In-car gaming isn’t something that I thought I’d be talking about today, but here we are. In recent weeks, we’ve seen car manufacturers strike deals with game developers to bring titles into the confines of a range of motor vehicles. It’s a growing trend that was somewhat started by Tesla when the titanic EV firm gave users the ability to play Steam games through the in-car computer.
Tesla stripped that functionality from vehicles earlier this year, but other manufacturers have since stepped up their in-car gaming capabilities.
Passing the Time
On August 26, Volkswagen announced a partnership with AirConsole, a platform that recently struck a deal with BMW. Through the AirConsole system, users can park up and enjoy a range of games from the comfort of their car. While the games available are rather mundane, this is serving as a baseline of what’s possible.
Presently, users can take advantage of the likes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (using speech recognition technology) or family-friendly games like Uno. The latter uses mobile phones as input devices, which means anyone sitting in the car, front or back, can get in on the action.
Even though Tesla removed Steam functionality from the line-up it operates, it has still left the ability to run many other titles on the in-car screen. These include the likes of Stardew Valley, Sky Force, and Fallout Shelter.
They’re all designed to be played when the car is stationary – which means parked and not just sitting in traffic somewhere. The idea is that you’ll power up a game while you’re charging your car or taking a break from driving. It was a year or two ago that we saw the likes of Cyberpunk being played through a Tesla, but the expectation is that we’ll be back there soon enough.
Do you think in-car gaming is a waste of time or are you excited to see where it goes?
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