Category: Gaming News

The Google Stadia, besides having what I feel is a really stupid name. Anyone that is curious it has to do with surveying equipment and measuring so the name at least kind of makes sense. That aside Google claims this new streaming service will allow people to play games off basically anything that uses Chrome, and in an interview with Polygon said if you get a good Youtube experience, you can get a good Stadia experience.

The success of all this I think comes down to price and what kind of games it supports. If it is expensive or doesn’t support enough AAA titles I don’t think people will care to pay for it. I also don’t think people are ready to give up their ability to play games without the internet which obviously this requires. That isn’t to say it won’t be a success, I think it will be. But a lot of people are talking like this will end consoles and change the landscape of gaming and I just don’t think this is it, yet.

The reason I say yet is that, while consoles may not die, the days of streaming and pure digital are coming. Not with the next gen of consoles but probably the one after. It is cheaper and easier for companies to sell, they make more profit and consumers care about convenience and storage is constantly getting cheaper and cheaper. 10 years ago the idea of massive amounts of cloud data being free or a 1T hard drive being available to the masses was kind of a dream people figured was coming but seemed off. Now if you get a good sale you can get a 4T for pretty cheap and toss it in your pocket.

Physical sales have also fallen across the board all over the world, and Microsoft is making a digital-only Xbox One. The writing is on the wall, and physical copies of games are on their way out tho I think Nintendo will be the last to follow suit. Many aren’t going to like it, personally, I prefer physical but that isn’t going to stop change. Stadia is just one more step towards that, and it is a big one. Sony has Playstation now, Google will have Stadia and Microsoft will have theirs soon enough. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

As reported by Screenrant, the classic and much sought after by collectors board game, Dune, is coming back into print prior to the release of the new movie. Looking it up I have seen it from anywhere as low as about $100 to as high as around $250. I’m not sure how normal those prices are but that seems kind of insane, and I am not sure if a new release will drive that price up or down since admittedly I know next to nothing about how that sort of thing works. Regardless, it may be a good idea to pick up a couple, one to play and one to collect. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.