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takyon writes:

The world's slowest, most boring bus simulator finally has a VR version

After roughly 22 years, one of the worst video games of all time, Desert Bus, finally has a sequel. In very good news for anybody who hears "notorious game's sequel" and flinches, this new take, dubbed Desert Bus VR, is now completely free to own for PC gamers, whether they own a virtual reality headset or not.

[...] The original Desert Bus would have launched in the mid-'90s as a mini-game tucked into Penn & Teller: Smoke & Mirrors, a comedy-minded Sega CD game that never saw an official commercial launch. Years later, the finished game leaked as a download, which meant fans could finally see its many weird mini-games, including this dreadfully boring bus simulator. The latter has since been popularized by the Canadian comedy troupe Loading Ready Run, whose annual "Desert Bus For Hope" campaign raises charitable donations by live-streaming actual Desert Bus gameplay for hours on end.

Comedian Penn Jillette appears in this VR version via narration, where he describes the original '90s game as a reaction to former US Attorney General Janet Reno's claim that video games were "murder simulators." To mock her claim, he and the original game's design team simulated the monotony and boredom of driving a giant, empty bus down a straight road for hours at a time. The game is tuned so that it requires playing the same amount of time it would take to drive from Las Vegas to Tucson, Arizona, at roughly 40mph. (If you're wondering, that's about eight hours.)

Desert Bus For Hope.

Also at Engadget and Road to VR.

Original Submission