Now I don't mean that as soon as you try to open the Google Stadia launcher your computer or hand held device will explode or transform into a sadistic robot that murders you and your family. I'm talking more on a technical level for the end user experience. You see there's one thing that no internet connection made can give you that playing a game stored locally can. Reliability. While Google may claim that they can run any game at 60 fps in stunning 4K on any device at any time there are a number of problems with that claim that you can't just snap away with an infinity gauntlet made of money. Signals degrade as they travel down wires and cables and if that wasn't bad enough nature itself has many, many, many different ways of mucking with your connection. Yes, connection speeds are stupid high right now, I'm aware of this. In fact the argument could be made that the speed a signal can travel from a server to your computer rivals that of a high end PC but I fear this argument is short sighted in such a way that only exists in Silicon Valley.
Google, for all their technological innovations, massive brain trust and even more massive piles of cash is still run by human beings and those humans suffer from the same flaws as you and me. The biggest flaw of which is perception. Here in Silicon Valley it's very easy to get lost in all the high tech wizardry to the point that we start to forget that we are actually the privileged few. Sure, most of my block can run 500mb/s and even a few houses have broadband with gigbit connection speeds but what about Billy Bob's family in rural Arkansas? They're probably lucky if they can get 50mb/s on a good day and that area is wracked by hurricanes and other massive winter storms annually. If you think bad weather can't affect your internet you've been living in Silicon Valley too long. Here, we have the most robust internet connections because all of the tech is literally invented here. The deep South, however is a much tougher nut to crack. Most of the citizens in southern states live in rural communities with only a few major cities that can support the kind of internet infrastructure cloud gaming requires and this problem isn't limited to the south. The midwest, the appalacia region hell even a good stretch of the rocky mountains all suffer from setbacks caused by lack of infrastructure. It's not their fault really, tech companies for all their bluster about "moving society into the future" are still corporations. They're going to send their best tech to the areas that can actually afford to pay for it. Let's face facts, rural communities can't.
Hearing all those really high numbers may put dreams in your eyes of turning on a game anywhere you happen to be but we all need to wake up. The promises of Stadia are only really possible in a few select areas of the country that has the infrastructure to support it. It may seem trivial on the surface when you take into account that 80% of the population lives in major cities but Stadia is cutting out nearly 20% of market share and that's suicide. Gamers in rural communities simply won't be able to make the most use of what Google is offering so instead of 60 fps at 4K graphics they'll have to play at 1080P or maybe even 720 and 250-350 ping. Anyone trying to play a competitive game in that environment is going to be at a severe disadvantage to say nothing about the degraded experience of the most popular and beautiful single player experiences. While Billy Bob's best friend in San Francisco will be going on and on about how he plays Call of Duty on his iPad and frags out poor Billy Bob will be stuck playing God of War on his PC wishing the fucking game wouldn't lag every time a boss fight began. Or even worse, Billy won't be able to play at all because the internet for the whole town went down because of a massive rainstorm, tornado or flooding.
Cloud gaming is a doomed enterprise because it's based on the idea that everyone in the country has access to the best internet and that just isn't true. It never has been true and won't be for a very long time. Even politicians realize this and that's why Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer tried to negotiate an infrastructure bill with Donald Trump late last month that included expanding broadband coverage to rural America. Say what you want about how that whole deal went down in flames, it highlights an extremely important obstacle to cloud gaming that Google, because of their sheltered presence just doesn't understand. I could play Assassin's Creed Odessy any time I want on my cell phone but Billy Bob will be a grandparent by the time the tech comes to his neighborhood and that's just not sustainable.