The idea of playing video games while in the car has always been common place. Even today, children are likely spending long car journeys with the family sat in the back playing games on either their mobile phones or Nintendo Switch. But the idea of being able to play games using a car has only become a thing recently and is still nowhere near becoming a regular and easy to access alternative. Nevertheless, it's an idea Volkswagen has said it's exploring.
As reported on by German newspaper Die Welt, and translated by Ars Technica, Volkswagen board member Thomas Ulbrich mentioned that the company will offer video games in its cars, such as short 15 minute experiences which can be played during charging breaks. Volkswagen won't be developing any of these games internally, however, meaning it will likely approach other studios to either make games for it or release titles already available on other platforms. He didn't state whether games will come pre-installed in Volkswagen cars or if they will need to be purchased via an app store or something.
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A similar service is already being offered with Tesla cars, so it's probable that Volkswagen is looking to compete, especially with gaming in general becoming more and more popular. The amount of games available on Tesla is rather limited but, aside from retro classics like Asteroids and Tempest, owners can play new releases like Cuphead and Cyberpunk 2077.
Games in its cars, however, is not the main focus for Volkswagen at the moment. According to Ulbrich, what it's really focusing on is autonomous driving features. It's already considering charging for autonomous driving, with chief sales officer Klaus Zellmer suggesting customers could pay 7 euros (roughly $8.50) an hour for the car to drive itself. Subscription features are already planned to be included with vehicles releasing in the second quarter of 2022.
While it's not suggested, the idea of being able to play video games on your car while it drives itself is an enticing thought. As it stands, sitting in a stationary car to play games hardly seems like much of a great alternative to simply playing those same games on other easy-to-access platforms in the comfort of one's home. But that's only hypothetical and ultimately requires autonomous driving to work perfectly as intended. If anything, playing a game while the car drives itself could be arguably just as dangerous as playing on your phone while driving.
Companies and figures like Elon Musk certainly want to turn vehicles into their own gaming consoles. For the time being, though, it seems to be little more than a gimmick and, considering how much a car costs compared to a game console, it's hardly going to appeal to the majority of people.
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Source: Die Welt/Ars Technica