By Alec Meer on February 22nd, 2011 at 7:15 pm.
The greatest thing about the PC: nobody can stop anybody from making things for it.
The worst thing about the PC: nobody can stop anybody from making things for it. For instance, a device that lets you smell World of Warcraft.
ScentScape is USB gizmo that releases various odours to suit the game/bit of game you’re currently playing. It probably uses magic, or chemicals, or both. It’s a $70 unit techno-air freshner refillable with $24 cartridges that last 200 hours.
The smells? Well, 20 in total, and so far we know of pine forest, smoke, flowers and ocean. No “charred flesh” or “Boomer vomit” then, eh?
We don’t actually know which games are supported, but the pic on their website looks suspiciously like WoW. More details here – includes ‘volume’ control!
Here’s a little taste (well, not taste – you’ll probably need a different unit for that) of it in action, albeit with a TV focus. Skip to about 3.50 in.
What would you like to smell while gaming, readers? In my case, anything other than the mild odour of burning dust from inside my long-overdue-for-a-clean PC case would be a welcome change. I might get one of these, or I might just put some flowers on my desk instead.
22/02/2011 at 19:38 Squirrelfanatic says:
I want to smell the smell of victory of course.
22/02/2011 at 19:41 Mr_Day says:
Sure? It smells of sweat and caffeine.
22/02/2011 at 19:49 Quentillius says:
Napalm?
22/02/2011 at 20:25 zergrush says:
Cigarettes and whisky.
23/02/2011 at 02:08 P3RF3CT D3ATH says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPXVGQnJm0w
22/02/2011 at 19:44 Jahkaivah says:
Perfect for Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
22/02/2011 at 19:48 oceanclub says:
Oh god, I hope Fox News don’t hear about this.
P.
22/02/2011 at 19:51 Vinsanity says:
The smell of rape causes rape?
22/02/2011 at 20:02 Adriaan says:
Great, now my mind is wondering about what rape smells like.
22/02/2011 at 20:28 Hoaxfish says:
we already know paedophiles can make people smell of hammers
23/02/2011 at 05:34 Shih Tzu says:
hey Adriaan, come over here and i’ll show you
22/02/2011 at 19:50 Thule says:
Wouldn’t WoW just smell like cheetos and dried sweat all the time no matter what zone you’re in anyway?
22/02/2011 at 21:31 Magrippinho says:
Actually, WoW smells like money.
Fresh-out-the bank money for when you log in from a dev account, burnt money for when using an ordinary one.
22/02/2011 at 19:52 Batolemaeus says:
Pancakes.
Or waffles.
I’m sorry, but screw smoke, pine, or any of the other chemicals that won’t even come close to the real thing. If I want pine, I have pines a short walk from here. If I want smoke, I go to the fireplace.
But pancakes? I don’t have pancakes. And I can’t have pancakes right now.
:’(
22/02/2011 at 19:53 Chaz says:
I did mention in another topic somewhere that that new Eldar Scrolls game could do with some thing like this to add extra atmosphere. So you get the smell of the forests and the stench of rotting zombie infested dungeons and of course the smell of warm blood as you hack someone to pieces.
22/02/2011 at 20:17 Fumarole says:
Eldar Scrolls? Is that the new Relic game?
23/02/2011 at 04:27 Firestem4 says:
@Fumarole
No, it is the new game from Bethesda Softworks (people who made Fallout 3, Elder Scrolls Oblivion/Morrowind)
23/02/2011 at 09:10 Synchrony says:
@Firestem4
completely missed the joke there didn’t you
22/02/2011 at 19:56 Chris D says:
It would certainly make those sewer levels even less popular than they are at the moment.
22/02/2011 at 19:56 Zogtee says:
Kane & Lynch 2.
22/02/2011 at 20:50 Brumisator says:
Smells like poopy?
22/02/2011 at 20:00 TreeFrog says:
This is all well and good, but what’s the smell resolution of this thing? If I’m sitting round a campfire with a group of other Stalkers, am I going to be able to detect the stench of an approaching mutant, or will the synthsmoke drown it out? I don’t see him asking these important questions.
22/02/2011 at 20:50 Zenicetus says:
Yes, the resolution issue is critical. Will all of Geralt’s beddable babes in Witcher 2 smell alike? That will just ruin immersion.
22/02/2011 at 20:06 skinlo says:
You really need 4 of these situated around you so you can properly detect direction of smells.
22/02/2011 at 20:39 Polysynchronicity says:
Your nose doesn’t even work that way!
22/02/2011 at 21:24 Navagon says:
That’s because our noses have evolved to smell directionlessly due to mankind’s cheapness in only purchasing one ScentScape machine each. If we are to avoid causing Darwin to revolve in his coffin at even greater speed then the only solution is MOAR SCENTSCAPE.
