Blog Tesla Invites Consumers to Experience the Tesla Arcade

After Tesla recently announced plans to offer more gaming options for the entertainment systems available in its cars, the automaker said Tuesday it is inviting consumers to showrooms to “experience the new Tesla Arcade.”

The company also tweeted a teaser video for a new racing game, Beach Buggy Racing 2, that is controlled with the vehicle’s steering wheel when the car is parked.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1141041018835353600

Chief Executive Elon Musk recently said on Twitter that the company is working on porting the Unity and Unreal video game engines, which are among the most popular development platforms for games.

Musk first revealed Tesla’s efforts to bring games to its cars last August when he announced the “TeslaAtari,” which includes classic titles like Centipede, Asteroids, Missile Command, Super Breakout and 2048.

Check out Tesla’s invitation to “Experience the Arcade” below.

Experience the Tesla ArcadeGlobal Tesla ShowroomsJune 18 — June 30Bring your friends and family to a Tesla showroom to experience the new Tesla Arcade until June 30.Access the full library of games directly from the vehicle’s touchscreen to play gaming classics like Atari Missile Command and Asteroids – or experience our newest addition, Beach Buggy Racing 2, a kart racing game where you can careen, blast and launch your way through 22 tracks. Players can recruit new drivers (see if you can find our favorite) and use the steering wheel controls for the most immersive gaming experience.If you’re interested in stopping by, kindly RSVP and visit a store near you.Learn more about the latest performance features during your visit or schedule a test drive for the real thing.

 

[AKinDC]

If you were to ask 100 Tesla owners what kind of software updates Tesla should be working on, I'm pretty sure every single one of them would say "anything BUT games."

 

[thx1139]

If you were to ask 100 Tesla owners what kind of software updates Tesla should be working on, I'm pretty sure every single one of them would say "anything BUT games."

And some us understand you can have multiple teams working on different things.

 

[jrwaters1]

If you were to ask 100 Tesla owners what kind of software updates Tesla should be working on, I'm pretty sure every single one of them would say "anything BUT games."

You are absolutely right

 

[Ostrichsak]

And some us understand you can have multiple teams working on different things.

Even though it's a separate team it's still company resources being channeled towards something worthless when they apparently don't have the resources for good customer service. It doesn't matter if it's one single employee (it isn't) that comprises the entire game team that one person can be devoted to customer service which is an admitted area that needs help.

 

[glide]

And some us understand you can have multiple teams working on different things.

Not for silly projects when you’re running in the red.

 

[glide]

I honestly cannot believe they sent out this email.

 

[jrwaters1]

And some us understand you can have multiple teams working on different things.

You are right about multiple teams.. Every member working on games needs to be working on customer service and many other things that have been dropped . We own the greatest car in the world but I hope it doesn't.get to the point that I have to work on the car myself and make the parts. In my area. Trying to talk to anyone at Tesla about anything is not possible Not that long ago I could talk to someone anytime. Now I fear that group is playing games or making games to play. You make and play games after you are making money. Now that electric volvo and the Jag. They need games to play while they are charging,

 

[srs5694]

This isn't what's meant, of course, but I've been thinking that something Tesla could do that would actually be helpful is to set up driving simulators in their stores to enable owners to experience what Tesla's safety features do in various conditions. For instance, what happens when you don't brake for stopping traffic, or when another car cuts into your lane? These are the sorts of scenarios that few drivers will seek out, and they're rare enough that drivers are likely unfamiliar with the car's warnings and overrides. Understanding what Tesla's advanced safety and convenience features do -- and don't do -- can be extremely important so that when you encounter these situations in the real world you'll understand what happened and be better able to react yourself. Reading about what these features do in a manual isn't really adequate, IMHO. Spending an hour or two in a driving simulator could help owners immensely, and might also help sell cars.

 

[srs5694]

Every member working on games needs to be working on customer service

I understand your point; however, if you've ever met a computer programmer, you'd know that you do not want the average programmer working in customer support!

(This is not a dis to computer programmers. I am one myself [my job is more complex than just that, but programming's part of it]. I would not do well in customer support, and neither, I think, would most of my colleagues.)

 

[willow_hiller]

I understand your point; however, if you've ever met a computer programmer, you'd know that you do not want the average programmer working in customer support!

