INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Stadia will still require a controller but won't need a physical console
We don't buy DVDs any more and CDs are probably something your parents have on a shelf somewhere.It's also easier to buy video
games online than physical copies now, through consoles or PC services like Steam.But what about the consoles - could those disappear too?
Google certainly thinks so.The tech giant is launching gaming service Stadia on Tuesday, which allows gamers to jump into the latest titles
with little more than a decent broadband connection and a Google Chrome browser.But Google doesn't think Stadia is that big of a leap
forward.'We're not the only ones thinking about this'"I don't think what we're doing is particularly revolutionary when you consider what's
happened in the music, television and film industries," Google Vice President Phil Harrison tells Radio 1 Newsbeat."They've moved from being
packaged goods, discs, CDs, DVDs, blu rays, to almost exclusively an online and streaming experience."And he believes Google will be just
the first of many companies who ditch consoles and discs forever, and make the switch to a browser-led game streaming service."I don't claim
that this innovation is going to change the world overnight," he adds
"But I think this is the direction of travel and that this will be a very strong future for the games industry to create these kind of
"We're not the only ones thinking about this."Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Phil Harrison says Destiny 2 is
the best game he's played on Stadia so far
Stadia doesn't work quite like Netflix, where a subscription gives you access to
all its content.Instead, gamers can access the service to pay for games which they then stream through an integrated YouTube service - it's
just the consoles that the service would be getting rid of.But they're taking on Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo, the
three big names in gaming which have millions of loyal followers.Phil says Google wants to move gaming "away from being about a box in
plastic underneath your TV" - and that Google's experience in tech makes it a suitable rival."We're not coming at this cold," he says."We've
built Stadia on the back of more than 15, nearly 20 years now of data centre and internet innovation at Google."Media playback is
unsupported on your deviceMedia captionXbox chief: 'Years before game streaming is mainstream''Gamers won't need expensive hardware'Phil
suggests gamers will feel the benefit of Stadia most in their wallets, claiming it will be a cheaper way to play the latest games without
having to buy the latest graphics cards for a PC or new consoles."It allows more gamers to have access to more of the latest, greatest games
without the need for these complicated, expensive pieces of hardware - which, let's not forget, also require updates, download patches,
"All this nonsense that goes around games will just go away."Phil says the game he's enjoyed most on Stadia so far is Destiny 2, but it's
titles like Red Dead Redemption that really showcase what the service can do."When you get the chance to play a game of the sophistication
of Red Dead Redemption 2 on a phone streaming over the internet and it's pixel perfect - that is one of those great moments in the industry
where you see that this is a leap forward."Not everyone is convinced the transition to streaming games will happen with the launch of Stadia
"My view is we're all in the testing phase," head of Xbox Phil Spencer told TheIndianSubcontinent Click
"We're early in this technology and we feel it will take many years before this technology becomes mainstream
"The best place for you to play will be on your local device, your console, your Xbox connected to your TV and that'll be true for many
years." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back
