INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google isn&t launching a gaming console
The company is launching a service instead: Stadia
You&ll be able to run a game on a server and stream the video feed to your device
You won&t need to buy new hardware to access Stadia, but Stadia won&t be available on all devices from day one.
&With Google, your games
will be immediately discoverable by 2 billion people on a Chrome browser, Chromebook, Chromecast, Pixel device
And we have plans to support more browsers and platforms over time,& Google CEO Sundar Pichai said shortly after opening GDC 2019.
As you
can see, the Chrome browser will be the main interface to access the service on a laptop or desktop computer
The company says that you&ll be able to play with your existing controller
So if you have a PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch controller, that should work just fine
Google is also launching its own controller.
As expected, if you&re using a Chromecast with your TV, you&ll be able to turn it into a Stadia
Only the latest Chromecast supports Bluetooth, so let see if you&ll need a recent model to play with your existing controller
Google controller uses Wi-Fi, so that should theoretically work with older Chromecast models.
On mobile, it sounds like Google isn&t going
to roll out its service to all Android devices from day one
Stadia could be limited to Pixel phones and tablets at first
But there no reason Google would not ship Stadia to all Android devices later.
Interestingly, Google didn&t mention Apple devices at all
So if you have an iPhone or an iPad, don&t hold your breath
Apple doesn&t let third-party developers sell digital content in their apps without going through the App Store
This will create a challenge for Google.
Stadia isn&t available just yet
It&ll launch later this year
As you can see, there are many outstanding questions after the conference
Google is entering a new industry and it going to take some time to figure out the business model and the distribution model.
