Indie devs say they were offered ‘exposure’ (not cash) to port games to Tesla vehicles

By George Yang October 31, 2022

Elon Musk’s car company, Tesla, once reached out to game designer Sam Barlow about possibly putting his game Her Story into its cars. According to Barlow, Tesla didn’t offer money, but instead said it would be good exposure for the game.

Tesla has run video games within its cars before, most notably Cuphead. It can only be played while the car is parked. Tesla has also been working on Steam integration with its vehicles and a demo is apparently coming soon. Barlow suggests, though, that some developers weren’t offered pay to partner with Tesla.

“Tesla once reached out to ask to put Her Story in a car. I asked how much they would pay for the license and to cover the engineering work—they suggested zero, that I consider the exposure I would get,” Barlow explains on Twitter. “Her Story in a car remains one of the sillier ideas I’ve heard.”

The co-founder of Panic, Cabel Sasser, also chimed in, saying that Tesla reached out about doing the same with Untitled Goose Game as well.

Tesla once reached out to ask to put her story in a car. I asked how much they would pay for the license and to cover the engineering work- they suggested zero, that I consider the exposure I would get

— Sam Barlow 🔥 Buy IMMORTALITY! (@mrsambarlow) October 31, 2022

Barlow’s story came as a response to reports that Musk, who just purchased Twitter, would require those with verified accounts on Twitter to pay up to $20 a month to keep the status.

Her Story first launched in June 2016 for PC, Android, and iOS. Since then, Barlow has released new games such as Telling Lies in 2019 and Immortality in August. Her Story follows a young British woman (played by actress Viva Seifert) being interviewed about her missing husband. The player must search a desktop computer database by looking up terms and watching clips in order to piece together her story.

Topics

George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…

Gaming

Minecraft Legends Deluxe Edition for Nintendo Switch is 50% off today

Minecraft Legends artwork featuring dozens of characters on a blue and red background.

Whether you've just purchased the Nintendo Switch or you've had it since day one, you should always be on the lookout for video game deals that will expand your collection of titles for the console. Here's an offer from Amazon's Woot that you should consider -- Minecraft Legends Deluxe Edition at half-price, following a $25 discount on its original price of $50. You'll have to hurry if you want to get this game for just $25 though, as there's a chance that it gets sold out sooner than you think.

Why you should buy Minecraft Legends Deluxe Edition for Nintendo Switch
Minecraft, one of the bestselling video games of all time, is an action-adventure sandbox game where players can explore a limitless world and build to their heart's content. Minecraft Legends is a spinoff real-time strategy game where you'll command minions to attack the outposts of Piglins, which invaded the Overworld, and create defenses to protect villages. You'll have to gather resources from the game's procedurally generated open world in order to build structures and make upgrades, and you'll need to recruit Minecraft favorites like Golems, Skeletons, Creepers, and Zombies to help in your fight to save the Overworld from the invaders. You can also play the multiplayer modes of Minecraft Legends with your friends if you want a faster version of the campaign mode, though it's recommended that you master the mechanics first before jumping into them.

Gaming

WarioWare: Move It! let me control Mario 3’s Tanooki suit with my butt

Wario and his friends appear in WarioWare: Move It! key art.

When I first saw WarioWare: Move It! On a Nintendo Direct, I almost forgot it wasn’t the series’ first entry on Nintendo Switch. Just two years ago, WarioWare: Get It Together! brought the eclectic microgame collection back from obscurity, but it didn’t leave too much of an imprint. In my review at the time, I chalked that up to the entry’s lack of a good central gimmick. The series’ best entries, like the Nintendo Wii’s standout Smooth Moves, have always been tied to some sort of tech twist that makes for wildly creative, goofy experiences. Get It Together simply didn’t have that spark.

So in some ways, Move It really does feel like the series’ first true Switch entry. Unlike its predecessor, it takes full advantage of the console’s Joy-cons and its underutilized features. On paper, it sounded like a direct response to every issue I had with Get It Together -- and it is in practice too. I went hands-on with WarioWare: Move It! ahead of its November 3 release and found a return to form for one of Nintendo’s wackiest series. If you love wiggling your butt, you’ll be happy to know that the microgame collection delivers.
I like to move it, move it
I’d get to try three specific pieces of Move It during my demo. That would include a quick glimpse of story mode, which sets the beachside tone of the adventure. Wario and his gang go on vacation, things go wrong, and microgame gauntlets ensue. It’s the same structure as a lot of previous WarioWare games, as each level centers around one character and a certain Joy-con pose that players (it can be played cooperatively) hold to complete 5-second minigames.

Computing

This Alienware gaming PC with an RTX 4090, 32GB of RAM is $800 off

Alienware Aurora R15 placed at an angle on a table.

If you want the absolute best that you can get from the gaming PC deals that are available online, you should take a look at Dell's offer for the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC. From its original price of $3,800, the powerful machine is available with an $800 discount so you'll only have to pay $3,000. It's still not cheap, but it's worth every single penny because of its topnotch performance. You'll need to hurry with your purchase if you want to pocket the savings though, as time may already be running out for the bargain.

Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC
If you want to play the best PC games at their highest settings, the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC has your back. Inside its stylish chassis are the 13th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, plus 32GB of RAM that will give you room to run streaming apps and other software while you're playing video games, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. With these specifications, you'll be ready to run the best upcoming PC games without the need for further upgrades.