Rideshare Stimulator has finally gotten a genAI disclosure on Steam after a furore, with Saber's CEO insisting that it's "swim or die" with genAI at large.
I read the article just to confirm this wasn’t a The Onion article. I understand there are games that simulate work like farming and even powerwashing. Even though I don’t play those, I can mildly see the appeal as you’re creating something (farming) or making something better than it was before (powerwashing). However, I see zero appeal for a game that simulates gig work like ridesharing. Can someone explain it to me, or have I reach a pivotal “too old” moment in my life?
there’s a certain poetry to someone making an uncritical game about a technology meant to cheat drivers out of a fair wage using a technology meant to cheat other disciplines out of a fair wage. the venn diagram of people who would make a game about this and make a game with AI is probably just a circle
Crazy Taxi (and Simpsons: Road Rage") were largely about driving poorly, crashing into things, and performing automobile jumps that would be considered suicidal if done for real. It was a fantasy driving game with the taxi business as the thinnest excuse to be driving. Unless I’ve drastically mistaken what Rideshare Simulator is, I don’t think Crazy Taxi example is applicable.
I’d say Space Taxi and Crazy Taxi had equal amounts of relevance to the taxi industry in the sense that they were an excuse to fly/drive in fantasy settings instead of an actual business simulator.
I read the article just to confirm this wasn’t a The Onion article. I understand there are games that simulate work like farming and even powerwashing. Even though I don’t play those, I can mildly see the appeal as you’re creating something (farming) or making something better than it was before (powerwashing). However, I see zero appeal for a game that simulates gig work like ridesharing. Can someone explain it to me, or have I reach a pivotal “too old” moment in my life?
there’s a certain poetry to someone making an uncritical game about a technology meant to cheat drivers out of a fair wage using a technology meant to cheat other disciplines out of a fair wage. the venn diagram of people who would make a game about this and make a game with AI is probably just a circle
Crazy Taxi.
Crazy Taxi (and Simpsons: Road Rage") were largely about driving poorly, crashing into things, and performing automobile jumps that would be considered suicidal if done for real. It was a fantasy driving game with the taxi business as the thinnest excuse to be driving. Unless I’ve drastically mistaken what Rideshare Simulator is, I don’t think Crazy Taxi example is applicable.
Fifteen years before Crazy Taxi, we had Space Taxi for the Commodore 64:
I’d say Space Taxi and Crazy Taxi had equal amounts of relevance to the taxi industry in the sense that they were an excuse to fly/drive in fantasy settings instead of an actual business simulator.