More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds. It's genuinely sad that some manager or team went to all the trouble of getting the budget for this hardware promotion, but couldn't or didn't reset the free trial for the Google accounts of the recipients. If you are looking for a cloud gaming option, and aren’t ready to jump into other similar services, Google Stadia offers and experience that is top notch, from a company that knows how to run software. The same can be said for gaming hardware - once you've got what you need for Stadia, you're good for the next few years. What that tells us is that Google has the power and budget to drop a whole bunch of new games in the same way that Microsoft does with Xbox Game Pass but, also like Game Pass, the well of content will always be limited when compared to other services like Steam that are much less of a walled garden and are entirely more community-driven.

However, Stadia does support the Xbox One controller, Xbox Wireless Controller, and DualShock 4 gamepads.

A. in Communications from Pace University and contributed to publications like Paste Magazine, Bandsintown, and others following a brief stint as a marketing and management assistant in the music industry. There are a few bigger name games available for free via Stadia Pro, but most of the games are smaller, indie style games. The Founder's Edition comes with the exclusive Night Blue controller, while the Premiere Edition comes with the Clearly White controller. It’s hard to describe precisely what my issue with the controller is aside from simply saying it’s just weird and explaining as best I can why it feels so very weird and awkward.

Much of my gaming has been on a TV via a Chromecast Ultra with the Stadia controller, but I’ve also played a few hours on an iPad Air and tested the service on an older Samsung Android tablet and my Galaxy Note 10+ phone. Mashable is a registered trademark of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without express written permission. Even more annoying is that Google no longer sells the Chromecast Ultra by itself, only in a bundle with a Stadia controller. That's an excellent saving on the proprietary controller and a Chromecast Ultra (which is the only Chromecast model capable of running Google Stadia services right now). For streamers, Stadia held real potential as a way to unify the gaming and streaming platform - and that in itself was pretty exciting.

But when I got the hardware I tried signing up and realized that apparently I had signed up for the Stadia free trial 6 months earlier. I would recommend users who want to play Stadia in multiple locations to use a Bluetooth controller instead. They’re ready wherever you have Wi-Fi, cellular data or Ethernet, without waiting for installs, downloads, or updates. I’m not trying to play any kind of competitive multiplayer game where I may notice a difference, but for the types of games I play, it is fine. On desktop you’ll have the option to find friends and add them to a party, as well as access your screenshot collection with photos of games you’ve taken.