Google is thinking about getting into gaming, big time

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Ravishing

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Because it draws the trash talkers in, it draws the sports analogies in. Back in the BBS days, if I got told that "You got pwned n00b!" I would ask the person when they typically play multidoor game, so that I would know when NOT to be on. I didn't care how much better than me they were.

It's just no fun playing with someone as hyper-competitive as that.

And that's what e-Sports brings to the table. *announcer voice* "Bring your A game, 'cause here we go! We're gonna have a match up between two teams, the Eat My Ass team and the Suck My Dick competitors."

Rly? Srsly?

In other words, the game in gaming has been lost to a meta that no place in the gaming world.
But this just isnt true. You're focusing on only a small portion of games that are designed to be competitive. There are tons of games that don't aim to be competitive at all. God of War was probably the next biggest game behind FN for 2017 right?
You can play MMOs which are not esport at all but still allow you to play with others.
Or Minecraft, My Little Pony, Solitaire, etc etc.

Tons of non-esport titles to choose from
 

Ambiturner

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But this just isnt true. You're focusing on only a small portion of games that are designed to be competitive. There are tons of games that don't aim to be competitive at all. God of War was probably the next biggest game behind FN for 2017 right?
You can play MMOs which are not esport at all but still allow you to play with others.
Or Minecraft, My Little Pony, Solitaire, etc etc.

Tons of non-esport titles to choose from

God of War came out like 2 months ago.

Don't know or care about esports in any way, just not sure the longevity that something has when the "sport" changes every couple years as newer games/genres come out.
 
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Ravishing

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God of War came out like 2 months ago.

Don't know or care about esports in any way, just not sure the longevity that something has when the "sport" changes every couple years as newer games/genres come out.
Oh whoops, 2018 then . I keep thinking it's still early in the year... almost July already wtf.

Thing with esports that is hard to grasp at first unless you start watching is that it's not going to be 1game.

It's an esport scene with many games in the mix. Right now it's mainly LoL, Dota, overwatch, Fortnite, hearthstone, csgo, and some others...

And viewers... gamers... probably have had some experience with some/all and are willing to watch multiple games.

That said, the scene doesn't change as quickly as you think, the main change is games adding to the watch list, few have fallen off (starcraft)
 

Synj

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Apparently shit is way further along than they're letting on.

Spoilered for size:
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Alex

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I pay $7.99/month for Google Music and YouTube Red bundled together. It's a great deal. Whenever I see other people watch YouTube and I see the endless ads I enrage a bit. How do people deal with that shit?
 
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Hekotat

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I pay $7.99/month for Google Music and YouTube Red bundled together. It's a great deal. Whenever I see other people watch YouTube and I see the endless ads I enrage a bit. How do people deal with that shit?

I stopped giving them money after they started doing douchey things.
 
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Folanlron

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I pay $7.99/month for Google Music and YouTube Red bundled together. It's a great deal. Whenever I see other people watch YouTube and I see the endless ads I enrage a bit. How do people deal with that shit?


Pi-hole®: A black hole for Internet advertisements fuck YT annoying the fuck out of me with there garbage ads, probably the best part of doing this for me is that now I don't even come close too hiting datacaps(long as work doesn't have me re-up the repo's all the time) ... ad's are fucking bandwidth hogs..
 
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Caeden

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This reeks of the 1000 other amazing ideas google had but abandoned. Amazing if, as others said, it’s cloud gaming fully realized and ends the platform division.

That said, others already pointed out that google has extreme bias. They already wield that oppressive dick via search and YouTube. You can be damn sure they’ll “inform” consumers the “best” gaming content for them to consume.

Also, am I the only person that hates watching twitch or esports? Nothing turns me off faster than “watch someone play this video game.” I watch physical (I almost said real) sports all the time. And I’m a semi-competitive gamer amongst my friends. I just think it sucks to watch. *watched every NBA playoff game* (aka: I’m probably a hypocrite!)
 
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Zapatta

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+1 for Google never finishes 90% of the mega ideas they start. I tend to think they make these announcements to abuse their clout and make a little cash for execs hedging against competing companies stocks that dip that day.
 

Hateyou

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+1 for Google never finishes 90% of the mega ideas they start. I tend to think they make these announcements to abuse their clout and make a little cash for execs hedging against competing companies stocks that dip that day.

Agree. I mostly see these announcements from these douche bags as just milking investors for more money.
 

Phazael

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I am sure google will do for gaming what they did for the first amendment.
 
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Utnayan

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Don't give a shit about my gaming data being sold to China, I just dont trust Google enough to put out non-SJW ME: Andromeda garbage

Was about to post this and you beat me to it.
 
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moonarchia

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https://kotaku.com/sources-google-is-planning-a-game-platform-that-could-1827217387
We haven’t heard many specifics about Google’s video game plans, but what we have heard is that it’s a three-pronged approach: 1) Some sort of streaming platform, 2) some sort of hardware, and 3) an attempt to bring game developers under the Google umbrella, whether through aggressive recruiting or even major acquisitions. That’s the word from five people who have either been briefed on Google’s plans or heard about them secondhand.

So what is this streaming platform, exactly? Like Nvidia’s GeForce Now, the Google service would offload the work of rendering graphics to beefy computers elsewhere, allowing even the cheapest PCs to play high-end games.

Amazon has been trying on and off for a few years now, even recruiting Smed (EverQuest CEO) last year, and of course amazon owns twitch. Apple is poking its feet into the space as well.

If Google is just going for the streaming route I don't have much interest, but if they try to jump in with powerful hardware as a way to wriggle their way into people's houses it could be interesting.

Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, etc tend to abandon stuff very easily so I'm not sure I really want to trust any of these guys and I think a streaming, always-connected type of gaming world is still a decade or two from being a good reality.

These big companies - Google, Microsoft, Apple - are sitting on over $500 billion dollars in cash so it could be an exciting time if they decide to buy marketshare with money.

This has all happened before.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer - Wikipedia
 

Shmoopy

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Also, am I the only person that hates watching twitch or esports? Nothing turns me off faster than “watch someone play this video game.”

I don't understand the appeal either. I'll watch the final round of something like the SC2 or HOTS World Championship, maybe.

But forget watching some random dude or chick with boobs out on the internet play a game. Zero interest ever.
 
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Malakriss

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Esports are about watching people play the game you are interested in at a level you could never achieve, so they are the online versions of professional athletes. But if you don't like baseball you aren't going to watch it until the playoffs or the world series, same deal with esports.

Twitch I personally watch for two things: 1) new games on systems I don't own but still want to see (Octopath Traveler for the Switch being the next big one) and 2) speedrunning community which includes randomizers (A Link to the Past races being the hot topic lately).