I tried the GameScent so you don't have to, and trust me, you don't want to
I don't generally like to dump on new products, even when they're not great. A lot of effort, money, and dreams go into designing and creating them, and even when they don't live up to their promise I try to respect that process—that someone believed in what they were doing enough to see it all the way through to the end. Sometimes, though, circumstances force me to make an exception.
GameScent bills itself as a device that uses the magic of AI to inject scents into the air based on what's happening from moment to moment in your game: "Haptic stench," as hardware writer Nick Evanson put it when GameScent was announced earlier this year. Six scents are included with the base unit: Gunfire, explosions, racing cars, forest, storm, and "clean air," which is actually intended to eliminate the other scents—so really, it's five and a neutralizer. It's not the most well-rounded mix, but enough for the typical mainstream gamer? I guess that's the theory.
My GameScent experience did not get off to a strong start. The device is controlled through a mobile app, and it's not optional: The app is needed to make two separate Bluetooth connections (one for the atomizer, the other for the audio analyzer), and then Wi-Fi connections for each. It's not difficult but the process is opaque and the net result was a pain in the ass: The instructions are little more than "download the app and do what it says," while the app is clearly designed by someone who already knows how to use it and isn't giving any thought to those of us who don't.