22/02/2011 at 20:08 Kryopsis says:
Smell the Barrens chat.
22/02/2011 at 22:17 KingMudkip says:
Something I try not to read, let alone want to smell.
22/02/2011 at 20:15 cocoleche says:
I just want something that cooks and puts food in my mouth :(
22/02/2011 at 21:41 Teddy Leach says:
*Waits for someone to make a wife joke. Because I’m not going to.*
23/02/2011 at 04:36 pipman3000 says:
they’re called hands! you use them to take the pizza rolls out of the box and put them on the styrofoam plate. then you put them in the microwave and turn it on, then you use your hands to put them in your mouth and
22/02/2011 at 20:20 Jimbo says:
Artificial smoke smell seems like a spectacularly bad idea.
22/02/2011 at 20:26 Derpentine says:
I’ve smelled things you people wouldn’t believe. I’ve smelled the Donkey Kong Kill Screen, I’ve smelled Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I smelled c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain… Time to die.
22/02/2011 at 22:37 Splynter says:
Marvelous.
22/02/2011 at 20:29 Gotem says:
Honey! What is that smell? are you watching porn again?
22/02/2011 at 20:37 Batolemaeus says:
Ohgodwat
22/02/2011 at 21:03 Sarlix says:
I would like to know what Castle Shotgun smells like.
22/02/2011 at 21:17 Teddy Leach says:
This thing is built for sewer levels.
22/02/2011 at 21:22 DiamondDog says:
Listen… do you smell something?
22/02/2011 at 21:32 Duffin says:
I wonder if it includes the scent of Jaina’s axe wound.
Wait.. I’m not logged in… am I?
22/02/2011 at 21:52 Jake says:
Hah for some reason at first glance I just assumed you would strap those things to your face like a robotic pig snout. Thinking about it, I can see that their way is more sensible.
This makes me think of the Jorvick Centre, where you can smell what it is like to be in Viking times but while it may be authentic it’s just horrible. I suspect Orgrimmar stinks just as badly. Now we just need authentic ‘being stabbed with a sword’ force feedback and maybe some thermostat controlling software that makes it unpleasantly hot in your room when you fall into lava (patent pending). Then we can experience how miserable WoW would really be.
22/02/2011 at 22:15 ColOfNature says:
Bacon. Everything should smell of bacon.
22/02/2011 at 23:09 Moonracer says:
I’m imagining this used in public spaces or multiple at LAN parties.
22/02/2011 at 23:23 ZIGS says:
Does it work with Rapelay?
22/02/2011 at 23:49 Ziv says:
The peripheral that I really want is an AC controller, one thing that I’m missing for full immersion in metro is the freezing breeze once you go outside. It would also be awesome to heat up when using mounted guns for long periods. Think of the possibilities!
23/02/2011 at 00:01 Jumwa says:
With the numerous poop-related quests in WoW…
23/02/2011 at 00:15 GT3000 says:
Oh the possibilities with sex games. The smell of vaginal discharge, and dried semen. Reminds me of mom. =\
23/02/2011 at 05:47 Silver says:
aaaaah…
23/02/2011 at 16:34 sbs says:
WHAT THE HELL MAN
23/02/2011 at 04:40 pipman3000 says:
Revolutionary device allows user to smell World of Warcraft players.
Smelly unwashed armpits and McDonalds french fries.
23/02/2011 at 06:56 apa says:
I want BFBC2 Vietnam to support this. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” ;)
23/02/2011 at 08:19 Yargh says:
Privates?
23/02/2011 at 08:47 jon_hill987 says:
Because of the tendency for games to get set in places like sewers and the use of rotten flesh in many games I am against smell-o-gaming even more than I am against NVidia’s rubbish 3D (active shutter is not the way to do it, polarised is the best glasses on method as at least you can get a prescription pair and it doesn’t flicker).
23/02/2011 at 10:09 Axez D. Nyde says:
I guess with smelling games, no one would actually wanna play “a game I made with rotting zombies in”.
23/02/2011 at 11:36 cheesetruncheon says:
Oooh I can’t wait, these will become super popular and then RPS will run an Article about how, as an anosmic person, I have to find my way through Games using only Sight and Sound. It’d be awesome.
but seriously even if I could smell I wouldn’t buy one of these, nothing beats a walk in the Park.
23/02/2011 at 16:40 BobsLawnService says:
Anything that masks the odours of desperation, stale bodily fluids and mouldy old takeout that are the mainstay of your average hardcore Wow player is a good thing.
24/02/2011 at 05:20 Hidden Thousand says:
As much as I love Borderlands, I’d stay away from its smells.
24/02/2011 at 05:34 Oak says:
Finally, a reason to revisit Don’t Shit Your Pants.