Does the Tesla Diner Mark a New Trend for Retro Entertainment?
The opening of the new Tesla Restaurant in Hollywood aims to add extra excitement to the experience of owning and charging an electric vehicle. However, by taking a closer look at it, we can decide whether it also marks a new phase in our love for retro entertainment, or if it’s just a continuation of an existing theme.
The Tesla Diner Offers a Retro-Futuristic Experience
The recent opening of this two-story restaurant gives us a fascinating combination of dazzling new tech and much-loved favorites from the past. While it’s housed in a sleek new building in Los Angeles and Elon Musk has promised that Optimus robots will be serving the food in it before long, it’s easy to see the retro influence that has inspired it.
Billed as the biggest urban Supercharger on the planet, it’s based on the type of classic American diner that will be instantly familiar to fans of TV shows like Happy Days, where many of the key moments took place in Arnold’s Drive-In. The menu at the Tesla diner has classics like milkshakes and fried chicken, which are ordered in-car using the touchscreen and delivered to the vehicle.
Movies can be viewed on 20-meter LED screens, with classic sci-fi movies and cartoons among the entertainment on show, although this Rolling Stone review suggests that the screens aren’t correctly placed to give the sort of 1950s-style drive-in theater vibe you might have expected. The building is based on the kind of alien spaceship that reminds us of 1950s B-movies, so can this collision between cutting-edge technology and retro cool already be found in other areas of popular entertainment?
Live-Streamed Casino Games That Use a Retro Theme
The introduction of live streaming tech has given us a thrilling new way to enjoy different types of activities more conveniently. One of the best examples comes from online casinos, where live games of roulette, blackjack, and other classics can now be played with a human dealer on the screen. A traditional casino setting is often used, combined with modern tech, to give a unique way of playing online in a familiar casino environment.
This look at your Cash or Crash strategy options introduces another way of playing that leans on a retro-futuristic angle, just like the Tesla diner. Players need to decide at each stage whether to continue playing or cash out their winnings, as the presenter draws numbered balls. The retro aspect is based on the fact that it takes place on an old-fashioned blimp-style airship, like the type you might have seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or the more recent Mortal Engines.
There’s little doubt that Cash or Crash games have seen growing popularity in recent years, and the presenter’s air crew outfit and the simple bingo-type format add to the feeling of it being like an updated version of a classic game, although it’s actually a completely new game from Evolution. Other live games, such as Crazy Time and Balloon Race, feature a similar combination of a timeless look with smooth live-streamed gameplay. With interest in classic games growing, this retro games quiz from mBit Casino provides an interesting way for players to find out which nostalgia-inspired title might suit them best.
The Continuing Popularity of Retro TV Shows and Movies with a Modern Touch
Retro TV shows have long held a special place in our hearts, as can be seen in the success of the likes of Stranger Things and Mad Men. The 2023 premiere of Hello Tomorrow on Apple TV+ helped introduce a retro-futuristic look that’s similar to the approach taken by the Tesla diner. Billy Crudup stars as a traveling salesman selling plots of land on the Moon in a fictional version of the past with futuristic technology.
The steampunk and cyberpunk genres have provided us with many great examples of movies, TV shows, and games that mix both old and new technology. 1999’s Wild Wild West, starring Will Smith, received mainly negative reviews, but it showed us how imagined technology could help paint a completely different picture of the past, where new challenges and opportunities are available to the characters.
Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are among the famous characters to have benefited from this style in recent years. Bioshock and a reboot of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are among the potential upcoming movies that could continue to find inspiration in the mixture of old and new elements.
How the Tesla Restaurant Fits This Retrofuturistic Approach to Entertainment
By looking at various types of entertainment, we can see that the style of the Tesla diner perhaps isn’t as unexpected as it seemed at first sight. The retrofuturistic aesthetic has been popular for several years, providing some notable hits, as well as a few disappointments.
It isn’t yet clear how successful this combination of a charging station and entertainment-tinged restaurant will be, as early reviews have been mixed. However, it’s clearly based on a popular trend that we’re likely to see a lot more of in the near future.
