The gaming industry is booming. In fact, video games are now so popular that globally the market was worth around $135 billion (£102 billion) in 2018. Google is well aware of this and wants a piece of the action.
In fact, Google already has a piece of the action - it has YouTube which is incredibly successfull as a place for gamers to show of their skills, as well as somwhere to watch guides, walk throughs, reviews and so on. Google also has the Android gaming platform, with plenty of games being downloaded from the Play Store each day. Sounds like a good business model already doesn't it? Google however clearly wants an even bigger share in this multi-billion dollar industry, as just last week it has announced a new gaming platform - Google Stadia.
Google Stadia is Google's brand new gaming platform, that they're hoping will compete with rivals such as Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox, and even the PC gaming market. It differs from a traditional gaming console in that while the control pad looks pretty "normal", you do not need to purchase an expensive console to play the latest games. In fact, Stadia will work with many existing desktop computers and laptops, TVs, phones and even certain models of the company's popular Chromecast streaming device. This is all possible because the games do not run in your own home or on your own device as they would traditionally, but elsewhere, on Google's own high end hardware that it will update regularly. The picture you see on your TV or other device is nothing more than a video stream of the game.
With its new platform, Google is hoping to lean on its success with YouTube that it already has among the gaming community, and during a demonstration at its announcement, the firm demonstrated how a gamer could be watching a video on YouTube before pressing a "play on Stadia" button with the title launching and becoming playable in just a few seconds.
"Hundreds of millions of people watch gaming content on YouTube every single day. Our vision is to bring those worlds closer together," said Phil Harrison, Google's new head of gaming.
While in theory Google Stadia sounds fantasic and potentially something that could mark a shift away from tradtional home consoles and PCs, this type of technology isn't without its critics, and there are still a lot of unknowns about Google's service, such as the price and available games.
Gamers and industry experts are excited to try the new platform but are urging caution when it comes to this type of technology, as similar attempts in the past have been hampered by "lag" - the game's time delay between controller input and action on the screen. This is particularly important in popular online games such as first person shooters, where even a small increase in lag can make the game very difficult to play. Google is keen to point out that it has clever algorithms and compression in place that will enable Stadia to run even on internet connections that aren't the fastest available, but in truth we'll probably know more about how well this will work once the platform has launched later this year.
There's also the issue of price and the games that will be available on the service. In terms of price, we still have no idea how much this is going to cost or even how the service will work. Will Google pitch a sort of "Netflix for games", where you'll need a monthly subscription in order to access content, or will you still need to purchase games separately? We'll have to wait and see and of course this could make a massive difference to the popularity of the service.
What do Viewsbank members think of Google Stadia?
In last week's Omnibus survey, we put a series of questions to our members relating to their gaming habits and Google Stadia in general. Of 1,047 people who took the survey 66% of those members currently play some form of video games, with 75% of those members who do playing for 2 hours or more, so just the type of people Google are going to be targeting with their new platform.
Rather surprisingly just 17% of gamers surveyed said they would either "probably" or "definitely" be interested in Stadia. However, rather more telling is that a further 49% of gamers have indicated that they are "maybe" interested in the new platform, showing that while Google clearly has something that has caught their attention, they're going to have pull out all the stops to convince them it's worth parting with their hard earned cash for. Of course, pricing could be a big determining factor, and a lot of the "maybe" people could be swayed either way once that is announced further down the line.
"If they have solved the latency problem it will be much simpler to access as all processing is done in the cloud and all that is needed is a controller and internet enabled tv."
"The games would be available to play instantly with no downloads."
"What Google is trying to do is amazing, they want people to connect and interact more, this feature to the new gaming system is what get me excited for it's release. Just being able to stream and have people watching you join your game is incredible to me."
"I prefer to play games that have been installed locally and are without the need of an internet connection to play them."
"I prefer playing games on my own computer where streaming latency isn't an issue."
