Tesla Is Working To Make Steam Video Games Work In Its Vehicles (electrek.co) 109
Elon Musk said that Tesla is working to make Steam's library of video games work on its onboard vehicle computer. Electrek reports: As we previously reported, Tesla has a team of software engineers working on video games in Seattle and they recently started building a similar team in Austin. The automaker has been building a video game platform called Tesla Arcade inside its vehicles, and it has been working with video game studios to port games to it. Right now, it is mainly to create some added value to its ownership experience, but Tesla might have bigger plans for gaming inside its vehicles. In preparation for that, the automaker has been releasing more video games in its Tesla Arcade and it has indicated that it might turn it into a business.
Now Musk announced on Twitter today that Tesla is working to make Steam's library of games work directly on Tesla's software instead of porting specific games: "We're working through the general case of making Steam games work on a Tesla vs specific titles. Former is obviously where we should be long-term." In the Twitter thread, Musk reiterated his goal to make Cyberpunk, a demanding game graphic-wise, work on the upcoming Cybertruck.
Now Musk announced on Twitter today that Tesla is working to make Steam's library of games work directly on Tesla's software instead of porting specific games: "We're working through the general case of making Steam games work on a Tesla vs specific titles. Former is obviously where we should be long-term." In the Twitter thread, Musk reiterated his goal to make Cyberpunk, a demanding game graphic-wise, work on the upcoming Cybertruck.
What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you want to play Steam games while driving there are much simpler ways than trying to defeat Tesla's guardrails.
Step 1: Buy a laptop. Step 2: Play games on laptop while driving.
Re: (Score:2)
Somehow you've been modded incorrectly. Should be +5, funny. I thought I'd heard it all. That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Thank you!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
idiots exist.
You cannot avoit them making damage, so why sould we all suffer a loss of function as a result of hopeless countermeasures ??
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:2)
When you take a driver's test, you aren't allowed to remove your hands from the steering wheel and yet this is the ideal.
The desire by Musk is to make a car where you are a rider and only a driver in limited cases or when you want to be. In such a case, the rider sees the vehicle more as an entertainment suite and there is no reason this feature couldn't be limited in ways for when a driver would be distracted. The objective is to get ahead, offering something competitors cannot.
The question of a "legal use
Re: (Score:1)
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:2)
China is working on a reusable rocket but the stuff about it is pretty secretive. It's interesting they are taking some different designs though where it may use a space plane design instead of a capsule.
Re: (Score:3)
B. Musk's "It'll drive itself!" promise might come true one of these years. The beta at least works a lot of the time (obv needs to work ALL the time)
Re: (Score:2)
No car will ever be able to drive more than about 2 miles of my commute to work without using actual magic.
Re: (Score:2)
Have you thought of moving to within 2mi of work?
Re: (Score:2)
People can use their phone, bring a tablet, read a book, etc. Wow, what would be nice is a good docking station for a table, instead of using that display which is intended for the driver's use while driving. Next up, "Honey, call me when it's time for dinner, I'm going to be in the Tesla playing Doom Eternal!"
Maybe Tesla needs full Meta VR also, make the cab big enough to stand up in and swing your arms around...
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:1)
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I dunno, when I take mass transit I never do any work. Well, somewhat because I don't have cellular good enough to do that, but mostly because I don't have to do this. I would have already seent he email subjects at home while looking at the phone briefly, and then blotted them out until I get to the office. Any job where I would feel that I need to be reading email on my own damned time is a job I would need to quit.
I once found it funny, but also sad, on a long plane flight where the two people in front
Re: (Score:2)
The only realistic practical use I see is to keep the kids busy and quiet in the back seat.
Or when you have a fight with your wife you can retreat to your car and play video games.
I wonder if the game is being streamed (through Starlink?) or actually running and being rendered in the car. Seams like streaming the game would be the vastly simpler and more efficient solution, but I suspect it is the latter. In that case, running a graphically demanding game like Cyperpunk would mean there is a full-fledged ga
Re: (Score:1)
I never understood why would would simply want your kids quite.
If I had kids i'd want them as Iinquizitive and rambunctious as possible.
