11 votes

Google’s Stadia problem? A video game unit that’s not Googley enough

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4 comments

  1. [3]
    RapidEyeMovement
    (edited )
    Link
    Man that last sentence is brutal. But I don't know if that list is something Google is ever going to be able to live down. I don't see myself investing my time in learning any Google product again...

    While Stadia didn’t seem to follow the traditional Google playbook, without some drastic changes it could still face a pretty Googley outcome: being added to the long list of products that Google has killed.

    Man that last sentence is brutal. But I don't know if that list is something Google is ever going to be able to live down. I don't see myself investing my time in learning any Google product again because of that list

    7 votes
    1. ChuckS
      Link Parent
      Wow I looked at that list and... Nest Secure is in it? Like, the Google Nest security alarm. If they're going to discontinue the security alarm then why on Earth would I want to invest in anything...

      Wow I looked at that list and... Nest Secure is in it? Like, the Google Nest security alarm.

      If they're going to discontinue the security alarm then why on Earth would I want to invest in anything else in the Nest ecosystem? Also Works with Nest API: "Works with Nest was an API that allowed external services to access and control Nest devices. This enabled the devices to be used with third-party home automation platforms and devices."

      So yeah then definitely no Nest anything for me, which kind of sucks because it's been in the back of my mind for a while now to look up some home automation stuffs.

      I think it's 225 items on that list, which is WAY more than I thought there would be.

      7 votes
    2. Wes
      Link Parent
      I thought the rest of the article was good, but I actually rolled my eyes at the ending. That comment feels pretty played out to me now. If you look through the "Killed by Google" lists, there's a...

      I thought the rest of the article was good, but I actually rolled my eyes at the ending. That comment feels pretty played out to me now.

      If you look through the "Killed by Google" lists, there's a few big items that are accurate (Reader, GPM, Cloud Print?), and then a ton of tiny projects that nobody has heard of, or products that were transitioned into something else. Grand Central was turned into Google Voice. BumpTop was an acquihire. Send to Phone? That's a native feature in most platforms now.

      It would be like if I made a list of Microsoft abandoned project but included every single game and utility they've changed since Windows 95. Everything from Microsoft Bob to Purble Place - there'd be hundreds.

      The thing is, Google does suck at long-term support. Just for reasons completely separate than what these lists imply. Killing a product isn't necessarily a bad thing if they have a migration plan in place. The problem is when they don't. They've poorly handled migrations of chat clients, their music streaming service, and even developer-focused tools like AngularJS. People have to scramble when Google changes direction, and that's where the fear from depending on them comes in.

      I think their approach of throwing code at the wall and seeing what sticks used to work well for them, and it became a part of their identity. The problem is that it doesn't scale. They want to try these wild ideas but they're too big. If they enter a new industry, people take notice. If they decide it isn't working, or they want to focus elsewhere, people notice that too.

      The moonshot ideas and "go for it" attitude that started so many cool early projects at Google is getting them into trouble now. I think they need to buck up, dedicate some engineers to long-term maintenance, and start clearly indicating when they're serious about a project (Stadia?), and when they're just playing in the sand.

      7 votes
  2. Deimos
    Link
    Another good Stadia article today, specifically about the shutdown of their internal development studios: How Google's Grand Plan to Make Its Own Games Fell Apart

    Another good Stadia article today, specifically about the shutdown of their internal development studios: How Google's Grand Plan to Make Its Own Games Fell Apart

    7 votes