"Because it's just a way to keep the money flowing and for them to spy on you even more than they already do and make more money from you. I like to pay for a product - say a console or a game, that is mine to keep, not keep on paying over and over and over again!"
What do you think of Google's new Stadia platform? Let us know in the comments below.
It’s a Friday afternoon in the office and my brain has begun to wander to the joys of the weekend and what is has in store. Like many people, I enjoy listening to music to ‘get me in the mood’ for the weekend and what better way to kick off your Friday evening than going back to the 70’s, putting on my imaginary flares and cranking up some Sister Sledge.
Not wanting anyone else to miss out on the fun I was having, I decided to share a few songs/playlists with colleagues. It was at this point I was left speechless, when people didn’t start to share in the joy.
Unbeknown to me, it turns out that not everyone loves Disco music and I may be (a little) annoying… However, not one to go down without a fight I stood up for my musical tastes, exclaiming that my colleagues were still a part of the minority.
The power of ViewsBank meant that we had the perfect tool to settle this argument and to not spend all afternoon going back and forth with a team of stubborn people!
However, should there be less than 50% of people agreeing with me, I would lose. Tail between my flares, fake afro removed and never to mention the topic again.
Whilst this may have felt like a defeat, the spirt of disco will go on. A special mention to ‘JenX’ - “Disco music always cheers me up and gets me motivated to do something useful” and her motivational disco. To ‘Mazbev’, who appreciates how Disco can make a bad evening a great evening “… now I’m singing and dancing on this freezing cold, Friday evening”. Lastly, to a new role model of mine, ‘Hoopy1888’ “Sitting in Gold disco pants as I write”.
As you're probably aware, it's that time of year again, so we thought it would be nice to ask our members some obviously very important festive questions like what everyone's having for Christmas dinner, or about their preference for real or artificial Christmas trees... Like I said, really important stuff! Anyway, the results are in below. Any surprises? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Finally, the team at Viewsbank would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Black Friday: what do our members think of it?
It’s that time of year again – our inboxes are filling up with emails seemingly offering us huge discounts on everything from electronics to fashion and more. In fact, while Black Friday this year is technically on this coming Friday 23rd December, it seems like this year’s event could be the biggest one yet in the UK, with Black Friday actually feeling more like “Black Friday Week”, with shoppers being given even more chances to “grab a bargain”. Interestingly, it would seem that Black Friday may be at least partly responsible for driving a trend that’s seeing November become more and more popular for Christmas shopping in the UK. According to the BBC, November sales grew at a faster rate than December sales in 2017 for the first time.
Wait – what’s Black Friday?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, it’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Black Friday by this point in time. In an admin poll we ran earlier this month, just 2.2% of you claimed to have never heard of it, but just in case those members are reading this, Black Friday is a tradition that originated in the US, as a heavily discounted shopping day to kick off Christmas shopping. Black Friday is always on the Friday after the American holiday of Thanksgiving, and is also followed by Cyber Monday with substantial online discounts. However, it’s not quite so clear cut these days, with many retailers merging both events into one, and even running sales events over a week or more to ease the pressure on shoppers, staff and delivery services.
If you’re interested in grabbing a bargain, it certainly sounds like a tempting time to shop. However, along with the discounts, there’s also quite a bit of negativity surrounding Black Friday in the UK too, with many labelling it as “just another tacky US import”. Furthermore, it would seem that the media aren’t doing a huge amount to improve its image, with tabloids loving nothing more than a chance to share some shaky mobile phone footage of a brawl in Asda over £99 HD TVs. I’m sure we can all agree that such behaviour is far from ideal, but thankfully it doesn’t offer a fair representation of the majority of shoppers this November.
So what do our members think?
In an admin poll that we ran a few weeks ago, we asked our members simply “Are you looking forward to Black Friday this year?”. Over 1,800 of you voted in the poll, and the results proved to be a lot closer than many of us thought. Almost 48% of you were in someway looking forward to Black Friday, whether you “love finding a bargain” in general at 32.7%, or you were looking forward to it but “only online to avoid the crowds” at 15.1%.
