Google Stadia Premiere Edition - White

Product Information

Google’s push for stadia is that you don’t need a gaming console or a powerful PC to play the biggest and best games. I haven't experienced any input lag yet when using the controller with the Chromecast and It feels like using a conventional console without a huge box gathering dust. I find it inexplicable that the Chromecast with Google TV doesn’t work with Stadia, though Google promises that they will add support at some point in the first half of 2021. Again, there was a minor delay when the game is buffering at the very beginning and we did notice a small half-second delay between an on-screen action (like firing a gun) to the sound effect actually playing on the TV, but there was no impact on the gameplay.

Much of my gaming has been on a TV via a Chromecast Ultra with the Stadia controller, but I’ve also played a few hours on an iPad Air and tested the service on an older Samsung Android tablet and my Galaxy Note 10+ phone. Sure, there was a brief buffer period when the game first launched, but after that it was entirely seamless all the way through. Unlike consoles that, roughly speaking, perform exactly the same from one location to the next, there’s no guarantee when it comes to game-streaming that we will all have the same experience.

I’ve only used it a couple of times to test, as I haven’t really found any compelling reason to use it when I have many other Google assistant enabled devices.

I had a game session completely fail on me once while playing, dropping me back to the Stadia home screen on the TV. Despite our reservations, Destiny 2 ran in 4K/60 without any issues on a 50Mbps wireless connection with no noticeable delays or artifacting - even in particularly intense firefights. But for PC gamers with fast solid state storage, or gamers with the new Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles, those platforms have significantly faster load times than games on Stadia just due to the nature of their storage. What I was most worried about is input lag, which is the time it would take between pressing a button on a controller and when it registers in the game.

As of this writing, the only way to play Stadia on a TV is through a Chromecast Ultra and using the Stadia controller.

For those who aren’t living, breathing game dev dictionaries like me, unlike Dreams on PS4, Crayta doesn’t seem to offer any introduction to game creation or gamified tutorials. Players are more or less left to their own devices to figure out what scripts, pivot points, voxels, and primitives are. He's also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he's not using if anyone wants it. Read more about the condition New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in original retail packaging (where packaging is applicable).Both the signup and streaming service are activated through the Google Stadia app on Android and iOS. This means that there is no official way to play Stadia on more than one TV if you do not currently own a Chromecast Ultra.

There are a few bigger name games available for free via Stadia Pro, but most of the games are smaller, indie style games.The only way to play Google Stadia on the big screen is through a Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra. It’s hard to describe precisely what my issue with the controller is aside from simply saying it’s just weird and explaining as best I can why it feels so very weird and awkward. However, Stadia does support the Xbox One controller, Xbox Wireless Controller, and DualShock 4 gamepads. When he’s not spending time writing or ogling new tech, he’s probably playing NBA 2K or watching a true crime documentary. Admittedly, this is probably the way we’ll continue to play games on Stadia, especially those that require ultra-specific timing (shooters and fighting games, as you’ll see in a second) or games that simply work better with a keyboard and mouse.