We've made our move. Now it's your turn!Short post this time, folks! We're still going to do the second part of the Stadia review. We got a pretty good reception, so that shows us that you all really care about Stadia; good or bad. Some may want it to fail, some may want it to succeed. It's the interest that we appreciate, so we'll continue covering it. This post is about a major milestone. Now, don't tear us apart because it's still a work in progress. We will take your feedback and continue improving it. We just wanted to start on this step instead of letting everyone wait forever. We will use your thoughts to streamline it and balance it just right. Don't worry! Are you ready? Like, REALLY ready? WE ARE GO FOR PATREON!
That's right, folks! We finally did it! We took the plunge and created the campaign. We know what to do and figured out how to do it! Just to be clear, we're not going to push any particular tier. We want YOU to decide what contribution is fair for our project. We figured, "Why wait to build?" We have hundreds of readers looking for information and sharing our content. At some point, it's time to leave the nest. This is the right time to start. More people want to do their part for the environment, more people than ever are getting into gaming, and all of those people need somewhere to live. If you and your friends are gamers, love nature, and want to collaborate, we can build a place for you to go and do that as a family. Friends become neighbors, you do features, you join tournaments, you make money, you keep gaming, AND you repair the environment? What's not to love? In this stretch, which we described in the tiers, we're focused on gathering tree seeds and buying land. Once we've accomplished that, we'll start the next round, which will be infrastructure and building on it. We'll replant what we use. We raise homes, we raise a hotel, we construct play areas for sports, we get some leagues going, then we build a stadium. In the final round, we'll add more locations, build arcades, add some restaurants, mix in some theaters - it's a whole vibe. You CAN have nice things. Anyway, go check it out and bring us your feedback. We want to continue improving. And remember to comment and share. We see you checking us out but almost no one's said anything yet. Don't be shy! We won't bite! Let's discuss! Peace! Okay, our Stadia arrived about two weeks ago. We took one week off to wait it out and it wasn't the best shopping experience. We made you all VERY aware of that. Here's a quick recap:
Those are the negatives at a glance. However, there's more to say about negatives in our rundown, and there's also a lot of good that came with this purchase. We honestly don't regret it. Read on to find out more. Let's start with the other negativesWhen you FINALLY receive your shiny new Stadia, you'll notice a satisfyingly weighty package. It's well designed outside of the hungry lid kind of sticking to the tray. You'll have to give it a shake to force it to let go. Honestly, it's like a dog with a rope toy - but this is a good thing because the contents are safe. What bothered us was the fact the documentation was packed at the bottom of the kit. This isn't the best move because of what's outlined in it. If you've already bought a Chromecast in the past, you'll know that it requires an external power source. Fair enough. But that cable that you already have hooked into the wall ISN'T universal, so you'll have to swap it out in order for your Chromecast Ultra to be fully functional. Without its own cable, it tops out at 1080p with a bright yellow, and awfully persistent, toast notification resting permanently at the bottom of your display. Though it will carry out every function it's designed to perform, it won't be able to deliver 4K at all until you make the switch. Google, please put the documentation on top. Geez! The next thing is the simple, but lengthy, setup process. None of us have EVER invested so much time into setting up a Chromecast. Though we signed up for Stadia well in advance, linking everything took a while. Furthermore, this form of Stadia itself doesn't have access to the store, only your library. This is a bad choice. So, you'll have to either manage your account from the web or install the app on your phone. Why, Google?! Just give it full access and all will be well. No one wants to jump through hoops to get started gaming! We want a quick start!
The pairing code that pops up at that time is confusing, and we don't like having the widget perched up in the corner of our display for the entirety of the time our Chromecast is in Ambient Mode. It's already paired, doesn't need to be linked again, will automatically take care of this when the controller is turned back on, and is effectively unnecessary. Come on, folks! And while we're on powering the thing on, they chose to go against the grain. Instead of just hitting the Stadia button, we have to long-press it. What, is it Opposite Day? What's the point of that?! The direction pad is solid but it's loud. If you have kids who like clicking sounds, don't give them Stadia. Just don't do it. The list of games is small but none too bad. We mean, they have Humankind already. That's a win. They even have NBA 2K and Hitman. Unfortunately, there are some turds in there as well. More on that later. Back to controls. If gaming with a non-Stadia controller through, say, a PC...ehhh, it's pretty bad. There's lots of latency because of the additional stop that must be made along the way. The Stadia controller is connected directly to the gaming server(s), so there are no problems there. But it would be great if they were transparent about that limitation. It's not obvious.
We tried Rainbow 6 Siege on the free weekend and didn't like it as much on Stadia. This isn't the choice you want to make for competitive first or third person shooters. Because of the response time needed to have a good experience, the cloud isn't the best platform for them. They're not horrible, but you WILL notice latency and how it causes the controllers to be a bit wild. We'll talk more about this in the next entry.