(This is not a dis to computer programmers. I am one myself [my job is more complex than just that, but programming's part of it]. I would not do well in customer support, and neither, I think, would most of my colleagues.)

I was about to say!

Good at speaking to computers != Good at speaking to people...

But that being said, surely they could use the game development staff for FSD. They could help make training simulations, at the very least.

 

[jrwaters1]

One son is a Senior VP and the other boy is a product manager, both with a large data security company A good engineer needs to be a good programmer but a lot of people wouldn't understand a word from them. I have a lot of friends in the industry. Even tho I am past my prime I don't have to take a back seat to the boys. You just made me realize that 99 % of the kind of service I want is something that only a techie could tell me. I now get all that type of info here. My oldest son believes that just having the games in the car makes a statement about who Tesla is. This may add value. We are lucky to have this forum and more than lucky that we can keep a lot of fun stuff going.

 

[willow_hiller]

One son is a Senior VP and the other boy is a product manager, both with a large data security company A good engineer needs to be a good programmer but a lot of people wouldn't understand a word from them. I have a lot of friends in the industry. Even tho I am past my prime I don't have to take a back seat to the boys. You just made me realize that 99 % of the kind of service I want is something that only a techie could tell me. I now get all that type of info here. My oldest son believes that just having the games in the car makes a statement about who Tesla is. This may add value. We are lucky to have this forum and more than lucky that we can keep a lot of fun stuff going.

You're right. At the end of the day, if it gets people into Tesla showrooms, it's a net positive for the company.

And it does look like a fun way to pass the time at a Supercharger. But I would be worried about the effect all that dry steering could have on the tires and power steering linkages...

 

[jrwaters1]

Could the whole problem be that I am not worth a damn playing games?

 

[tinm]

Tesla owners should show up at the stores and instead of watching the Tesla Arcade demo, they should ask when will Tesla have full support for USB music devices like every other car company in the world. Fast, responsive support for browsing music by artist, genre, album, track title, and playlist. This is music 101, and every car company in the world other than Tesla pretty much has support for this. It continues to be inexplicable that Tesla refuses to provide this support. I frankly could care less about the games, the farts, and the other easter eggs: I want decent music support, period.

 

[Frank77]

If you were to ask 100 Tesla owners what kind of software updates Tesla should be working on, I'm pretty sure every single one of them would say "anything BUT games."

I don't think so. On the surface, maybe, but there are many factors to consider.

• This is probably an intern or internal startup project with new employees fascinated by Tesla. You can't just arbitrarily shift people around in the company, you have to do this according to their abilities. You also want to keep people motivated.
• This feature will make every Tesla a crowd magnet on every show, car park, party, or whatever. Also because nobody has ever done this yet. People will want to see if it's real, experience the Tesla interior and be curious. It's a million times better than paying for advertising.
• Remember when games on phones were a totally dumb idea for all the so-called experts? Batteries draining too fast, screen too small, what if somebody calls you while gaming, and why don't they fix the audio quality / reception / whatever bugs first instead?

Let's see how this develops. I'm guessing it will make Teslas wildly more popular right now with the people who will buy / lease / ... their first car in a couple years - right about when the first major wave of Model 3s will hit the used car market.
I'm only hoping Elon will keep Model 3 updated with new features for long enough so that second (and third) owners still experience the benefits.

 

[Frank77]

Tesla owners should show up at the stores and instead of watching the Tesla Arcade demo, they should ask when will Tesla have full support for USB music devices like every other car company in the world.

Also, I want my cassette and CD player back.

Seriously though: I once had a huge music and audiobook library (as in, months of nonstop music), but since we moved on to Spotify, we rarely look at it any more. In the car, Spotify and TuneIn cover almost every need, even for the kids. The few exceptions are stored on a smartphone and are thus also available in the train or on the bike, and not just in the car. Also, the smartphone does have better playing software (and better voice control for playing music).

 

[Ande]

now Tesla is also the highest performing game console!
Sure, PlayStation may have some impressive gigaflops , but no acceleration compared to a Tesla.

 

[Ande]

I wonder if they care for MCU1 users too?

 

[mrmage]

Tesla is in the process of porting the Unreal and Unity game engines to Tesla. Porting games could be a precursor to supporting other third party applications that run on their cars that are not necessarily games.