"A very expensive gaming computer"

You already have a laptop/PC. A lot of gaming can be done with iGPUs so the cost for you would be zero.

If you really want to play big titles, then you are looking at a delta of 300$ (the price of a good GPU) for 5 years, which amounts to 5$ a month.

I don’t see why anybody who has already a computer would pay more money to vendor lock-in themselves into an online-only service, one-store-only, no-mods-allowed, Internet-quality-dependent service.

I can see the appeal for people that wasn’t into computers before that, though. But still, if I were in that case, I would choose a non-locked-in platform at all costs.

Where would that GPU go? My laptop doesn’t have a place for it, and doesn’t have the connections for an eGPU. A $300 delta would only be true if I had a desktop.

I use Paperspace + Parsec for a regular Windows cloud desktop so I’m not locked into anything and pay just a few dollars per month for my gaming.

Next to the laptop, believe it or not.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544

eGPUs are supported by any Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac1 running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later

The key is to realise that modern cables coming out of laptops are basically extensions of the PCIe bus. The bandwidth through them is phenomenal. It's entirely feasible to run an external GPU.

However, you don't really need one. I am a casual gamer who uses my laptop (got an Xbox too though), and even with the embedded GPU strategy/city building/etc type games work fine and look great. The Mac isn't a good platform if you're a capital-G "Gamer" but if you just want some entertainment on long flights and the like it works just fine. Go grab Steam and off you go. I don't think I'll be using Stadia any time soon as a consequence.

God it's so frustrating to see posts like yours.

https://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.asp...

Thunderbolt 3 based eGPU-s work very well on Windows-based machines, too.

I really dug Paperspace + Parsec when I was using it. Their support is also top-tier; very impressive.

I ended up having too many glitches and lost connections and eventually moved to Shadow.tech and been thrilled with their service (though it's more than a few $'s a month).

I think you are side-stepping OP's point in your response. The primary cost of a desktop is the GPU, everything else is pennies.

I don't know, my new system costed me substantially more than the cost of the GPU. Those high-end CPUs aren't cheap.

Nitpick: An RX 570 is like $150, and can do VR acceptably. A $500 build from 5 years ago can still play modern games. A super powerful laptop that most developers insist on having should also game just fine

I’m in a similar boat. Parsec seems to be the right solution:

https://blog.parsecgaming.com/a-seamless-cloud-gaming-experi...

You run a windows vm with a beefy gpu in the cloud, so anything that can run in windows is supported.

I’m definitely rooting for them. I don’t want to introduce a middleman that decides what games can and cannot be distributed.

Also, if parsec or paperspace or microsoft or steam go sideways, it’s easy enough for the industry to bypass them. That won’t be the case if one or two cloud vendors have monopolies over gaming hardware.

Test before you commit. I just grabbed a 3 month free nvidia geforce now subscription which is same/similar in nature and within the first 30 minutes I knew it was a no-go. I've got Google Fiber Gigabit, and even with that the service was laggy and the fidelity was garbage. Thought it'd be a good way to stop plunking down $1000 on the latest Ti cards every 2-3 years, but alas I was completely unimpressed.

Nvidia doesn’t have the same global network that Google has built so Stadia may have different results for you. I have Fios fiber and my issues with Stadia are not performance related, it’s about the lack of content variety at this point.

Yeah the reason I tested Nvidia instead of Stadia is because Nvidia lets you just use the games you already bought on steam. But you may have a point on performance. Not sure given the trade-offs in ownership that it represents a win either though. Maybe someone will get it right eventually, but for now I'll just stick with a local gaming rig. As hobbies go, even with my overbuilt and often refreshed setup, given the low cost of the games themselves and the number of hours I typically get out of each title I find interesting my dollar cost per hour of entertainment is still quite low compared to other hobbies. shrug

I feel like there's a few more cost effective options than getting a $1000 card every few years lol.

Geforce now probably isn't it, but titans are overkill (unless you're also using them for work.)

Titan != Ti. RTX 2080Ti is ~$1200 vs $2500 for the Titan RTX. One is aimed at gamers with too much money the other is geared towards serious professionals with too much money.

I swear that said titans before. Or I'm losing it. (Probably the second)

Either way there are certainly options other than nvidia's most expensive consumer end card.

No worries I got you point I was just being a bit nitpicky. It's true there are cheaper cards but I do like maxing out those settings. To me the main potential draw of a service like stadia or geforce now would be max current possible graphics without max graphics card purchase. Based on what is actually being delivered I am very likely not the target audience. Perhaps it's geared more for people who are deciding between a $400-$500 console or mid-range graphics card outlay or a $5/mo service.

I have both gigabit internet and stadia pro and even still you get stutters and buffering problems. after spending a few hundred on games I canceled the service and simultaneously realized the money spent on games is lost.

NVIDIA geforce now is available for free to play for one hour and is only 5 dollars if you want to play more it can stream your steam library games