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A First Look at Google Stadia (Part 2)

This article is a continuation of A First Look at Google Stadia.

The Features

While a vision and technical specifications are essential for a gaming system, they alone do not sell units or subscriptions. In the end, what matters are the features provided to the player and the developer creating games for the enjoyment of the player. The Stadia keynote was lacking some vital information in that department, but it did include some insightful information on features that align with its vision, including Couch Multiplayer, State Share, Crowd Play, and Style Transfer ML.

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A Recap of GDC 2019

Each year, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings with it a host of important announcements and demonstrations and GDC 2019 did not disappoint. This week was packed with news, including Google's Stadia gaming service, partnerships between the console makers, and a demonstration of the basic features of Microsoft's Project xCloud. In this article, we will recap the top news of the week. The following articles covered the day-by-day announcements throughout the week:

Top 3 Stories of the Week

Although there were dozens of important announcements during the week, three stood apart from the rest: Google's announcement of Stadia, Nintendo's partnership with Microsoft, and Microsoft's demonstration of its Project xCloud Software Development Kit (SDK).

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What’s Going on at GDC 2019?: Day 4

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 continues to push out important news by the day. Wednesday night included an awards ceremony, where a familiar face in 2018 gaming took the stage to accept a second major accolade, and Thursday continued the drama of the store war between Valve's Steam and Epic's Epic Game Store. Not to be left out of the loop, Microsoft countered Stadia with its first detailed look at Project xCloud development.

Game Developers Choice Awards

The Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) aired on Wednesday night and venerated some of the top gaming titles of 2018, including God of War, which won GDCA Game of the Year. The Sony title leveraged its captivating storyline to add to its Game of the Year award from the Game Awards in December of 2018 (image from GDCA presentation).

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What’s Going on at GDC 2019?: Day 2

Day 2 at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 was without a doubt dominated by the announcement of Google Stadia, a cloud-based game streaming platform. This service—scheduled for release in 2019—is set to change the landscape of gaming for many years, but it does have some serious unanswered questions and could be less than a dominant force in the gaming market. Not to be lost in the shadows, Tuesday also saw the partnership between Unity and Tencent, bringing the capability of the cloud to the rugged game development engine.

Google: Stadia

Google announced its new cloud-based streaming service, Stadia, during its 1:00 pm ET keynote; although some details are lacking, the technology looks promising. Stadia is a game streaming service built on top of the Google Data Center network, which includes over 7,500 edge nodes and is connected by high-speed fiber-optic links around the globe. While game streaming services have been lackluster in the past, Google appears to have the technology and network backbone to support its attempt at this type of service.

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What You Need Know Before GDC 2019

For more than 30 years, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) has been one of the prominent events for displaying the most innovative video game technology to developers around the world. Each year, more than 28,000 developers gather for one week and learn about the advancements taking place in the video game industry and share the techniques and technologies shaping the future of gaming. This year, GDC will run from Monday, March 18 until Friday, March 22 in San Francisco, CA.

In this series, we will cover the significant updates from GDC 2019 each day of the week and recap the conference after its conclusion on Friday, March 22. Even if video games are not the reader's specialty or not of particular interest, GDC 2019 will likely include many noteworthy announcements and innovations that will ripple far beyond video games. Regardless of background, it is essential to digest the wealth of information and transformative technologies that will emerge from San Francisco next week.