If you have a gamer on your list this holiday season, it can be hard to figure out exactly what to get them. But not to worry; here’s some cool gear and accessories that will help your recipient end their year with all the fun tech they want.
FIFA 19
Featured Sponsored Product. FIFA 19, the newest version of Electronic Arts’ iconic football franchise is bringing some great new features to the pitch. For the first time in the series, players can compete in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europe League, and the UEFA Super Cup.
The gameplay is also getting some enhancements. Timed Finishing gives players an entirely new mechanic that lets them make any shot world class with just one extra, well-timed button tap. They’ll also be able to change team strategies on the fly and with the tap of a button with Dynamic Tactics. FIFA 19 is available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Buy it here.
LG C8 4K TV
That’s a lot of acronyms up there, but the bottom line is this: If you want to get the most out of games like FIFA 19 and you’ve got cash to spare, this is the TV to buy. It sports an insanely rich OLED screen and helpfully includes upscaling and support for OSSC and Framemeister if you enjoy playing retro games too. Most importantly, it’s low latency — which means the time between when you press a button and your character does something onscreen is extremely precise.
Xbox One X
If you do pick up a 4K TV for your recipient or they’ve got one already, you’ll also want to make sure they’ve got an Xbox One X to take advantage of all that fancy new TV technology. The Xbox One X is, simply put, the most powerful console on the market today, and new games coming out this holiday season like FIFA 19 support 4K resolutions and HDR visuals. A number of titles are even “Xbox One X Enhanced,” which translates to additional improvements like graphical enhancements, additional visual effects, higher frame rate, or higher resolution.
SteelSeries Arctis 7 Headphones
There are plenty of quality headphones on the market so you can game in a sublime cacophony of sound without disturbing the other members of your household. But what makes the Arctis 7 stand out is the overall build and sound quality for the price, and the fact that it’s compatible with pretty much every device you own. Hook it up to a PC and you’ll even get DTS 7.1 surround sound to make sure you’ll hear every enemy footstep before they can get the jump on you.
AVer Media Live Gamer 2 Plus
If your gift recipient wants to take their gaming online with a streaming channel, or just save their sessions to show off, the Live Gamer 2 Plus has all the functionality they need. It works with any gaming device that has an HDMI port.
It’s easy to get started: Just hook it up between the console and the TV. For streaming, it then connects to a computer via USB. But it also has an optional setting if you just want to save their footage for later. The PC-free mode lets players load their gameplay directly onto a microSD card. From there, they can do whatever they want with it.
Kinivo 5-Port HDMI
Gaming consoles and media boxes just keep coming out, and unfortunately, TVs only have so many HDMI ports. Luckily, HDMI switches like Kinivo’s can turn a single port into several with a simple box.
This one lets gamers get more mileage out of their inputs. It has room for five accessories and even supports 4K resolution so they don’t have to sacrifice picture quality for convenience. Everything just plugs into the back of the box, and then it hooks up to the TV. The switch changes inputs with the included remote or a button on the device. But it also switches immediately once a different device powers on.
It’s a simple solution that solves a lot of problems so your friend or loved one can keep gaming without worrying about cables.
Avantree headphone stand
Huge headphones like the SteelSeries Arctis 7 we mentioned above are great to have. They keep players from annoying their neighbors with all the explosions and sword clangs that may be coming out of their TVs. They provide enhanced sound and immersion. And they help minimize distractions. But when they’re not in use, their size becomes a problem. It’s hard to find a place to put them.
But headphone stands like the Avantree provide a place to keep large headphones — and it looks pretty cool too. This one has a hefty hang-bar for the headphones themselves, along with a tray at the bottom that offers a spot to manage cords. Or you could throw their keys in there. It’s up to you.
The stand has a small enough footprint to sit easily on a desk or even a coffee table, depending on where the gaming happens.
Aprire controller stand
It isn’t just the headphones that need a convenient stowing place between sessions. Those controllers could also use a home. That’s especially true if your gamer friend expects to use their gaming space for anything else, like work. Clutter never made anything easier except tripping, but these controller stands have an answer.
Each set contains two sleek slings that will cradle a controller safely when it’s taking a break. The set also includes some adhesive tabs, which will let one stick the holders up on a wall, out of the way. A gamer who has multiple consoles will realize pretty quickly that they don’t have enough desk or table room for all the joysticks they’ve built up, and just throwing them all into a box is not the best solution.
This system provides both practical and aesthetic benefits, clearing up clutter and turning the controllers into display pieces.
