During my first day of GDC, I talked to some awesome developers and checked out some great games, but there was one appointment I had that really stood out to me: Gamescent. When I first heard of the device, I was shocked and curious. Using AI to figure out scents that would shoot out based on the game you are playing sounds absurd, but after seeing it in action, I am turning into a believer, and I had the chance to test and verify that it works like a charm with the Steam Deck.
For those who don't know about this device, this is a small-ish device that sits on a table, and you plug in your console via a 3.5mm audio jack. It will take the sounds coming out of your console and send them to their cloud. It will use an AI to determine what the sound is, and when it does, it will signal to your Gamescent to eject the appropriate smell. This means your device does need to be connected to the internet at all times, but I can confirm you can use your phone as a hotspot to do it.
After using the Gamescent, I was sold on the idea. I love how it can essentially give you both the smell and taste that is missing from gaming, giving a similar effect you would get while watching a 4D movie. And we can take the Gamescent with us and use it even when we don't have Wi-Fi. But what about using it with a Steam Deck? Well, it is designed to work with any device thanks to it using a 3.5mm audio port to plug in, but while we were there, we got the chance to actually plug it in and test it out, and it works like a charm!
I tested the game DUSK and played it, and as soon as I was shooting, the smell of gunfire and explosions started permeating the air. The scent can permeate an entire room if you give it some time, and I definitely smelled it as I was standing on the other side of the room. I was blown away when it worked, and I started formulating ways I could use this and take the full gaming 4D experience with me on the go. When you are done, you can use the mobile app to emit a specific scent that is used to actually make the other scents disappear, which is great since I didn't want the gunfire smell to stay in the air for long.
Overall, I see a lot of promise with the Gamescent and I definitely want to experience it further. I can say that I definitely went from not being so sure about the product to believing it has a lot of potential!
Gamescent is actually available now and can be purchased on Amazon for $149. It comes with five scents:
- Gunfire
- Explosion
- Racing
- Forest
- Storm
And a special scent to neutralize the others in the air. Each scent cartridge comes with 4,000 - 5,000 times it can be used, and you can purchase it, as well as other new scents like freshly cut grass and blood, for $14.95. All the liquids are WERCS compliant, so they are very safe to be around, and the Gamescent vibrates the liquid to separate the molecules to create the scents, so nothing is burning and the device is extremely safe to be around.
We will be getting a review unit later this week while we are at PAX East, so watch out for more thoughts on using it with the Steam Deck and a possible portable setup!
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You got it to work in handheld mode? What about docked mode? I’ve tried two different tv’s in my house and one gives me a picture but the screen moves erratically and the other tv gives me no signal. I’ve been emailing for days Gamescent support and everything they’ve told me to do isn’t working. I even asked on Amazon product page if the Gamescenr was compatible with Steam Deck and if it worked in docked mode and they said yes.
In case anyone comes across this article with the same problem, this is a follow up to my previous comment about hooking up the Gamescent to Stem Deck while in docked mode. After many failed attempts, I finally decided to go on Amazon and buy a third party dock to see if that would work. I went with JSAUX 6 in 1 Docking Station and received it this morning and it worked right away. Not sure if my official Steam Deck dock is the problem or if it’s the official Steam Deck dock in general that’s not compatible.
Good to know. As far as I know, we primarily use JSAUX docks at SDHQ, so it's possible there is issues with the official dock and the Gamescent.
That sounds something that might be toxic to your health.
It is WERCS compliant, so it is safe to be around for adults and kids. We did ask about that, since our first thought after smelling it was safety (I have a kid on the way and don't want them around something that could harm them.)