I would get them expending energy on worthwhile endeavors and quench their thirst for knowledge with facts and food for thought.
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:2)
Spoken like someone without kids
Re: (Score:2)
Well, everyone's been a kid, I would hope, and thus know what kids are like.
I used to read and keep quiet. I had to stop, and my parents made me stop, because it would make me car sick. So it's look out the window. Life was *never* like those sitcoms where the kids are literally uncontrollable and having food fights in the back seat. If a parent can't control the kids then something's broken somewhere. And if someone says "but you've never had kids, you don't know what it's like, they held a knife to my
Re: (Score:2)
On a Sunday afternoon at home, sure. But not while you're driving and trying to focus on the road.
Re: (Score:1)
That's what sing-alongs are for.
Re: (Score:2)
"This is the trip that never ends... Yes it goes on and on my friends... We started driving once, not knowing where to go... but daddy stil kept driving on just because... This is the..."
Re: What's the practical legal use case for this? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I thought those games required windows not SteamOS/Linux?
Steam uses WINE (rebranded Proton) to run games without Linux ports on LInux.
Re: (Score:2)
Tesla recently changed it so that it only works while parked. All other manufacturers who offer similar features (e.g. Honda has HDMI sockets in some vehicles) did that from the very start.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
If you're charging for the 4th time that "quick road trip" to grandma is like 800mi, so we're talking 14hr of just travel, not including pit stops.
Re: (Score:2)
more people to sue / eula to offload blame on to (Score:2)
more people to sue / eula to offload blame on to in an case of an bad crash with self driving. It may take an crash so bad that it become an criminal case.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't see playing games while the car is moving a good option, and it makes my stomach ill just thinking about it, with a set of laws making it not allowed even for passengers in the front seat doesn't make it seem like it is going to happen in that way.
However while parked.
1. While Charging, EV can take more time to charge with less manual oversight than filling your gas tank. Having a game to play is a way to pass the time.
2. There is actually quite a lot of time we do just waiting in our car, or we wou
Re: (Score:2)
It's been over 20 years it's been illegal to show motion pictures in view of the driver.
Car makers were so scared, they didn't even want scrolling text from radio station RBDS text info, that little 8 letter segment often placed under the station frequency (to say nothing of the much larger text info field, 32 to 64 characters.) I think things settled out on no faster than once every 30s was ok.
Re: (Score:2)
It's for the kids I think. But sheesh, buy them a frikkin tablet. Or a book. There are so many other way sto do this. What next, a Tesa espresso maker built in? At some point you gotta say "this is an automobile, and not a fully family entertainment device" It is true that in a lot of minivans, having the video player in the back seat can help with sales (for parents who don't know how to get the kids to be quiet). But that's not Tesla's market.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe to boost the number of recalls that Tesla has on file? (A recall can be resolved by an OTA fix, it doesn't need to involve driving to the dealership and getting something reprogrammed. A recall is just a government tracking database for safety related issues and you can enter in any VIN to see if there are outstanding recall notices. Important if you're buying a used vehicle to see
Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I enjoy listening to podcasts and audio books while driving long distances. About the third hour of an eleven-hour drive, I enjoy some engaging auditory engagement to help fight Highway Hypnosis. [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, good point. I guess I could have said engaging auditory stimulation, but you know some of the people here would take that down a torturous path. How about "captivating auditory engagement"?
Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)
Telsa games only work when PARKED. If you have to sit X minutes to recharge somewhere or waiting to pick somebody up then these apps could pass the time (people use their phones for this so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.)
Eventually, people will be idle while the car drives; then they could play games... again, smartphone... or not own a car since at that point a driving service would make more sense.
Re: (Score:2)
Eventually, people will be idle while the car drives; then they could play games... again, smartphone... or not own a car since at that point a driving service would make more sense.
It might; it depends on what your schedule is like, and what car services in your area are like. It also depends on what you are like. Maybe you don't want to use a car anyone else uses, maybe nobody wants to use a car you've used. Even if we had PRT there would be demand for private vehicles.
Re: (Score:2)
The better the service the lower the demand for private vehicles and the higher the price of ownership becomes.
