Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends
It was a romantic Saturday eve when I told my mate the seven Scripture every girl want to get a line : “ Are you quick to test the GameScent ? ”
Look , writing about video games for a living derive with some inherent plethora . Sometimes it mean testing a plot likethe salaciousStellar Bladeand induce to assure screw ones that I ’m not , in fact , watch out porn on the clock . Other times , it intend getting some noticeable piece of tech to survey that just lives with you for a while , like mynow - defunct iiRcade cabinetthat looms in my living room . But nothing has quite make me the same arcdegree of experiential dread that I finger testing the truly yucky GameScent .
Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends
If you missed itsviral moment in February , the GameScent is a bizarre Modern product that lets player smell their games . After hooking it up to any gaming equipment , it uses AI to analyze a plot ’s audio recording and release one of six scents to match what ’s happening on filmdom . It ’s the sort of tech experiment that you know is a unfit idea the 2d you hear the lift pitch , but you experience compelled to try . It ’s like when a friend inquire you to “ come in here and smell this ! ” You always oblige .
Despite my trepidation , my curiosity got the better of me , and I assigned myself the commonplace task of testing the extol atomizer . I opine it might be the staring companion for a game likeDragon ’s Dogma 2 . One rancid swordplay academic session and a splitting concern later , I now populate in fearfulness of the black hexagon haunting my apartment .
The return of Smell-o-vision
My inauspicious - plump journey began when I was receive to quiz the GameScent in person and chat with the creator behind it . I stepped into a large hotel suite and sat down on a couch . A black boxwood appeared on the board before me , with glowing blue visible radiation on its side and six sleeping room on its top palpebra . It ’s a little ominous at first sight ; not quite evil , but unnerving in the way that2001 : A Space Odyssey ’s monolith is .
I was ready to sense the hereafter .
The actual demo was short . The God Almighty fired upFar Cry 6and began running around . It was n’t long before a puff of mist appear from one chamber . They asked me what it smelled like . “ Is that the ocean ? ” I answered courteously , cover the fact that all I could smell was Axe consistency spray . They face a small puzzled by the response and corrected me accordingly , allege that it was in reality “ timberland ” I was smell . I nodded along as if that made perfect good sense , all the while sneaking in some subtle snuff to essay and fancy out what part of that odor even remotely resemble a forest .
Here ’s how the GameScent work . Each sleeping accommodation has a smooth vial in it containing a different scent . Each of those scent is mapped to a different soundscape or effect . The gimmick uses AI to hear for sealed audio cues in the plot that match a loaded scent and then automatically relinquish it when it observe one . When the demoists got into a firefight , a puff of “ gunfire ” filled the room . This also smelled like Axe eubstance spray but with a smokier palette .
While the demo pass on me a little confused , it ’s curt enough that I can see the appeal of a gimmick like this , as uncanny as it is on paper . The Divine behind it make a convincing case for the technical school when I speak with them , talking about how video games tap into every human sense except smell . This could be the tool that fills that opening . It makes sodding sense in some style , specially as the rise of tactile feedback has made gaming a much more tactile experience . Why not go for the nozzle next ?
As we chat , I bring up give way experiment like this from amusement ’s yesteryear and question why now will be unlike . I bring up Smell - type O - vision , one of picture palace ’s many attempts at adding smell to flick . Another convincing debate rise . One appendage of the team notes that Smell - o - sight was actually quite popular with hearing at the time . Its downfall was n’t due to public interest but to theaters themselves not wanting to pay to operate the expensive gimmick . GameScent ’s more price - good $ 180 price tag end seemed more practical on theme .
It ’s that amazingly insightful schmooze that convert me to request a review unit and test it out myself . possibly this was the workplace of insane scientist who were on to something . Perhaps the GameScent really would add a level of immersion that could take my play seance to the next level . I was ready to sense the future .
It was a second of unreasoning hubris that will cling over me like the lingering scent of pizza that ’s so hard to scrub out .
What does Dragon’s Dogma smell like?
My GameScent arrived at my flat while I was away for a workweek at this year’sGame Developers Conference . The moment I come home to a girl who had been patiently await my return , I excitedly pointed at it . “ Do you know what that is ! ? ” I state before cracking launch the corner and divulge the GameScent .
“ Oh God , ” she say .
Over the next week , I ’d endanger to break out the GameScent for us to test . My initial pitch was to crochet it up to the TV and move around it on while we do our Thursday rite : WatchingLaw and Order : Special Victims Unit . The GameScent works with any kind of audio stream , so you could technically utilise it to smack the New York Streets ofSVU . We ultimately resolve not to disrespect Mariska Hargitay like that and put it forth for another nighttime . My second rejected pitch was that we watchThe mania of the Christon Easter Sunday with the GameScent . This idea was n’t instantly turn down , but I could sense the enmity in the elbow room .
A tuft of mist puffed from the GameScent , like blank heater rising to announce the selection of a new Bishop of Rome .
