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Stadia may be gone, but the controller for Google’s cloud-based gaming platform is still around. With the service permanently offline, the unique His Stadia controller was in danger of filling up a landfill until Google came up with a plan to transform it into a universal Bluetooth device that works with almost any device. The app to open the controller to other devices is a web service, and previously he was shut down in December 2023. Obviously, that’s not enough time to convert all these controllers, so the Stadia controller salvage operation will run for another year. Year. X (former Twitter) user wario 64 The first thing I discovered was announcementstates that the online tool will continue to run until December 31, 2024.
As a cloud-based gaming service, Stadia ran all game code on remote servers and live-streamed individual video frames to users to display gameplay. The user would press buttons on his controller locally, but each individual button press had to be sent over the internet to a remote game server for processing. These services live and die through latency. To reduce latency, the Stadia controller connected directly to the internet via Wi-Fi instead of connecting to your computer via Bluetooth. after that Go to the internet. Google claimed that one less hop on the local network reduced latency, especially since the service was originally built around power-limited Chromecast dongles.
![Official Stadia controller](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/StadiaController-980x817.png)
Once the service ends, the Wi-Fi only controller will no longer work wirelessly and the only way to use the controller will be plain old USB. However, since the Stadia controller already had a dormant Bluetooth chip, Google devised a way to convert the orphaned controller from Wi-Fi communication to Bluetooth, allowing it to be used as a general-purpose HID (human interface device) on computers and mobile devices. Now you can connect to your phone wirelessly. Normally you’d think you’d have to download some sort of firmware update, but Google being Google, the Stadia controller update process happens entirely on a webpage. Google’s controller update page has a very flashy “webusb” API setup — you can chrome browser, Once you connect your controller and allow your browser to access your device, a web page can access your controller directly and update its firmware without having to install any programs.
While web-based updaters are great, they also mean that it is impossible for third parties to archive updaters for future use. If Google’s website goes down, controller updates will no longer occur. Desktop apps, on the other hand, can be kept forever and redistributed.
Early reports on Stadia sales said the service was underperforming Google’s estimates by “hundreds of thousands” of users, so there’s probably a lot of controllers out there. Even in 2022, It was normal Buying a new Stadia controller labeled with an original manufacturing date of 2019 gave me the impression that these things were just filling warehouses. The update plan is still in place for a year, so it will still take some time for sales to occur and for these controllers to find their rightful home.
In a review of the Stadia service, Kyle Orlando, senior games editor at Ars, said the controller was “one of the highlights of the Stadia launch package,” calling it “solid, balanced weight, comfortable and clicky. “It boasts impressive face buttons and analog features.” Stick, high-quality ergonomically designed his D-pad and shoulder-he trigger, and a powerful and unique rumble his motor. ” So, assuming you can get a device with an MSRP of $70 at a deep discount, it seems like a decent buy. One drawback is that audio features such as the headphone jack and microphone stop working after the Bluetooth update.