Stadia and Arcade: the new online videogame platforms

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The video game industry goes one step further with the online services that Google and Apple will offer

The video game industry has grown exponentially since its first creations. Nowadays, in addition to the significant investment that there is to produce new games for different platforms, E-Sports are becoming a worldwide trend. Therefore, it is not strange that large technology companies have decided to invest in this promising sector.

Leer en español: Stadia y Arcade: las nuevas plataformas de videojuegos en línea

During this and the previous week, Google and Apple announced their innovations in the world of video games: Stadia and Apple Arcade. In LatinAmerican Post we present all that is known so far from these platforms.

Stadia: streaming video games

Google's vision for its new platform Stadia is "A place for all the ways we play" ("One place for all the ways we play"), which summarizes very well what this innovation will consist. Stadia will be a platform that will offer online games, through streaming, so no specific console or processor will be necessary to play. According to its creators, you will only need a connection to wifi, any screen, and control.

Only a connection to wifi? Yes, thanks to the fact that all the processing of the game is done in the offices of Google, it is not necessary to have a console, computer or television of the last generation so that the games work without a problem. Thus, Google said that the platform would work with any screen with an internet connection and, even if the wifi in your home is slow, the games will have a quality of up to 4k. This will be possible because of the 10.7 teraflops GPU that Google will use to process the graphics.

The control of Stadia is a material part that will complement the platform in real life. This new control will innovate mainly in two buttons. The first one is the capture button: with it, you can share your experience in the video game directly on YouTube, so any video or screenshot will be immediately uploaded to your account so you can share it with the world. The second button is the Google assistant button, which will help you to speak directly with the developers and ask for help with anything you need about the game: tips for passing a level, special features, etc.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the Crowd Play mode. In this, you can connect directly with famous players or creators of YouTube and play games with them. All this to bring players closer to the creators. Needless to say either that Stadia will also create specific games for its platform in the future so it will be open to proposals from large and small developers.

Google will be launched this year, although it was not confirmed when specifically.

Apple Arcade: indie video games online

Also read: These are the 4 innovative Apple releases

Apple's platform is much less disruptive, but also offers interesting new proposals. According to the official website of the company, Apple Arcade will be a new section in the App Store that will be entirely devoted to video games, and that will require a monthly subscription to access its library of more than 100 exclusive games. The section will not have ads or need an internet connection to be played, which is a significant advantage since it can be played on all Apple devices (iPhone, Ipad, Macbook).

The feature that we find most interesting is that the games that will be included in its platform are not the most mainstream, but that Apple was open to proposals of a more alternative nature, with more innovative formats and different narratives. For example, the game Where Cards Falls is a coming of age that tells the story of adolescents in full growth; No action or guns, be able to enjoy a story of growth. It is also Lifelike, a game to calm players through swarming movements of the characters. Ultimately, Apple Arcade was presented as an incubator of games that want to experiment and break the limits of what is considered a video game.

Apple Arcade will be released in the fall of this year.

LatinAmeican Post | Juan Gabriel Bocanegra

Translated from "Stadia y Arcade: las nuevas plataformas de videojuegos en línea"