recap: 5 takeaways and headlines from the show floor


The 2019 Game Developers Conference (GDC), held last week in San Francisco, welcomed an estimated 20,000-plus developers, gamers, publishers and tech vendors from across the globe.
From the tech driving the future of gaming to the industry’s most prevalent conversations and trends, here are five takeaways and headlines from the 13th annual show.
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