Coming as a surprise to most of the TechTube community yet again, Stadia is set to expand instead of sound it's death rattle this year. Seriously, we don't understand the doubling down on Stadia hatred. Not only is the player base gradually growing, bad press is shrinking as the platform rolls out more features and games.
We already received news of Google opting to upgrade to more powerful Nvidia GPU's. There wasn't a lot said as to what the goal for this is. Stadia renders games perfectly well, so some are assuming that it's for easier development support. But the real kicker is that Stadia will be added to Samsung's new Gaming Hub interface, along with Amazon Luna, GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. This is huge, as it's being included with platforms that are more popular in the gaming community. For a tech giant like Samsung to officially recognize Stadia means that the platform is getting something right. It's also growing into Mexico. Ignore all of that recycled old garbage being pumped out of gaming "journalists" today. Their takes are identical, and just as hot, as they were when it first launched. These are bad opinions based on nothing still relevant today. Stadia has matured, the games library has greatly expanded, there are many more features, and the gameplay experience is great. And don't fall into the false dichotomy. Consoles and gaming PC's aren't dying just because cloud gaming is here to stay. We're all just going to have more ways to connect, and have more fun along the way. It's officially 2022, folks. Happy New Year!We don't have much to discuss today. We took a couple of weeks off to enjoy the holidays because no one participated in our giveaway. And this is really strange because we have a following of hundreds of regular readers already. So, we did a little digging before we took off for Christmas. Come to find out, the overwhelming majority of our readers aren't citizens or residents of the US! 🤯 Whoops! Take our rather big mistake as a lesson about jumping to conclusions and not double checking the data. Always verify because your recollection could betray you. We're embarrassed, and we apologize for the oversight. That being the case, we're going to extend the giveaway and announce a new drawing date! Keep an eye out for new information as we revamp the giveaway. This also means that we're going to extend the reach of the giveaway as well, so we have to rework the budget to cover the cost of that shipping.
For those of you who are looking for a nice mouse that allows you to set a solid color and switch to a pattern with relative ease, we have a review coming up of a VERY attractive option. You would be able to find the software with ease because we'll link it to the review, and give you some advice on how to use all of it. Also, it's inexpensive, the seller is pretty great, it includes a suite of useful additions, and it has up to 8000 DPI! 🤤 We think it's pretty good looking too.
Other than that, we're going to revisit the custom build in the future to show off the full set up. We want to show you the themed out beauty of a workstation that we're putting together. You'll see our monitors, our mounting system, mouse, keyboard, XXL mouse pad or desk pad, speakers and stands, desk, cable management, etc. We'll be showing it off on YouTube as well! That's it! That's all we've got today! Thanks for joining us, and thanks for reading! ✌🏽
We got a list!
Though it isn't key, it's still a feature that many would appreciate. After over two years of waiting for developments, we think the people deserve a more robust Stadia TV web app experience: We should be able to finalize purchases from the TV. That's our runner-up. The practice of rushing products to the market needs to come to a swift and total end. Not only is the customer made to bear the cost of experimental products, we lose precious time as well. This is toxic corporate culture polluting and corrupting gaming culture. The community is divided, with those who grew up in this environment generating loads of hype, while those who did not are dismayed by the new releases being announced. We just know that most of them are going to be terrible upon release. It's souring. Though we disagree with the conclusions drawn by those who never even tried or learned more about Stadia, they're just taking it at face value, we can somewhat understand the disdain for it. We don't think that it will die, and don't think that it should die either. We certainly aren't joining the cancel mobs that are trying their level best to boycott it out of existence simply because they don't like the idea of cloud gaming. But we get why so many people needed to be won over. On with the explaining!
And for the runner-up: Gamers don't want to constantly break our immersion to go get our phones just to complete a purchase. Sure, it'll take a while to fully incorporate the store, but we think it would be GREAT to have access to items in the cart from the TV. The payment info is present, and so are the games that we would like to buy. If we have them in the cart already and remember those purchases on payday, we can just finish the transaction(s) while we're sitting there gaming. This feature can only serve to HELP Stadia grow. PlayStation has it, XBox has it, AND Switch has it. Give us more ways to buy! It's easy! As for you, the gamer. You're accountable too. You can't solve a problem by being a part of it. Instead of hating an innovation simply for existing, TRY IT and provide some valuable feedback. Constructive criticism exists to HELP people improve. Don't be so xenophobic. Need we remind you that Stadia is available to try WITHOUT a purchase on Chrome OS and PC (through Chrome browser), Android, iOS, has a free tier, and has a free trial? There's your opportunity to share your vision right there. That being said, join our giveaway. You can get a free Stadia kit, the free trial, and use our referral to get an extra month of free Stadia Pro. Try it out and offer your feedback while you're at it.
