Car Infotainment Screens: Delivering an Online Gaming Experience?

Video screens in the back help keep little ones entertained on long trips, and the driver’s infotainment screens have gone from being there for car controls and navigation to acting as media centres.

Some car manufacturers have also integrated games into their systems, meaning that everything from racing cars to solving puzzles and enjoying card games can be done on the screens. But what about online gambling?

Gambling sites can be complex and processor-hungry, and there’s a need to find reputable, licensed ones to play at. The latter issue can be easily solved with the help of expert review sites like Legalcasino which analyse and compare legal online casinos and provide ratings of safe, top operators. But while parked up safely, are car infotainment screens good enough to handle playing at these online casino sites?

Gaming itself is a huge industry so that simply means that more and more gamers are driving cars, so putting game access in vehicles has been something of a natural fit. Everyone from BMW and Mini to Mercedes-Benz have tapped into gaming availability, through various systems and Android Auto opened up new avenues for gaming even when an infotainment system doesn’t have it.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla was the innovative pioneer behind this phenomenon, going as far as incorporating Steam into some of their models. Being able to sit there in a car and play famous titles such as The Witcher, PUBG and Stardew Valley indicates the processing power that the models can handle.

The online gambling industry is also massive, worth billions of dollars worldwide. Online casinos have become big business, offering tremendous convenience over players having to plan a night out at a physical location. Having access to mobile casino slots and table games while sitting in a car is a feasible thing, and the above example shows that a smooth experience could be had. But it’s not an area that’s taken off.

Controls are extremely important when playing at online casinos. Setting the amount per spin, accurately clicking the right elements on bonus games, and hitting the right cards to hold on video poker, for example, are part of this.

Things get a little more complex moving to live casino options as well. This needs extra processing power because of the live stream and in-game info that is displayed, like the result of a roulette spin.

There’s closer attention to the game controls required by the player and it’s an area where having a big, clear screen can help. However, not all infotainment screens are designed to handle such complex display requirements and even getting access to sites can be difficult in and of itself.

That’s due to web browsers not being available on all of them, which is something that’s needed to access a casino site. Some casinos have mobile apps, but they are unlikely to be native to a car’s infotainment screen. Another shortfall comes through a lack of comfort when using an infotainment screen for an extended period - holding out an arm to poke at the screen isn’t the most ideal set up.

Naturally, when someone is driving, there can’t be the distraction of watching a video or playing a hand of blackjack at a live casino. That’s why radio, music streaming apps, podcasts and audiobooks are so popular. However, gaming in cars isn’t a redundant thing, particularly in electric cars.

A great time to have access to online casino games is when charging up an electric car. Even if it’s 20 minutes at a Supercharger, that’s downtime where a lot of people can turn to their infotainment screen and that is a big reason why such things are available. But for cars that do have gaming capability, they only become available when the vehicle is parked.

While technology within cars is improving all the time, some electric cars already have the capacity to handle online casino platforms. Still, a good tablet is arguably the king of devices for play, as it’s far more versatile, has a great screen and will provide a more comfortable user experience when holding it.