I remember seeing post here after stadia was over and everyone had gotten their money back, and thinking just let it die, let me forget.

Now here I am doing the same.

The truth is I almost wish stadia had never been. Stadia was this beautiful thing that many of us didn't even know we were missing from video games. Especially as we all get older and have less and less time for video games in our lives. Where many of us had to resort to micro transaction riddled casinos disguised as mobile games, Stadia allowed us to play AAA games almost anywhere and everywhere. We could play RPGs again by nibbling away at the story a little here and there. I remember the first time I played Read Dead Redemption 2 on my shitty work computer (on my lunch break of course).

My switch can't do that. Even a steam deck couldn't match that, because it was a physical device that cost HUNDREDS of dollars that I would have had to take with me to work every day. I played stadia everywhere. I played at my friend's house, at my families house, at work, at home, and even on my commute.

And I know there are some alternatives that are getting better every day and I'm grateful for that. -but let's be real, they're not the same. No one could have pulled off Stadia the way that Google did, other than Google. And now I'm constantly reminded of what was and what could have been. Now that I had a taste of this beautiful experience, my life feels just a little emptier without it. Maybe I'm being over dramatic, but I think a lot of us feel it. When we come home from work, when we find that controller that we no longer use. Just a little emptiness in the back of our minds. Like finding an old picture of your first love.

Thanks Google, and thank you all who worked on Stadia, for the beautiful experience I didn't know I was missing.