Also the more people using a service the more options become available. Such as smart bus routing; if you are ok with a bus (lower fee) then you may end up with a smart bus if there are many in your area at the same time or you may transfer to a bus for a discount.
Because why not? (Score:2)
Not to be rude at all but I've never understood people who drive in total silence. It seems exceptionally strange to me as from how I look at it, if I'm not talking or listening to some one or concentrating on something rigorous (which driving is not) why would I not want some good music playing? Plus, how often do I make time to just sit and listen to some music I enjoy? Outside of driving, almost never, so it's really rather pleasant for me.
People have all sorts of tastes on things though so really to eac
Re: (Score:2)
If we're using black and white logic here: All I have to think of there is the idiot cyclists and runners that obstruct their ears from being capable of picking up crucial auditory cues in traffic, because they can't go without music for two hours.
It's all nice and fine if traffic is low, but in cities with dense and highly dynamic traffic that's a recipe for disaster.
Re: (Score:2)
If you're being overly literal here: go away.
Re: (Score:2)
Sometimes it's just a reason to be alone with my own thoughts. My mind can be a very entertaining place to be sometimes. Not always in a good way...
But I have spent many miles on the road with nothing going on but enjoying the scenery and whatever my mind happens to come up with.
This also mostly happens when traveling in locations I don't know. Not my daily commute.
Re: (Score:2)
I call them my muses because telling people I have voices in my head doesn't go over well.
Re: (Score:2)
I've been driving my entire life and never put on the radio in my car. I'm [...] Weird.
There, FTFY.
There's nothing wrong with being weird, but being unaware of it is one type of being insane.
Re: (Score:2)
I think a lot of good ideas and innovations are lost because people don't let their minds wander free and instead jam up a lot of their brain power by never turning things off.
I feel the same as you about driving, but do play music sometimes. I have even driven halfway across Canada a few times without a radio in the car some years ago (after the radio being stolen 3 times I said fuck it... Winnipeg, property crime capital of Canada). But even more than when driving, when going on walks I definitely don't l
Cyber all the things! (Score:2)
Cause nothing quite makes you a cyberpunk like getting cyber'ed playing cyberpunk from cyberspace in your cybertruck.
Next thing you know, we'll be driving using WASD (Score:2)
...and running over pedestrians due to the sloppy oversteering rubber-banding. ;)
Re: (Score:2)
"So, I'm hot, gorgeous, 23, like video games, and I've got a Model S, how about you?"
"Sorry, gotta pull over, my 73 Datsun just overheated..."
Functional safety? (Score:2)
Re:Functional safety? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Unfortunately you need the infotainment for certain critical functions, like changing gear and controlling the headlights and wipers. The speedometer is also shown on the infotainment display so while it is crashing/rebooting you don't know how fast you are going.
Fortunately, after initially allowing the user to use features like playing games while driving, Tesla has backed down and made them only work when the car is parked.
Personally I prefer the Honda solution: an HDMI socket. Plug in whatever device yo
Re: (Score:2)
To enable cowbell, press the right stalk down four times in a row.
To disable cowbell, press the right stalk up once. It may need to play a little bit longer, but will eventually stop.
I agree it is annoying, but you can stop it without resetting the infotainment system.
What a crappy idea... (Score:2, Interesting)
Ok, let's naively assume this is meant to entertain you while you're charging, and would never, ever, ever be used while driving. And even if a game were played while driving, it would be by the passenger, and it wouldn't distract the driver at all. /s
What kind of gaming experience are you going to get? Center console, meaning that reaching to touch the screen is a bit awkward. Games require continuous interaction, so you're likely to wind up scooting to sit half on the center console for a better angle.
Re:What a crappy idea... (Score:4, Informative)
Tesla supports a number of wireless controller, and since December, you can only play games while parked.
Re: (Score:1)
The center console already run Linux, so it's not that hard to support the Linux Steam games
I have an old wired USB gamepad in my console. Just plug it to any USB port.
Great for playing with the kids while you're waiting for your charge to finish at the supercharger
The sound system of the car is impressive btw!!!
