Mea culpa: I had no idea who Xperi was (how many reading do?), but recognize Tivo, and they now own that brand. Xperi is big for in-dash entertainment consoles with their DTS AutoStage and according to the following press release, they are planning to put more focus on games inside the dash of cars:
DTS AutoStage plans to incorporate today’s most popular digital games including audio games, casual games and console/core games engineered with discovery and context that is personalized to users’ preferences, and designed to ensure games are played safely in the car. The addition of gaming to the platform will round out the platform by delivering a complete content-first media experience.
Xperi Inc. – DTS AutoStage™ Expands into More Vehicle Models Following Video Launch, Developing New Functionality
Tesla has had gaming in their vehicles in dash for some time now, even going as far as allowing the use of the steering wheel — not while actually driving, of course, for safety reasons — to play games like Beach Buggy Racing. In a way, this seems gimmicky and a little cheesy, but the geek gamer in me wants to try this out. It’s not a feature that would sway my decision toward buying the car, but it’s a neat add-on.
Tesla also supported playing Steam games in some of their vehicles at one time, but they are removing that.
In late 2022, Tesla officially launched its Steam Beta native app in new Model S and Model X vehicles.
However, we now learn that Tesla is dropping the feature.
Tesla drops Steam gaming support inside its vehicles | Electrek
Games have been a thing in cars for quite some time. When our children were younger, we had a Saturn Relay van with video behind for the kids when we went on trip and they could hook up their game systems to it. It wasn’t integrated in the dash like Xperi is doing, but it seems like they are behind the times a bit with adding this.
Have you done any gaming in your car? Or do you take those portable game screens or just play on the Switch and Steam Deck and/or mobile phones and tablets? So many options that maybe in-dash is too little, too late.
Hi Todd!
I think TIVO is losing or lost everything on TV services they used to offer, they can’t compete with the big boys. They need a new cash cow but this isn’t it. Most people will just keep playing on their handhelds or laptops. I don’t think there’s a market for this.