For now, true to our new format, we're going to wrap things up here. These are all of the negatives gamers will have to worry about right now. If games are dropped from Stadia, Google stated that the purchases and support will be honored. So, don't stress that. In the second part of our review, we'll go over all of the positives. Don't knock it before you have a look at that. Though it seems like the haters are right, they're not. Check back for more, and don't forget to use our code if you decide to sign up and try the free trial. You'll get two months of free Stadia Pro, claimable free games, and the ability to earn more free months and discounts by sharing your own referral code. You'll also help us continue covering Stadia and help us get that Just Black controller. Until next time! Peace! Okay, Google, we've had enough! It's enough that the controller costs around the same as current and last gen controllers. And that's fair because it can do something that they apparently can't do: check directly into a gaming server via WiFi connection. That's fine. We can eat that one. But keep in mind that the PS5 controller has pressure responsive trigger buttons, and the Xbox controller has the Design Lab for all kinds of customizations. It's enough that the current support is limited to Chromecast Ultra and Chromecast with Google TV. The pricing is pretty reasonable too, considering the starting cost of the Stadia Controller. Breakdown: Stadia controller - $69 Stadia Premier Edition - $79.99 Play and Watch with Google TV - $99.99 So, to be clear, players get the controller and a significant discount on the Chromecast kit for buying the package. That's cool too. We even like the benefits that are packaged with the referral program that you have running. Seriously, who wouldn't want a 50% discount [with a special offer code] on a Stadia controller or extra months of free Stadia Pro? That's a steal, and a dedicated enough interested person with a strong enough network can easily rack up a year of free Stadia gaming. It's enough that Chromecast with Google TV has limited and non-matching colorways, that the Wasabi controller colorway exists, and doesn't support a Chromecast Ultra that players bought previously. That's a red flag to a LOT of people. It's not like you were upfront with this information either. One of our players now has THREE Chromecasts, and would've only had TWO if they knew this in advance (shout out to the Chromecast early adopters). Free shipping at least softens the blow, so they're willing to let that go. They agreed to donate the second one, in extremely good condition, for a free giveaway. Be on the lookout for that. Now, you know you dun messed up, right?We see all of the aforementioned as fair tradeoffs. After all, no one can truly win them all. But we DRAW THE LINE at having no ability to choose our preferred colorway for the Premier Edition at checkout. THAT'S JUST A STEP TOO FAR! You're messing with our theming now, and we, gamers, don't play that! It makes perfect sense to have these packaged in such a way as to allow for players to select their preferred controller instead of buying a second controller, which may not be needed, to get it. We wanted a provocative blacked out theme, and these absurd restriction has broken that. Instead we have this bright white and orange corrupting the space! Pfffft!
Google, get it together! You may have control over costs, play quality, and accessibility, but you absolutely DO NOT need control over our personal aesthetics. This is a quick and easy fix. From here, you simply need to expand support for pre-purchased Chromecasts so that players will be able to buy the controller(s) they want. That's a major selling point! Gamers! What do you think? Do we have a point about this? Are we just being childish? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below. If you agree with us, raise your voices! Let's demand a solution!
Do you even history, bro?
Oh, but surely volleyball, tennis, and basketball are only a few hundred years old? Nope! Those all started with variants of the Mesoamerican Ballgame. All three of them! Soccer? That started in China over 2000 years ago. Archery? A war contest between Kemet (before it was sacked by the Canaanites during the 15th Dynasty, NOT the Arabs, and eventually renamed Egypt) and Kush. This was not only a means of combat, it was treated as a competition during the fighting. The losers died. As an aside, stop blaming everything on Arabs. That's an ethnicity, not a race. These people are not all of Arabic origin. Arabs are called Arabs because they're named for the land that their ethnicity began on, that being the Arabian sub-continent. The Canaanites, however, started in Uruk [the first Mesopotamians] territory, which was Palestine and Lebanon, but is now Israel. These are not the same culture, and they didn't even speak the same languages. Arabs moved in AFTER Canaan took the country, which they did because of a war caused by them refusing to pay taxes for the corner of the land that they were allowed to occupy - and they settled on that land without permission or even a conversation first. Arabs didn't do that, they simply made homes there long after it was done. Semites, as a race, were named for the family of languages that they created. Those are the Middle Easterners. They're of Persian origin, became Afrasian, then became Euro-Afrasian. Pair that with many generations of isolation and, voila, a race is born! The more you know. What's the point of us saying all of this?We found ourselves wondering just why there is so much individual and corporate control and ownership of our favorite things to do? They surely didn't start them, yet they occupy the most powerful positions involving them. And because of their profit goals, they've made them into work; jobs. Why? It seems like all everyone does is work. Isn't that messed up?
In the modern world, where entertainment is a profitable resource, shouldn't A LOT more of us be paid to play? Why is it so many of us are either automatically disqualified for various arbitrary reasons, or have to work so incredibly hard to get in on this? Why do so many trend starters sell their rights for less than they're worth? Why do these same few people get to just run everything? Why can't anyone else truly enjoy playing that game? They get to live life on vacation while everyone has to work. Whatever happened to fun? Aren't you tired of working your lives away? |
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