I can see why old people are cranky (Score:3)
Probably just due to Musk's pique (Score:2)
I really think what's driving this is Musk's personal pique - he's trying to weak the Fed's noses. Lord Musk has been railing against a number of different federal agencies lately because of various slights and offenses, real and imagined.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Musk seems to want to relegate driving to the same lack of skill as riding an elevator
And the way I see most people driving, it is absolutely necessary. Most of them have zero regard for anyone else, no clue about the rules of the road or that they are there for the protection of others*, etc.
* Sure there are stupid traffic laws, but not the ones about staying in your own goddamned lane, leaving safe distances fore and aft, etc.
Re: (Score:1)
Wishlist: (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Give us the promised self driving features first (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Unfortunately a lot of car companies, not just Tesla and Musk, seem to think the target market for electric cars is teenage and early 20 something boys whereas in reality given the price of EVs its almost always people in their 30s and upwards most of whom don't give a rats backside about this sort of shit and just want a car that is reliable/efficient/sporty delete as applicable.
Re: (Score:1)
sounds like you got fleeced. Self driving cars will be very limited for a long time. keep both hands on the wheel please.
Re: (Score:2)
But seriously, "pre-ordering" is a bad habit, not only regarding video games.
If you wanted an SDC you'd wait for one to exist (Score:2)
You got suckered. Never be an early adopter and always let rich chumps pay for GPUs, CPUs, and baubles with or without wheels.
Tesla marketers counted on credulity and won. Be pissed at yourself and be glad you're wealthy enough to afford Tesla so you're out no serious money. I never spend more money on toys (I collect classic motorbikes) than I can afford to light on fire.
Good luck with range (Score:2)
All the electricity required to power video games is going to slice your range in half, at least.
Are you gaming on an HPC? a beowulf cluster? (Score:3)
All the electricity required to power video games is going to slice your range in half, at least.
Remember that a gaming PC pull power up to the maximum allowed by the power socket and your local power standard.
That would be ~2kW max here around in 220V Europe, and probably around 1kW on Musk's side of the ocean where 120V is more prevalent.
At ~1kW, it would take ~100h to drain the 100kWh battery found in model S.
i.e.: there's a reason why in the US people need to upgrade their charging circuitry to dual phase 220V and more than 10A just to reduce a bit the extremely long time it takes to fully charge i
Re: (Score:3)
I'm pretty sure most Americans have 220v AC to run their dryers, I know I do and I live in a very small home.
Re: (Score:2)
"every" home in America is wired with 220V split-phase with at least a 50A service, usually 100A, and not unusually 200A for a standalone house with more than one bedroom. Yeah there's exceptions but that's the norm. Even RVs are commonly wired for 50A@120V x2 (the panel is typically split in two directions such that you cannot install a double-pole breaker anywhere but the center of the panel for the incoming power) and anything bigger than an Alaskan camper is usually wired for 30A@120V (an Alaskan is wir
outlets, not wire to the street (Score:2)
"every" home in America is wired with 220V split-phase with at least a 50A service, usually 100A, and not unusually 200A for a standalone house with more than one bedroom.
You're speaking about the wiring between the house and street transformer. (Yes, most larger-ish house in developed countries tend to have a >100A connection to upstream power network. In the US this will be split phase ~220V split as two ~110V phases. In Europe this will tend to be tri-phase split with 380~400V between phases).
But that's not what I and the other poster are speaking about:
(Said as a smug European dweller were tri-phase in homes (for large appliance) is a thing)
I'm pretty sure most Americans have 220v AC to run their dryers, I know I do and I live in a very small home.
We're speaking about the downstream cabling inside the house and what outlets are already available there.
Take here a [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
My wrinkly old potato has eight cores and two GPUs in SLI and still draws a PEAK of 350W (measured benchmarking CPU and GPUs simultaneously.) Even a pretty serious gaming PC shouldn't be drawing over 500W, unless it has one of these new Intel processors, and even then only during benchmarking and not during gaming (which will typically not fully utilize all the cores.) It's not until you really go fully balls out and spend as much as possible in order to get the vanishing returns at the top that you are goi
Re: Good luck with range (Score:3)
A Tesla has ~50kWh batteries on the low end. That's enough to power even a beefy rig non-stop for several days. It's not going to have a huge effect on range.
