We love a good racing video game, but we never imagined that one day we would be gaming from behind the wheel of real cars. BMW has just become the latest car maker to announce a collaboration with a video game platform maker to bring "a unique kind of in-car gaming to the road for the first time"
It's teamed up with AirConsole to put gaming in the new BMW 5 Series. And it designed a unique BMW i5 with gaming-inspired livery to mark the occasion in a homage to 8-bit computer games (see our pick of the best laptop for gaming for more traditional places to game).
We've already heard Sony's plans to put PlayStations in Honda electric vehicles and we've seen the scary Mercedes TikTok car. Now BMW says its collaboration with AirConsole will allow both the driver and passengers to play casual games in the Series 5 (when the vehicle is stationary, of course).
Apparently, the idea is to give people a way of passing time while waiting for the vehicle to charge, for example. Players will use their smartphones as controllers for the BMW Curved Display. After starting the AirConsole app in the vehicle, the connection between the smartphone and the vehicle is established by scanning a QR code on the display.
The AirConsole app supports multiple players, with rear passengers also able to play. The initial selection of games includes racing, sports, quiz, simulation and puzzle games. Titles include “Go Kart Go”, “Golazo”, “Music Guess” and “Overcooked”. BMW says that after the 5 Series, the AirConsole app will be successively offered in other vehicles and the portfolio of games will be continually expanded.
BMW made it to our pick of best car rebrands for its design prowess, and the pixel-inspired BMW i5 looks pretty sharp, but I'm still not convinced about gaming behind the wheel.
