10 Ambitious Video Game Gimmicks That BOMBED

Smell is easily the most neglected sensory element in entertainment for obvious reasons, but for a brief glint at the turn of the millennium a cursory attempt was made to take advantage of players' olfactory faculties.

Believe it or not, Gran Turismo 2 was released with a "scratch and sniff" game disc - that is to say, players who rubbed the second game disc would be presented with the aroma marketed as "racing pit smell," approximating a combination of gasoline and burnt rubber, because why the hell not?

The next year, EA also decided to take a crack with the release of FIFA 2001, which offered players a "football pitch" smell.

The short-lived gimmick hit a brick wall after that, though, and no subsequent video games were released with the oddball flourish.

Hilariously, though, players who dusted off their copies of the games recently have discovered the smell to impressively endure 20 years on.