Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Atari games coming . . .

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Dude, Elon, if you're gonna put Atari games on the infotainment system, why not allow us to stream videos to the screen when parked?

Pretty big difference between the small cost of preparing a few classic games to be installed vs incurring streaming costs on the data connection. Even if you assume it is going to be streaming from your own device with its own data connection it is still in a different league in terms of effort and management of dependencies.

I also love the way some people regard 'coding effort' as a universal constant.

The guys that can port a game are in an entirely different league to the guys working on the FSD, it wasn't an option of putting them on one project or the other... :)
 
  • Love
Reactions: GlmnAlyAirCar
I think people are missing the point: having an "Easter Eggs" team is the problem.

"Your point" perhaps.
Summer interns porting code and AI/NN/AP/Linux kernel full time resident engineers are two completely different categories/ price points/ skill sets.
This is not a zero sum situation.

My company has summer interns doing non-billable R&D while the partners work on billable. Win-win.

Wife got a new non-Tesla vehicle. I actually felt bummed the center display did not have Eggs. It is a selling feature.
 
It could even be Atari doing a lot of the actual coding. Goodness knows they have nothing else to do these days. Perhaps Maxis will consider offering the original SimCity integrated into the satnav too?
 
Even if it was an outside team porting the games over, I would assume Tesla would still need to dedicate QA resources to testing them to make sure they don't crash the screen, corrupt the memory, etc.

So, yeah, I would assume some tradeoffs with other "features".
 
Complaining about free stuff ???

0o9cdCOp_normal.jpg


Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

8/1/18, 1:45 PM

If you’re into video game development, consider applying to Tesla. We want to make super fun games that integrate the center touch screen, phone & car irl.

0o9cdCOp_normal.jpg


Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

8/1/18, 1:47 PM

Please send examples of prior work when applying. Looking for max playability & creativity.
 
"Your point" perhaps.
Summer interns porting code and AI/NN/AP/Linux kernel full time resident engineers are two completely different categories/ price points/ skill sets.
This is not a zero sum situation.

False dichotomy.

My company has summer interns doing non-billable R&D while the partners work on billable. Win-win.

False dichotomy.

Wife got a new non-Tesla vehicle. I actually felt bummed the center display did not have Eggs. It is a selling feature.

If you are satisfied by both the quality of the software Tesla has produced and the rate at which they produce it, then I can understand why the "Easter Eggs" would be considered a feature for you. I have neither the responsibility nor the power to determine priorities for other people.

If someone who works in the software development industry told me they are satisfied by both the quality of the software Tesla has produced and the rate at which they produce it, I would not hire that person.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Inside
False dichotomy.
You keep using that term, I do not think it means what you think it means...

I think people are missing the point: having an "Easter Eggs" team is the problem.

It there an exclusive choice between Easter Eggs and every other SW issue?

(I'll give points to anyone would references the Christmas show since it did (does?) mess up the side mirror function)
 
So Tesla wants more reasons for people to get distracted while driving? And why the hell is he not focus on releasing EAP which was suppose to be released over a year ago and instead he is doing stupid Easter eggs and ATARI games...

You actually believe the devs that pop and easter egg or two in are the same as the EAP team?

(it's called marketing btw - saves a ton on advertising costs, and people are talking about it around the world before it even exists)
 
I don’t think playing classic Atari games is going to keep me too engaged but I have to say that having the dash swapped out for Pole Position rendering of cars like they did for Ho, Ho, Ho would keep me entertained for weeks...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaserr
So I'll throw a different point of view into the conversation. I don't think the Atari games are an Easter egg. I think they are going into the new OS for a purpose. With all of this talk of FSD and autonomy coming out soon, the driver has to do something. I think they are beefing up the infotainment system for a purpose. That purpose being true entertainment while the car drives you to the destination. Now, we could argue they are putting the cart before the horse, and that may be, but they are creating solutions to problems that don't even exist yet.

Furthermore, my guess is that the processing power of the MCU is only strong enough to be able to handle 8-bit and byte-sized programming of the Atari 2600, and still be able to smoothly process everything else it does. So, we won't be seeing any WoW or Call of Duty on the current iterations of the MCU. My guess is that you'll also be able to pair bluetooth controllers to the MCU when the time comes.
 
So I'll throw a different point of view into the conversation. I don't think the Atari games are an Easter egg. I think they are going into the new OS for a purpose. With all of this talk of FSD and autonomy coming out soon, the driver has to do something. I think they are beefing up the infotainment system for a purpose. That purpose being true entertainment while the car drives you to the destination. Now, we could argue they are putting the cart before the horse, and that may be, but they are creating solutions to problems that don't even exist yet.

Furthermore, my guess is that the processing power of the MCU is only strong enough to be able to handle 8-bit and byte-sized programming of the Atari 2600, and still be able to smoothly process everything else it does. So, we won't be seeing any WoW or Call of Duty on the current iterations of the MCU. My guess is that you'll also be able to pair bluetooth controllers to the MCU when the time comes.

Cart before the horse? FSD is going to be nowhere close to the state where the driver can start playing games in the near future.

Plus, if they really want the big screen to be used for entertainment, they should just have better support for phones. There's much more capable HW in those devices and much much better games selections. And the games library is a gap that a single closed ecosystem like Tesla's trying to do games as a hobby will never be able to match.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KyleDay
Cart before the horse? FSD is going to be nowhere close to the state where the driver can start playing games in the near future.

That anybody in the general public knows of at this point..... They could unveil it by the end of the year.

Plus, if they really want the big screen to be used for entertainment, they should just have better support for phones. There's much more capable HW in those devices and much much better games selections. And the games library is a gap that a single closed ecosystem like Tesla's trying to do games as a hobby will never be able to match.

I don't disagree, but I don't think phone mirroring is the direction they want to go. Obviously they're serious about low-quality games, so there is a bigger reason why, beyond simply a novelty Easter egg.
 
So I'll throw a different point of view into the conversation. I don't think the Atari games are an Easter egg. I think they are going into the new OS for a purpose. With all of this talk of FSD and autonomy coming out soon, the driver has to do something. I think they are beefing up the infotainment system for a purpose. That purpose being true entertainment while the car drives you to the destination. Now, we could argue they are putting the cart before the horse, and that may be, but they are creating solutions to problems that don't even exist yet.

Furthermore, my guess is that the processing power of the MCU is only strong enough to be able to handle 8-bit and byte-sized programming of the Atari 2600, and still be able to smoothly process everything else it does. So, we won't be seeing any WoW or Call of Duty on the current iterations of the MCU. My guess is that you'll also be able to pair bluetooth controllers to the MCU when the time comes.

Not FSD. But it could be more about interactivity between controls and screen.

If Tesla wants to cut delivery employee time, while still providing useful information to customers, an interactive learning mode would be a great way to do it. Tesla might want games designers/programmers for that in order to make it fun and engaging.