On the flipside we found that just over 41% of you were not looking forward to it with 30% simply saying that they were not interested and 11.2% feeling more strongly that they “can’t stand it”. We also found that 8.8% of you were sitting on the fence with “not sure” while the remaining 2.2% were unaware of what Black Friday is. See below for our full results accurate at the time of writing.
What do you think about Black Friday? Let us know in the comments!
It’s not hard to think back even a few years and remember the staggering pace of innovation in the world of smartphones. Year after year we were treated to a whole host of new features – cameras on phones quickly improved from just a bit of fun, to devices that allow even complete novices to take seriously good photos. We also saw the rise of apps and the app store, waterproofing, fast charging and fingerprint scanning to name but a few of the innovations we’ve seen over the last decade.
Unsurprisingly, impressive innovations such as the above have helped to drive an unbelievable amount of sales within the industry, but if you look at data over the last year or two, quite a few of the big manufacturers are reporting growth that has slowed significantly or even sales growth that has stalled altogether. In my eyes it’s not hard to see why.
Take a look Apple and Samsung for example – two of the biggest smartphone brands in the world. Apple has just released a trio of new phones – the XS, XS Max and XR, while Samsung this year has released the S9 and S9+, along with the recent Galaxy Note 9. The problem for both of these companies is that they’re struggling to give consumers a really compelling reason to upgrade.
For example, say you’ve already bought last year’s (well received) iPhone X, and assuming you’re not stuck in a two or even three year contract that you don’t fancy paying off, what reason has Apple given you to fork out £999 (and up) for this year’s latest and greatest? Well, let’s see – the processor is slightly better, the camera is slightly better, and the water resistance is slightly better. The key word here in case you haven’t noticed already is “slightly”. The thing is, all of these things were still brilliant on last year’s iPhone X – when it comes to processing power for example, all but the most demanding users are unlikely to push even last year’s model anywhere near its limits.
The same is true for Samsung, who this year reported slower than expected sales for the Galaxy S9 and I can’t say I’m surprised. Sure, the S9 is beautifully constructed device, but put it side by side with last year’s S8 and to be honest, it would take a real tech enthusiast to spot the difference. Sure it was an “S” year for Apple, and Samsung were improving on an already very good phone – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and all that – but surely you can see my point, why would consumers continue to fork out obscene amounts of cash each year for incremental upgrades?
This all leads to one big question – is smartphone innovation dead? The latest trends are driving all manufacturers to deliver devices that are thinner than ever, with bezels that are ever shrinking, but is this what consumers really want, or is it simply what the smartphone industry thinks we all want? Where for example is the promised revolution in battery life? Yes, it has been improving a little bit in the last couple of generations, but where are the giant leaps (week long battery life anyone?) that it feels like we’ve been promised are coming. Battery life continues to be one of the most complained about smartphone problems, so surely some innovations here – or even just much larger batteries – would be more welcome by most consumers rather than smaller bezels?
Samsung have also reportedly been working on folding phones for some time now – think of a smartphone that you could open into a larger tablet style screen when needed – but we’re still yet to see the fruits of their labour. Maybe innovations such as this could be the next big thing we’re all looking for, and until then we’ll have to put up with all these incremental updates that only really appease those who absolutely must have the latest and greatest.
Have hipsters killed the humble coffee shop?
It seems that these days you can’t walk down your local high street without seeing that yet another new coffee shop has sprung up. Indeed, Britain’s traditional high streets are changing forever, with once familiar names making way for a seemingly ever-increasing number of coffee shops, bookies and charity shops.