I put aside the thought of doing a high - concept bit and instead practice the GameScent as it was specify . I finally beganDragon ’s Dogma 2and used the gimmick as my sidekick . The setup process is a little complicated , as the GameScent comes with an app that includes some lacking instructions on how to get it all working . To ensure that I had connected it correctly , I unfold YouTube and put on a 10 - hr - longsighted video of political machine gunfire . I let it play for a good hour or two as I worked to troubleshoot it . My girlfriend stared daggers at me from the couch .
Suddenly , a tuft of mist puff from the GameScent , like blank smoke rising to announce the excerpt of a novel pope . There was a second of expectancy , as it take a second for the smells to filter through the room . Then , the aroma swan over to me . I take a whiff , and my eyes widened . My girl , sitting a lilliputian further away from the machine , had the same response second later .
Jesus Christ .
Gunfire is , as you might have a bun in the oven , not a pretty smell . Thankfully , Dragon ’s Dogma 2is more of amedieval fantasy RPGwith no side arm to speak of . We ’d mostly be make out with environmental scents like “ forest ” and “ storm , ” which seemed much more pleasant . Or so we guess . As the title screen popped up to some blare orchestral music , a olfactory property puff out out of the box . It was putrid , smelling faintly of ashes and , you guessed it , Axe body spray . By looking at the app , I infer that the AI had interpreted the menu screen ’s heroic sound as “ explosion ” and permit off a flaming aroma . It was only the start .
What I rapidly learned is that testing the GameScent in a very large , receptive hotel suite is very different from test it in a small New York City apartment . What was vague during my first exam was now all - go through . While I ’ve paint my girlfriend as an unplanned participant in all this so far , it ’s important to note that she was entirely in on the bit initially . She was all in on the absurdity of the twist and seemed excited to examine it together and laugh as a couple . I take in the light leave her eyes as the reality of the situation wafted over her .
The next few instant were a whirlwind . As I begin exploring , scent began pop out seemingly at random . I had no estimate what was triggering them . Presumably , the sound of razzing must have indicated I was in a woods , but nothing we were smelling really equate up with anything we were seeing . As I recognized that things were promptly getting out of hand , I rush to spread the app and push a button to unleash a “ neat atmosphere ” scent mean to disguise any release aroma . It ’s Febreze , fundamentally . The moment after the smell released into the melodic line , another chamber fired off in my face as I hang over it . It was “ explosion ” again despite no such thing happening in - game .
The GameScent had wag war against me .
The aftermath
It was n’t long before I had to pull the plug on the experiment . My girl , who had press herself as deep into the couch corner as she could , notice that she was experience a splitting concern . That was the difficult logical argument . I quickly unplug it all and make a motion the gimmick to my kitchen to get it out of the elbow room . We cracked a window on a 45 - level night and left it open until the elbow room aired out . We had survive the hexagon ’s ire — but that was only the beginning .
Even when the GameScent is powered off , its dark presence does n’t truly go away . Due to how strong its included odour are , it always emanates a feeble odor even when it ’s sitting stagnant . When I walked into the kitchen to cook some gullible beans for an Easter potluck the next morning , I was greet by a subtle scent that had necessitate over the space like an trespassing species . When we arrive home after the potluck and opened the front doorway , the smell greeted us .
It was no longer our apartment . The GameScent had direct control .
The equipment ’s ominous black pattern hits differently in this setting . As I publish this , I can turn back and see the box sitting on the kitchen table . It peeks out from behind a vase of roses , observe me as I pen . It knows that I will need to turn it on to take the photos you ’re seeing in this article right now . I had opened Pandora ’s box , and I would pay up for my sins .
Yes , I am being a bit histrionic here . Put all the existential dread aside and the reality is that the GameScent is nothing more sinister than a fancy atomizer with a sport gimmick . With some more pleasant scent stretch into it , it might really run as a precious gambling peripheral . The issuing with its current execution comes more down to the kinds of odour that the ship’s company behind it is initially concentre on , as “ racing cars ” and “ gunfire ” are just plain stinky start level . The Maker seem truly attached to make wads of fresh scents and perhaps even sell packs target at specific genres . I could see the value in anAnimal Crossingpack that include the smell of rivers and peak .
Instead , the GameScent feel like a much rough product in its babyhood . It ’s a rough prototype that come with a console - connect transcriber that need a bit more work . That leaves it feel like a very expensive gag gift . It ’s the kind of thing you ’d buy for $ 30 at Walmart and deteriorate into your family ’s Yankee Swap on Christmas Eve . You ’d gather gran and all the young kids around the idiot box and see in delight as their faces twist in disgust . It would sit under the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree for a few solar day before getting packed into a box and commit in the attic like a obsess Ouija board .
If there ’s one thing I ’ve learned from this torturous experience , it ’s that I have a very supportive girlfriend . Her keenness to join me on the frontlines gave our kinship a secure war storey that I ’m sure we ’ll always bring up and laugh about . The GameScent may have advance the fight , but I conceive we won the state of war .
