VW Is Now Letting You Use Its Cars’ Screens As Game Consoles. It’s A Fun But Flawed Idea

There are some things that are more fun in theory than practice. Filling a hot tub with chili, for example. Or shoving a jellyfish in your pants. You know what I’m getting at. I think we can also put integrating video games into cars into this category, for reasons I’ll get to. I mention this because today Volkswagen issued a press release announcing that it’s the “first volume automotive brand in the U.S. to offer AirConsole in-vehicle gaming,” which I suppose is true, but that doesn’t mean VW is the first volume brand to let people play games on their car’s screens. Tesla has been doing this for years, and Chrysler’s U-Connect system has offered in-car games for over a decade.

VW’s partner in this is AirConsole, who have a clever system that uses passengers’ (ideally not drivers’) phones as the system’s controllers, activated via a QR code, which allows for multiple people in the car to play together on the car’s center-stack screen. While AirConsole seems to have a library of about 150 games, VW’s system will launch with 20, which includes some actually licensed games like Tetris and Pac-Man Championship Edition, which I’ve played in arcades and is a fun variant of Pac-Man, though this version used seems to be further VW-branded, with VW logos standing in for power pellets, and VW’s ambient lighting will be used to enhance the experience. Oh, and the bonus fruit is replaced by little check engine light icons!

I kid, I kid! There are no check engine lights here! We’re all having fun!

All of this works on 2027 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, Tiguan, Golf GTI, Golf R, and ID. Buzz models, but it’s not free. Well, it’s free for three months, then it’s $149/year. As VW says in their press release:

Volkswagen’s In-Vehicle Premium connected services offering enabled by myVW+, which includes features such as Wi-Fi hotspot capability, Premium Navigation, Premium Speech, and additional connected experiences depending on vehicle model. MY27 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, Tiguan, and Golf models include three months of In-Vehicle Premium at no additional cost from the date of vehicle purchase, while ID. Buzz includes one year. To access AirConsole, customers must enroll an eligible vehicle in the myVW app and accept applicable terms and conditions. Following the complimentary period, an active In-Vehicle Premium subscription, available on MY27 vehicles for $149 per year, is required to continue accessing AirConsole and other eligible connected features.

So, all of this is fun, sure. Text on the AirConsole page that says “The AirConsole gaming platform will provide enjoyable entertainment to people on the road, for example, when charging or during a break.” suggests that the games can’t be played while the car is driving, which limits its use as a road-trip diversion. And while everyone being able to play together is nice, rear seat passengers won’t exactly have a great view of that center screen.

Early attempts to integrate video games into cars seemed to focus on their use in the rear seat, to keep bored kids from murdering one another on long trips. Ford’s Continental Concept 100 concept car from 1982 is an example of this approach, which had an integrated Mattel Intellivision in the rear seat area:

That’s cool in a retro way, no question, but all of these systems seem to pretend that modern people – kids or former kids – have so very many ways to play video games wherever and whenever they want. If you have a portable system like a Nintendo Switch or, hell, your phone, you already have a way to play games in your car, regardless of whether or not its driving. And the selection of games is far larger and of far higher quality than any in-car-based system could hope to be.

So, sure, I’m not going to fault any carmaker for figuring out ways to have fun in a car, but at $149/year it feels like that money would be better spent on a couple of games for whatever your preferred portable console is. The only advantage I can really see from this system is that everyone in the car can play together, and while that’s great, that can also be done with portable consoles like the Switch. Which you can then take inside to your hotel or grandma’s house or the rehab facility or whatever, because it doesn’t, you know, need a whole car to work.

I guess I’m not really sure what the point of all this is. Just have a promotion to include a Switch or something with the purchase of a new VW, maybe? I mean, they did it with bicycles once, after all.