Not so long ago, it felt like we all knew where we stood when it came to coffee shops – you had your established chains like Starbucks and Costa, you had your local high street cafes and you those “in store” style coffee shops. Sure, we all moaned a little at how much a latte cost from time to time, and perhaps we occasionally looked bemused at the fact our small coffee was actually known as a “tall” coffee, but at the end of the day though, a coffee was still a coffee and the sun still came up each morning.
Fast forward to today, and it’s a whole new world out there – the Hipster Café appears to be the new norm. No longer content are we with our £1.29 McDonald’s coffee, we now demand that our wonderfully bearded Barristers serve us only the finest freshly ground coffee that has already been pre-digested by cat. All joking aside though (and that cat poop coffee does really exist by the way), no one can argue that we are far more spoilt for choice when it comes to our hot beverages than we were a few years ago.
When the first of these Hipster inspired coffee shops started appearing, I’d almost go as far as saying that they were refreshingly different with their artisan ways, but I think the real question here is – have they over done it?
The problem for this new breed of coffee shops now is that are just so many of them – all claiming to serve some of the finest coffee available. Artisan coffee shops used to have a quirky charm about them and I totally get the appeal, but unfortunately having that quirky charm – think reclaimed wooden tables and Edison bulbs hanging overhead - is no longer good enough to help them stand out from the crowd. This sort of “authentic” venue now seems to be the new norm, with not just coffee shops but also bars, restaurants, shared office spaces and fashion boutiques all jumping on the bandwagon.
In order to help their patrons gain the reassuring approval of their culturally savvy Instagram friends, hipster coffee shops are having to become more and more inventive with their offerings. The current trend for deconstructed food and drink seems fairly popular for example, with customers paying more than average for a fairly small amount of food and/or drink that hasn’t quite been assembled fully – effectively meaning that you need to finish making it yourself. I don’t know about you, but when I go out for something to eat or drink, I’d rather my purchase was fully prepared and ready to eat or drink. If I had to assemble my own breakfast for example, then personally it’d be easier - and not to mention significantly cheaper - to stay at home for a bowl of Coco Pops and some toast.
I feel like McDonald’s hit the nail on the hit with their recent TV ad – depicting various people attempting to buy coffee at a selection of artisan or hipster style coffee shops, only to be faced with high prices, bewildering choices and bizarre presentation. The ad aims to remind us that if we want to keep things simple, we can still pop down to our local McDonald’s for a simple yet reasonably decent cup of coffee at a sensible price – no fuss.
While McDonald’s may not be your – excuse the pun – cup of tea when it comes to hot drinks, I don’t think that’s even the point. The point is that we need to remind ourselves that traditional coffee shops still have a place in our society, and sometimes you just want “normal”. For me, while I can appreciate the appeal of visiting somewhere new and (maybe) different, I really hope that this current trend for all things hipster doesn’t kill off the humble coffee shop – that would be real shame.
What do you think? Are hipster coffee shops killing off traditional coffee shops? Let us know your thoughts in the comments – we look forward to reading them!
Nowadays there is little to no reason to leave your house at all. There are discords instead of discos, ASOS has made House of Fraser seem like a hassle and libraries can be stored on a couple kindles. Whilst I’m sure you’ve all read a thousand articles about how technology is basically rendering human life useless, this week’s blog is dedicated to the trend in technology which gives people less motivation to ever leave the house.
I’m sure most people remember forcing themselves out the house with your friends to go and meet new people. This could be school discos, bars when you’re a bit older or even as far as going to events that you know will be filled with like-minded individuals (Comic Con etc). The trend now has changed a little bit, if you want to meet people who you share interests with you simply share your discord link online and people who are interested can join and chat. Just like that, the need to go out and socialise to expand your social circle is eradicated. Discord is a service similar to skype that is used mostly by gamers just to chat and hangout. The only difference is because Skype is directly linked to your phone if you don’t want anyone and everyone sending messages straight to you, you might want something a bit more temporary. With Discord you can kick people off and the link is only usable whilst you’re online and as soon as you log off it ends. They now have 45 million users, connecting people from all over the world and wildly surpassing any expectations the company had for itself. I think one of the reasons for its popularity is the fact that when the internet and such a large online community is readily available if you have social anxiety then you no longer have to worry about making friends. If you don’t like who you’re talking to or feel uncomfortable you can literally log off and disappear, ideal for someone who struggles when it comes to talking face to face.
