In 2021 with the spread of coronavirus, we’re all gearing up to spend a lot more time at home. Whether you’re a pro-gamer or just looking for a way to pass the time, there’s no question that gaming is the perfect way to spend a day indoors.
If your knowledge of the gaming world hit a ceiling when you stopped playing Sims or Minecraft in your teen years, you might think that all you need for a gaming setup is a tabletop, a monitor, maybe a pair of headphones, a mousepad and a chair but in reality there are a whole heap of new products on the market ready to take your gaming experience to the next level.
Check out these tips for the best products you can buy to take your home office from a work station and turn it into a gamer’s paradise.
Gaming Desk
While there’s nothing wrong with your regular computer desk, if you’re gearing up for a period of pretty serious gaming you’ll want to invest in a purpose-built gaming desk. You may be wondering: what’s the difference between a gaming computer desk and any other desk you could rest a monitor on? Whereas office desks are designed with practicality at front of mind, gaming desks are all about durability and comfort. Oftentimes, gaming desks have space for multiple screens and allow you to move quickly and comfortably between keyboards. The ability to quickly shift attention between screens is what often draws people to corner desks which are L-shaped and provide you with plenty of space to move between monitors.
If you’re going to get serious about your gaming it might be worth investing in an adjustable desk or even a standing desk. Sitting down for long periods of the day can have major ramifications for your posture and cause you pretty painful back problems. No matter how ergonomic your chair is, you can’t beat standing so making height adjustments to your desk can help protect your back which will keep you in the game for longer. To get your hands on some of the best gaming desks, head here.
Gaming Chairs
Depending on what sort of gaming you’re going to be doing, you might be in the market for a low-backed beanbag chair, perfect for playing games on a system hooked up to your TV, or an ergonomic gaming chair for your desk. PC gaming chairs have tall back rests, thick padded seats and support pillows that make them uniquely suited to gamers that are going to be sitting for long periods. With adjustable armrests even cupholders, a good gaming chair can revolutionise your gaming experience.
Cable management
If you’re running multiple monitors and keyboards at the same time you have to have a pretty serious power supply. With cables running every which way, it can be hard to keep your head on straight and, as any gamer would agree, a tangled mess of cables can really cause you grief.
So, one of the key elements necessary for any gaming set up is good cable management. Some gaming desks will come with resources such as removable drawers and shelving to help you keep your cables under control but, if your desk doesn’t have that, you can always do it yourself with cable ties and tags so you’ll never be in the precarious position of having to gamble when it comes to which cable you should unplug.
Headphones
There are lots of different headsets designed specifically for gamers. Whilst you could use your regular headphones, a gaming headset will enhance your overall gaming experience providing you with more comfort and functionality. Many multi-player games including esports games will give you the option of communicating with other players through your microphone. In 2020, when we’re physically cut off from the people we would usually socialise with, this social aspect of gaming is more important than ever. Treat yourself to a gaming headset and then treat the headset to a little luxury by investing in a gaming desk with a built in headphone hook.
Gaming accessories
Now that you’ve got a killer PC monitor set-up, an ergonomic chair and a computer gaming desk all you need to take your gaming setup to the next level is a top of the line, specially designed gaming keyboard and gaming mouse. These features are designed to cope with the high-impact that gaming has on regular keyboards and mice. A gaming keyboard is especially crucial because it is a smaller device with a limited number of keys, arranged in an ergonomic fashion to facilitate efficient key presses because there’s nothing worse for a gamer than having your keyboard stop responding in the middle of a high-stress game!
Blue-light glasses
We’ve all been cautioned about the dangers that come from using computers for long periods of the day from headaches and eye strain to trouble sleeping. Gamers often suffer from the ailments that come from prolonged exposure to blue-light which, in turn, puts them at a disadvantage, forces them to step away from the screen and stops them from taking their gaming to the next level. Luckily blue-light glasses have become more accessible in recent years with many chain optometrists providing cheap glasses either with or without prescription lenses. Investing in a pair is a smart move that many gamers have been making and, believe us, your eyes will thank you!