You’ll sweat the small stuff, though. And your wife’s disapproval.
Have you ever been at the mall with someone you (presumably) love, and thought, “Wow, I wish I was playing Tekken 3 right now”. Well, with the Gaming Pods found in a Chinese mall, your thoughts have become reality.
According to The Paper, Shanghai’s Global Harbour Mall now has pods where men can sit down and play older games in an unventilated plexiglass box, just like God intended. While the women shop, they can avail themselves of older games instead of standing around uselessly.
Each pod is equipped with a seat, a PC and monitor, and some kind of controller, the latter-most of which doesn’t seem to be standardized from the pictures. The pods are currently free, but there are plans to implement some sort of pay to play functionality via the use of QR codes and smartphones.
One Mr. Yang was enthusiastic about the pods, stating that it felt like he was back in school playing these games again. A Mr. Wu, while agreeing with Mr. Yang’s sentiment, identified the lack of ventilation and, summarily, the fact that he was drenched in sweat after just a few minutes as an issue.
The women, however, weren’t nuts about it. After all, what’s the point of taking your husband shopping with you when he’s just going to sit around playing decades old games?
Newer versions of the gaming pods, potentially with ventilation, will be rolling out soon. As to whether the idea will spread, well, that’s anyone’s guess. Probably not to anywhere with strong copyright laws, though, considering the grey legality of emulation. Though perhaps with legal allowance…
About Author
