Business mogul Elon Musk has a wide range of visions for the future. It could be advances in space travel to reach Mars and the development of robot-driven taxis. Or, it could be the additional capability of his Tesla cars’ dashboard displays to access the internet and even play Video Games.

Musk announced the latest breakthroughs in the game-playing capabilities of the Tesla automobile’s touchscreen infotainment center in Los Angeles, at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). So far, an already-released game title and two others are slated to be added to dashboard touchscreens.

One of them will even use the Tesla car’s steering wheel as the player’s controller.

Controlling a game on the dashboard with the steering wheel

USA Today reports that Elon Musk announced at the E3 2019 that a playable video game called “Beach Buggy Racing 2” will be coming to Tesla car touchscreens pretty soon. And for those who cannot be bothered controlling the action by tapping a finger around the screen, this racing game will utilize the car’s steering wheel for a “realistic” driving experience. Musk even insinuated that in addition to the wheel, even the brake pedal might be wired into the controls for “Beach Buggy Racing 2,” the sequel to a popular mobile racing app courtesy of mobile developer Vector Unit.

“Beach Buggy Racing 2” from Vector Unit has long already been downloadable from Apple’s App Store (iOS), Google Play Store (Android), and Amazon Appstore. The company does have plans to port the title for PC and some major consoles later this year, plus premium editions on set-top boxes like Android TV and Apple TV. Apparently, they have been in talks with Musk about the possibility of adding “BBR2” to the Tesla infotainment center of their e-cars, since a number of other developers are doing the same thing.

Other games coming to Tesla

Vector Unit is not the only game developer that has an in for their titles on Tesla e-cars. The Verge tells us that at E3, Elon Musk also did a presentation with Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios. They have a simulation game spinoff with the iconic post-apocalyptic franchise. So, “Fallout Shelter” will come touchscreens.

Last month, the indie developer StudioMDHR, already cleared their killer app “Cuphead” for the Tesla platform. And lest anyone forget, the infotainment center has been able to play select Atari games since last year. The fact that the touchscreen can connect and be compatible with console controllers from PS4 and Xbox One is a boon for gamers tired of swiping screens with their fingers.

Back to “Beach Buggy Racing 2” for the Tesla car touchscreen: Musk notes that in order to play that game using the steering wheel, the vehicle must naturally be in park or at a charging station. He hopes to find a way to make the gameplay experience in their e-cars as “fun” as possible. This and other games will be added to the Tesla touchscreens via over-the-air software updates.
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