Re: (Score:2)
What? Even low-tier Teslas could power your regular gaming rig for over a week, non stop, from a fully charged battery.
I mean, it makes sense (Score:2)
Given how Tesla has delivered on their FSD feature promises years ago, they better find new things to work on.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps braking should be looked at. More specifically, not deciding to stop [bbc.com] in the middle of the highway whenever it feels like it. Or not plow into [cnn.com] emergency vehicles who have their lights on.
Awesome! (Score:2)
More s**t to break!
death race 2025 with live high score leader broad! (Score:3)
death race 2025 with live high score leader broad!
Re: (Score:1)
death race 2025 with live high score leader broad!
(bksp)(bksp)(bksp) dead high score leader board
Fixed that for you
Battery Advancements must be slowing down (Score:2)
As a Tesla owner... (Score:2)
Californians may have little use for them, but in North Dakota, we use them 6 months of the year.
if you need cash dial 555-Whiplash (Score:2)
we are going to sue
Tesla
Steam
Elon Musk
The state
And more
And that's why I would never buy a Tesla (Score:2, Insightful)
The company has all the wrong priorities. I want a car, not a game console.
Re:And that's why I would never buy a Tesla (Score:4, Insightful)
It's really not a "priority" as much as something they've got one small group working on, while they do everything else.
I've been a Tesla owner for about 4 years now and every single software update they've ever pushed to me has included some basic functionality that has nothing to do with games on the center console.
IMO, it's probably considered low-hanging fruit, as far as making owners feel like they're regularly getting something new for their vehicles. It's easier to port an existing game's source code over than to write something new from scratch that's relevant to the vehicle driving or operating experience.
I'm more interested in the real features than the entertainment stuff, but I've definitely played some of the games while stuck waiting for someone or when sitting at a charging station. And some of the games I'd never even play were ones my daughter got really excited to have in the car.
Re: (Score:2)
Car ? Teslas are air-conditioned, self-enclosed, battery-powered game consoles. The fact that they can legally be driven as a car on public streets it's just a extra bonus.
I have a M3 and driving it feels like controlling a huge RC car that you're sitting in - it moves too swiftly compared to a normal ICE car.
Waste of time (Score:2)
I don't get it (Score:2)
A Tesla is (supposed to be) a fucking car, not a gaming platform.
It doesn't matter that there's only a small team working; what does matter is that the company seems to have forgotten that its primary mission is to deliver a car to consumers. It barely does that; given the number of problems cars are shipped with and the insane wait times for repairs (see, for instance, the Tesla shipped without a brake pad [motorbiscuit.com] for a recent example).
I certainly want to step up to an EV at some point, but I'm going to get somet
Re: (Score:2)
A robo car has a nav system. A nav system likes a big screen.
That's all the big screen is. It is a little more expensive, but fractionally not that much in the price of a car.
In summary: no, you don't want just gauges.
Re: (Score:2)
Said who ? My M3 is an air-conditioned, self-enclosed, battery-powered game console.
As a welcome bonus this game console can legally be driven as a car on public streets with customizable controls that make-it feel like a game:
- one-pedal driving
- rumble steering wheel if you're not keeping the lane or forgetting to use the blinkers
- audio-visual warnings when other cars get or might get too close to your hit box
- seemingly physics-defying acceleration and low center of gravity
- AFK mode (also called Autopi
year of Linux on the dashboard (Score:2)
What morons!! (Score:2)
Instead of keeping their engineers focused on optimizing the code base around features related to stability and safety, at least, some partial effort will now be wasted on gaming.
It is one thing to have infotainment, but why waste human power and computing power on frivolous features.
Super Mario Kart or GTFO (Score:2)
And it needs to be connected into the vehicle drive train.
Play racing games while driving for real (Score:2)
Nothing wrong with this, Grandma (Score:2)
Teslas (Score:2)
Sign that Tesla wants to enhance its car (Score:1)