Sony's CES 2024 presentation may not have lived up to expectations, as the rumored PS5 Pro was not announced. The event was not as successful as it could have been, as Izumi Kawanishi, President and COO of Sony Honda Mobility, appeared on stage and drove a car on stage using Sony's Dual Sense controller

, which got the audience excited.

or ......" Given the worldwide media attention and the fact that the presentation venue was packed with journalists eager to catch a glimpse of Sony's latest product, it is unlikely that the company or the venue would allow one of its executives to actually operate an electric car with a game controller.

I mean, imagine all the insurance forms you have to fill out and what the company has to charge if all goes wrong. Just the thought of a big car accidentally rolling off the stage into the crowd is frightening.

The car in question is Sony and Honda's new EV concept, the Afila, and while the car itself has many of the expected EV features (via The Verge), including all-wheel drive, two 180kW motors, and a 91kWh battery, the highlight of the show entertainment features.

The front bumper could display ads created by a dedicated app button (how cyberpunk), the driver's seat had a built-in cinema-like rumble feature, and a narrow but obscenely spacious dashboard screen was shown to deliver all kinds of media

Safety was also a key feature of the car.

For safety reasons, it is likely that what we were seeing was a car with carefully orchestrated, pre-programmed movements, and one would expect that much rehearsal was conducted to ensure that there was no danger of anyone in the room accidentally slipping a finger and having a terrible outcome

The river west of the river

Kawanishi noted that the controller demonstration was purely for showcase and not an expected feature, but if the goal was to attract media attention, it certainly succeeded.

Still, while I don't see a future where cars are normally controlled by gaming controllers coming anytime soon, it was certainly fun to watch.

Given my propensity for inadvertently hitting obstacles in "Forza Horizon 5," this fact is of little consolation.