During the trial, you can permanently claim Hitman, Control, Saints Row IV, Hello Engineer, Darksiders II, Ys VIII, Terraria, Figment, Destiny 2, and Destroy All Humans for free. That's not even the entire list, just what we think are the best on the list. Beyond time, you literally have nothing to lose! The drawing will take place on December 25, so you still have time to get in. What are you waiting for? Come take this free Stadia off our hands! Thanks for reading! Peace! We're going to make this quick. Google has been rolling out more features for Stadia in an attempt to make it more competitive as a gaming platform. Despite naysayers trying to kill it with negative press, Stadia is in fact developing quite well overall. It's claimed to have an estimated 2 million users as of May of this year. As of writing this article, Stadia already has over 1.1 million installs on Android alone (look here and here). Unfortunately, the App Store doesn't show the download count on the Apple side. Considering the ways to connect to and use Stadia, these estimates are pretty reasonable. Google may not publish the official count, but we have to consider those playing on Chromebook, PC, Android, iOS, and TV. Though tied to the Android and iOS apps in many ways, getting started with Stadia doesn't actually require them. So, there's quite a lot that we don't see that can only add to the total player count.
That's it! That's everything!That's all we have about Stadia itself today. We wish that Google would share the numbers for the sake of transparency, but we also understand how overestimations can ruin a platform. So, we'll leave that as it is. But don't take missing a goal as an abject failure. That's not the case. Considering all of the strong competition they're facing, this outcome actually makes sense. Take that into account before you judge.
Thanks for reading, folks! Please don't forget to like, share, and join the giveaway. We're excited to give one of these to one lucky gamer this holiday! Peace!
For your information...We're unable to guarantee that Google will continue offering any trial period currently on offer, as this is entirely at their discretion. That being the case, we also cannot guarantee stacking offers will work (ex: the automatic one-month free trial of Stadia Pro + one free month with referral + Google One Extended Free Trial Offer). Understand that you are assuming your own risk by attempting to extend the duration of your free trial in this way. This best way to extend your free trial is to refer others to Google Stadia! You receive a unique referral link with [currently] unlimited uses. This giveaway is limited to current US residents with a US shipping address (except Hawaii, Guam, and US Virgin Islands). Please forgive us for this limitation. We're still growing, and we'll gradually add more qualified regions as we expand our offerings, team, and overall reach. To claim your free months of Stadia, Google requires you subscribe for at least a month, and you won't be billed until the trial ends. For transparency, Google does secure the subscription with a very small authorization, which should fall off within three business days (you'll get that money back). So far, however, there does remain a free tier for Stadia, at which you will retain unlimited access to your claimed or purchased games at a lower resolution. The free tier of Stadia does not include access to monthly free games. Once a winner is selected, the free Stadia will be shipped to the provided address within 30 days. Please quadruple check, as we're unable to verify your shipping details, and will ship to the address provided. We will insure the shipment so that the full value of a replacement Stadia will be reimbursed in the event the item is lost or destroyed in-transit. The packaging will be discrete, and we are not responsible for items stolen after delivery is made. Please be readily available to receive your package. Should your package be lost or destroyed in-transit, we will file for the reimbursement and reship your free Stadia and launch an investigation with the carrier. To avoid penalties from the shipper, please refrain from making false claims of non-delivery. DO NOT respond to inquiries requesting personal information that do not come from our website. You are able to freely view sender information when reading emails. This will protect you against spoofing scams and phishing attempts. If you have not been named as the winner in an official post on this site, the inquiry is fake. We will publish an entry naming the victor BEFORE we request your email or physical addresses. We are currently able to ship only to existing US addresses at this time. If you are outside the US, you MAY ship it to a contact in the US and have it forwarded to your current international address. Please note that this option is entirely the responsibility of yourself and the associated party. We are not responsible for forwarded items that do not arrive and are not able to assist with recovery. We DO NOT charge for shipping and WILL NOT request any payment information. The drawing will be randomized, and we WILL NOT make any selection on the grounds of: race, culture, creed (religion), gender, national origin, economic class, technological preferences, sexual orientation, stature or weight, political ideology, job status, educational background, relationship status, or adult age group. Must be 18 or older to participate. The drawing will proceed on December 25. IMPORTANT: These conditions secure your entry by preventing others from using your accounts in the drawing without your knowledge. They also help the community grow so that we can offer even more free giveaways. You are not required to use our referral link(s), participate in any special offer(s), add us as friends on any gaming network, contribute to our Patreon campaign, or join our mailing list to join the drawing. You're also not required to post about us during the drawing or after receiving your reward (but we'd REALLY love to see and share your celebration). That's it!That's all you have to do! We do, however, STRONGLY recommend staying followed so that you can see the drawing results (we'll post on all three) and keep your entry. We also recommend staying followed so that you'll be ready for the next free giveaway. Yeah, we're going to keep this up. With inflation like this, who couldn't use free stuff?!
Anyway, bear in mind that we're all about sharing and growing together. Take our giveaways as practice in gaining exposure. Each time you share your username, that's potential for gaining more followers. We encourage you to explore the accounts of as many fellow players as you can, network, and build your respective communities. Provided you are respectful and remain on topic (eg: don't switch from gaming stuff to politics unnecessarily), you are completely free to hold your own discussions. Cussing is permitted, slurs aren't, don't harass anyone, KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON, don't publicly share private information, and all will be well. Thanks for reading! Peace! |
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