Board 8 > Ng's Google Stadia review and Stadia/VR playthrough diary

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Ngamer64
11/29/19 5:30:06 PM
#1:


Context: I bought the Stadia Founder's Edition this Summer after being impressed by Google's reveal presser (and because I wanted to reserve "Ngamer" like I own on all platforms). I tried it out at the Cousin's Party at my house last night, after the conclusion of our annual Turkey Bowl game in the back yard. (Then after Stadia time we checked out the latest Virtual Reality games on my Valve Index.)

Copied from Discord:

[3:29 PM]~Ng:Stadia Review: first night I tested on my gaming laptop in my Chrome browser and it was choppy/unplayable. this weekend I tried the preferred method which is to plug the included Chromecast Ultra directly into ethernet and connect the included controller to your WiFi so they're both going straight back to Google's servers
[3:30 PM]~Ng:it was still having a little lag... but then I remembered I was streaming HQ football through Hulu Live on my Roku on the other HDMI. killed the Roku and made sure my phone/desktop weren't downloading or doing anything and it was a PERFECT experience. we passed around the controller at Thanksgiving and no one could tell they weren't directly connected to a console
[3:33 PM]~Ng:some games are free once you're on the service, one of them is Samurai Shodown, no one at the party had played a fighting games since SF2 but they got the hang of it and were beating the computer players and having no input lag. we finished Story Mode and the 6 year olds had a great time watching (graphics are great and you fight lots of colorful characters). the 3 and 4 year olds couldn't tell what was happening but they watched as well

[3:35 PM]~Ng:you also get Destiny 2 for free so we played the first section of that next and again, all our jumps and shots came out instantly, looked great in 1080, we jumped into the game in seconds with no downloads or wait times. everyone was very impressed
[3:36 PM]~Ng:having to buy additional games is true, BUT at least you get them at a discounted rate. for instance RDR2 is $40 instead of 60 if you're subscribed, I'm going to pick it up tonight now that I know Stadia runs so well at my house

[3:40 PM]~Ng:as an added bonus I've been very impressed with the Chromecast Ultra, didn't realize how much it simplified life. I'd heard you were able to push anything on your phone to the device to have it come up on the TV, and that works great, but I didn't realize you could also send it a signal from any computer running Chrome that's on the WiFi
[3:43 PM]~Ng:so I just hit Chrome - Options - Cast - Full Desktop and everyone could sit on the couches and see what was going to the player's eyes on the big screen when we went through the hottest new VR games of the season. I've done that before, but this saved having to run a second input across the room to the television

Now, as for the virtual reality session... it was the second Thanksgiving in a row where rhythm games dominated the night! Last year all the cousins got instantly hooked on Beat Saber, but in 2019 everyone was all about that new hotness, Pistol Whip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVoh0AIph1k


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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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Ngamer64
11/29/19 5:42:42 PM
#2:


Ultimately though all the cousins couldn't wait for Easter, when they'll be coming back to town and get to play through Half-Life: Alyx at my house. Have you SEEN this thing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2W0N3uKXmo

Ay caramba!


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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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Ngamer64
11/29/19 7:06:46 PM
#3:


I should say, the adults were into Pistol Whip but the kiddies were all about the free game Nemesis Perspective, because they got to turn into giant monsters and thrash their parents (who were playing against them using a gamepad).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUtA_-lcgUM&t=40s

That's the thing about VR... Yes, the equipment is expensive up front, but then there's hundreds of hours of interesting free games and experiences you can try yourself, or entertain friends with.


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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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azuarc
11/29/19 9:14:43 PM
#4:


tag. I know basically nothing about the Stadia, but I just bought a new place and have the freedom to do some things I might not have opted for previously, so it might be time to do a little homework.
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Ngamer64
12/02/19 1:59:13 PM
#5:


Been playing a ton of Rocket League the last couple days, so nothing new on the Stadia or VR front. It's the end of the RL "season" so I'm maxing my rewards on the Rocket Pass and winning enough games in Ranked to get the best version of this season's special reward (which is a pretty cool paint job).

But I just wanted to say that Rocket League is good. So, soooooooo good. I'm about to hit 900 hours and am still having the time of my life, could easily see myself playing another 1000! Anyways uhhhhh here's something cool I did two years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy9fuxnshfg
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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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Ngamer64
12/09/19 4:25:53 PM
#6:


No Stadia/VR news yet, I completed my leveling up in RL last week then over the weekend I played a bunch of Hearthstone in prep for the new expansion that drops tomorrow.

I have to say, the new mode added to HS last month is amazing! It's called Battlegrounds and is IMO the best version of the "autochess/autobattler" craze people have been getting into for the last year. It's totally free and you don't need to own any cards to get the full experience so I highly recommend it to anyone looking to try out something new.


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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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Ngamer64
12/13/19 3:38:50 PM
#7:


HUGE update!

Google promised they would be making additions to the Stadia library as the service progressed, and they've been as good as their word. This week they added the Definition Edition of Tomb Raider (2016) as a new game that's free to all subscribers. I played through the first hour and really enjoyed it; looking forward to finishing the game on Stadia.

They also added the Ultimate Edition of Farming Simulator 2019, which seems like an odd choice... but maybe they wanted a more casual option to appeal to a different set of gamers? Some people seem to love the series, it's overwhelmingly positive and a top seller on steam even at $25, so nice to have it as a free bonus regardless.

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Advo bested even The Show hosts in 2018, yowza!
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