Tesla CEO Elon Musk is always announcing weird and wonderful features for his cars, and his latest is gaming related. The next Tesla Model S is going to be able to play Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, two expansive open-world RPGs from developer CD Projekt Red.
That's right, soon Tesla Model S owners will be able to walk the streets of Night City or step into the boots of Geralt of Rivia, while in their car. But someone, somewhere overlooked the impracticality of spending dozens of hours playing massive open-world games in a parked vehicle. Ultimately, it doesn't make much sense.
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It’s exciting news to some people, especially Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red. The company saw its share price tank after the game’s disastrous launch, but Musk’s announcement saw it gain a much-needed bump. It probably helped that the Tesla CEO said he liked the game’s aesthetic.
It can play CyberpunkJanuary 28, 2021
The esthetics of Cyberpunk are incredible btw. The interior design is👌.January 28, 2021
Playing Cyberpunk 2077, a game that cripples the base PS4 and Xbox One, is possible on the Tesla thanks to its on-board computing power. The redesigned Model S has ten teraflops of processing muscle, the same as the PS5. Musk also noted that the new Model S has more storage which can also be upgraded.
Playing games on a Tesla is not a new idea, however. A number of smaller games have been available for a while now, including retro classics like Asteroids, Centipede and Super Breakout, plus modern titles like Cuphead, Fallout Shelter and Cat Quest.
You can even install Doom if you know what you’re doing. But that shouldn’t be a surprise considering Doom can run on a pregnancy test.
But the thing is, you don’t need video games in your car. At least not in the way Tesla has done things.
Obviously, the driver can’t play video games while driving, because that would be hilariously unsafe. Plus, because games would have to run on the center console, passengers can’t play while the car is in motion either. There is a display for backseat passengers, but it's uncertain if games can be played while in motion, as that computing power might need to go towards Tesla's autopilot.
How often are you actually going to be in a position where parking up to play video games is appealing? While you could try and get a quick game of Asteroids, games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 don’t really work in short bursts. Both are massive and require the player to invest time and effort to explore everything each game has to offer.
What’s more, how often are you seriously going to find yourself in a position where playing games in a car is more comfortable than on a dedicated gaming machine? Not to mention, it's going to look especially weird if you're in the middle of a parking lot playing video games. Especially one with as many XXX features as Cyberpunk 2077.
Charging wait times matter, but there's a better way
One potential argument for playing The Witcher 3 in your Tesla Model S is charging times. Unfortunately, electric vehicles can't top off as quickly as gasoline ones.
According to PodPoint, the 2019 Tesla Model S needs at least 30 minutes to recharge from 20% to 80%. And that’s with a 150kW supercharger. Drop that to 50kW and it’ll take 80 minutes to charge the same amount.
Eighty minutes is more than enough time to get in a decent gaming session, provided you have to use a public charger. But if you have a charger at home, or are lucky enough to have one at your workplace, then you probably should get out of your car and do other things. Be it gaming on a big-screen TV or, you know, your job.
Unless you’re travelling long distances in your Tesla constantly, chances are you're not going to be spending much time at a public recharge point. And it's even less likely now as the world continues to be bottlenecked by the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, you can always invest in another portable device to get your game on, like the Nintendo Switch. At least you’ll get a much stronger library to go with it.
All this will probably fall on deaf ears for Musk. And he'll probably push on with his Tesla-centric gaming ideas. I guess innovation has to start somewhere, even if it's something nobody asked for.
