... And just to add to this, if we look at the available games on Stadia today:

https://stadia.google.com/games [External Link]

Scroll down to the store titles. Do anyone honestly believe that all those titles are really fully ported to Linux? Seriously? Look at that list.

Maybe a custom library or three are added just to add an API to the controllers or something, maybe, but honestly: It simply doesn't add up for me. There has to be a layer of some sort, with the vast majority of the code running being the original windows binaries.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ObsidianBlkHonestly, if you feel so adamant that there are games running on a runtime translation layer (Proton/Wine) on Stadia, look one up! Email the question to Google/Stadia directly or even a few of the developers who've ported their games to Stadia. If the feels are there for you that we don't know that there aren't any games on Stadia running through Proton (etc)... find one and sooth those feelings.

I'm not adamant, I just seek to separate facts from assumptions (as we all should, really!).
Like I say, I struggle to see the logic in it. But of course, that is nothing but an assumption on my behalf too, based on my limited insights.

So I simply ask, do we know this? Or do we assume this based on the little we do know? That's what I try to get to the bottom of here. Not to discredit anyone, but too often assumptions gets repeated and establish themselves as "truths" without anyone actually knowing.

But if none of us here actually knows this (and even have a link to support it!), then yeah it's a good idea to send an email to someone inside and ask, absolutely!

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Liam Dawe

Quoting: BeamboomThat begs the question, why?

Due to it being streaming, it's super sensitive to anything especially anything that might cause a bit more input lag.

Not to be a nitpicker but just to be totally clear: Do we know this, as in that it is confirmed, or is this an assumption/possible explanation?

I mean, it's great if it's true, don't get me wrong, I just find it a bit hard to understand. The additional input lag on server side, with the powers to handle that additional overhead, should by my logic be barely possible to even measure?

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: GuestThe info came from Google themselves.

... The info that ALL games running on the Stadia service have to be native Linux builds? No wine/proton or equivalent layers in cases where no native build is available?

That begs the question, why?

I mean, sure, some devs are building native builds for Stadia. I know. And cool of them. But is that like a requirement, an absolute rule to be included in the Stadia library? Because technically I don't see why it should be like that at all! Sounds to me like an utterly artificial and quite illogical limitation.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: BeamboomI see so many talk about Stadia this and Stadia that, like running on the Stadia servers requires a Linux build.

It does. Stadia instances are running Debian with AMD graphics. They aren't running Windows.

You didn't read my post correctly. I know it runs Linux, my point is that this fact do do NOT automatically mean that every game that runs on it is a Linux BUILD. Just like you and I run a lot of Windows games on our Linux rigs.

Even if a game is on Stadia, it does not logically mean there has to be a Linux build of it. Not when Proton is as good as it is and they are running on massive data centers that presumably can handle the little extra overhead required for Proton/Wine.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I see so many talk about Stadia this and Stadia that, like running on the Stadia servers requires a Linux build.

Where did that idea originate from? The way I see it it's exceptionally logical, to he borders of being guaranteed, that Stadia are running the games using a transitional layer, very likely Proton or a derivative therefrom? I mean, with "unlimited" processing powers of a data center there's next to no argument to NOT do do...?

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: wvstolzingAbsolutely; & with a bit of tinkering, even the latency is tolerable for things like video chat.

I have zero issues with latency on pulseaudio for all normal uses including gaming, conference calls and netflix. And obviously it's not notable on music playback.
The sole reason I use Jack for is music production, where one wants a very low latency. But in all other settings I don't even notice there *are* any latency at all. To be honest I think one has to be extremely fixated on detecting latency in order to be bothered with it.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I played around with Pulseaudio some years ago, and that system actually is really sweet, so much more than just a layer for local playback. I'd say it's primarily designed for networked playback, you can route any source to any playback destination (or destinationS in plural) and have the livingroom stereo play from your basement PC etc. Or all the speakers in the house playing the same, for that matter. :) It's a cool solution!

Probably very old news for some, but I was amazed at the features when I discovered them. :)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Lofty

Quoting: F.UltraBut those where sold to enthusiasts and they reinstall their Windows on a daily basis, the Steam Deck if successful will be sold to the masses and they will never ever try to install anything.

But those are the type of people who give up on the device if things don't work and it ends up dusty in a cupboard somewhere.

I'm pretty sure Valve is very aware of this. So a kind of filtering for this device where only the tinker-free installations will be approved, sounds to me to be very likely.

It may even be that they expand their API so that Steam Play will append the startup parameters required upon the installation to make it "just work".

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: kuhpunktSteam Machines failed because

a) There weren't many games. That has changed massively. The games available already top every console out there. The selection is huge.

b) There was hardly any incentive to buy one, because people usually already have a PC. Why would you buy a prebuilt system, when you already have one? - Steam Decks are different, as you can't build them yourself and people don't already have mobile PCs.

I would also add a third:

c) Steam box was not a product, it was a concept. A concept that anyone out there could build a version of.

This time it's an actual physical product, manufactured by Valve, with a concrete set of specifications.

Those three points makes this console wildly different from the first.

View this comment - View article - View full comments