The next and probably most obvious way in which technology keeps us in the house is how online shopping has taken a lot of wind out the sails of most retailers. Why go through the hassle of going to the shops when you can search for exactly what you want and find the best price for it in minutes online. This time last year there was a consumer slump that hit most retailers, apart from companies like ASOS who announced a 27% increase in profits. Whilst House of Fraser are having to close down 31 stores up and down the country, ASOS have just invested 40 million USD into the American market.
With lots of jobs nowadays allowing you to work from home and virtual reality able to take you on rollercoasters in your living room, you can literally have everything you need from the comfort of your own home. I wouldn’t say this actively encourages us to stay within the comfort of our own home, but it certainly enables the side to us that doesn’t want to have to deal with leaving the house.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments down below!
What news sources can be trusted?
I’m sure everyone has heard the phrase “fake news” once or twice this year. Everywhere you go people seem to be constantly sceptical of any hidden agendas that may be lurking in-between the lines of every news report given, so this week’s blog is dedicated to trying to find a news source which has actually proven itself to be unbiased, or at least somewhat reliable.
The first to bring up is the nationally renowned newspaper, “The Times”. According to a recent survey by Oxford University which comprised of 74,000 people internationally (2,117 from the UK), found that The Times scored a trust rating of 6.35 out of ten, beating all other competition. Social media sources generally scored less than three which is something to put it into perspective. That having been said, when I tried to triple check the legitimacy of calling The Times an unbiased news source, I had to check other news sources which seemed to defeat the exercise as they all said different things.
The BBC consistently ranks high for trust and impartialness according to a national Ipsos survey. In fact, 57% said that they would trust the BBC for news whereas only 11% said that they would turn to ITV (honourable mentioned to The Sun for scoring 0.3%). This survey was particularly designed to see how the BBC compared against the larger market of news sources. Surprisingly enough another survey done by Ofcom (the UK’s regulator for communications) found that Magazines out performed any other news source in terms of quality, accuracy, trustworthiness and impartiality. Magazines are now officially more trustworthy than newspapers (according to Ofcom).
Although most of us don’t want summer to ever end, unfortunately it’s come to that time. Children are going back to school, Strictly is coming back on and all hot beverages will have a pumpkin spiced alternative. With that said, it’s important to remember the good times as we say rest in peace to summer 2018.
Firstly, how could we ever forget the World Cup. Three lions were on the shirt and in our hearts. “It’s coming home” could be heard being sung outside most pubs until late hours of the evening and people who don’t even like football were incredibly invested in the sport. It was a few weeks of total patriotism as we reached the semi-finals with skills that were before unheard of for England. Although Croatia beat us (they probably cheated) I think most people can relate to that extreme hope that we all felt. Having said that, Viewsbankers did correctly predict the finishing results with an astounding 72.8% saying that we wouldn’t win. I think we can all agree that it was at least a little bit fun whilst it lasted.
Finally, there was Love Island. It seems like a lifetime ago that this was a thing, however, we can’t deny that for many this popular reality TV show was a highlight. For a few weeks that was all the nation could talk about so love it or hate it, it was definitely big this summer. 3.8 million people tuned in to watch the finale, as it was the most popular season the TV show had ever had. That having been said only 4.2% of our Viewsbankers said they were avid reality TV fans so clearly it wasn’t enough to totally converted the masses. In fact, one Viewsbanker dislikes reality TV so much they said, “Reality TV is utter tripe”.
What were your summer highlights? Let us know in the comments below!