Got a gamer or two in your family? Make Christmas gift-giving easier this year!
With the holiday season bearing down, you’ll want to get a jump on all your shopping. One of the categories where you’ll want to shop early is video games and their related accessories.
That’s because these are hot selling items that go quickly. If you wait until the last minute, you might not get what’s on your to-buy list. Video games are a great gift for almost any age and both genders.
There are games for toddlers all the way through adulthood – and gaming isn’t just a guy’s thing – many girls love gaming, too. It’s a way to connect with others socially through live accounts, so teens especially enjoy the activity.
Consoles and Bundles
Consoles and bundles make great gifts because you’re giving the gift of entertainment. People of all ages love video consoles and they’re great for families as well because many families use gaming consoles as a way to spend time together.
So if you’re looking to get a console or a console bundle for some of the people on your list, you’ll want to know what’s popular, what’s the most wanted and what’s new on the scene.
One of the popular ones is the PlayStation 4 500GB Console – Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Bundle. This one is going to be on many wish lists for teens, kids, and adults.
Some people use the console for getting fit or sports games that allow them to combine health with the fun of games or dancing. One of the reason for this particular console bundle’s popularity is because players get access to more games – including online multiplayer options.
Great gaming moments can be shared on YouTube, Ustream and other social sites. In addition to that, the console gives users the ability to stream all kinds of other entertainment – from music to sports and beyond.
One of the newest consoles this year is the Nintendo Switch, and it’s made many kids as well as their parents extremely happy. That’s because this is one of the most versatile consoles on the market and it’s backed by the reliability of a company well known for its popular games.
When kids play games using the console, it sits on a docking station. In the past when it was time to go somewhere, kids would have to pause their game or save and quit, then leave the house.
But with Nintendo Switch, the console goes from a docked console to an on the go gaming system. It easily becomes a handheld game and players can continue to battle other players in multiplayer mode even while they’re not home.
What many parents like about Nintendo gaming consoles is that the games tend to be more family friendly than other games are. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for the release of the Super NES Classic.
This much loved console will be making another appearance later in the fall. But one of the most anticipated consoles lurking just on the horizon is Xbox’s newest creation. The Xbox One X.
Shrouded in secrecy, the console was known as Project Scorpio and the good news for all those who love gaming is that it’s supposed to hit shelves in November 2017. The anticipation surrounding this console is due to the promise that the Xbox One accessories are compatible with this newest offering.
It’s also due to top rated graphics and great compatibility. That means that you won’t have to leave your library of previous games behind. The console is backwards compatible, so you’ll be able to play the games that you love as well as the games that will be new on the market.
Accessories for Gaming
When it comes to giving gaming gifts to the teens or adults on your list, you can give things like consoles or console bundles. But sometimes these people might already have those items.
What you want to do is to look at a list of all the accessories that you can get. Some of them are necessary items and some of them can make game play a little sweeter. You can look for things like accessory kits or adapters.
Cases and storage containers make great gifts, but so do cooling stations or face plates. Skins are a great gift to give because these let people personalize their gaming gear.
You can get skins for controllers in the design of superheroes, camouflage, stars and stripes and more. Stands and thumb grips make good gift ideas, too. Headsets are gifts that are on many wish lists for gaming accessories.
They help give users a more immersed game play plus noise cancelling headphones can keep background noise to a minimum if you get ones with that ability. You’ll want to check the compatibility of whichever headset that you buy, though, because not all of them will work with every console.
However, the BlueFire Upgraded 3.5mm Gaming Headset Headphone is compatible with many different consoles. You can use it with the Xbox One as well as the newer version that’s going to be released later in 2017.
You can also use with the PS4. It’s also compatible with the newest Nintendo console, the Nintendo Switch. These headphones have LED light, and easy to adjust volume control.
With gaming consoles, you’re going to want to get some controllers. If you buy a bundle, it’s true that they usually come with at least one controller, but not all of them do. But controllers are also the item in game play that takes the hardest workout.
They get dropped, tossed around and used frequently. Good controllers, like the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, are not only the newest controllers, but they’re also the hottest ones you can buy for Nintendo.
They’re on many wish lists this year thanks to the HD rumble and the amiibo compatibility. Other accessories that you’ll want to think about getting are charging stations.
You can find these items specifically for controllers for the particular model of gaming console that someone has. But you can also find some that are universal so they can be used with any console.
The most popular kinds of controller charging stations are the ones that offer dual charging so that two controllers can be charged at the same time. Make sure you find out from the person you’re buying for to see what systems they have and what will be compatible for it.
Gaming Gift Cards
One of the best gifts that you can give someone who enjoys playing video games is a gaming gift card. It’s the perfect present for kids, teens, adults, for die-hard gamers and for people who are just now starting to build their gaming entertainment collection.
The kinds of games that you can get are as varied as the consoles that you can buy. You can buy the hot digital game download gift card such as the Destiny 2 Pre-load for PS4. This card is the sequel for the original game.
You can find many digital game cards for everyone’s favorite game. Some will be for sports like motorsports. Some are for football or basketball. Others will be for action hero games.
Some you can find in a line of favorite games like the ones in the Grand Theft Auto line. Some of the different gaming cards that you can buy won’t have a specific game listed. What they’ll have listed instead is the name of the console.
For example, some will say PlayStation Store. If you look at the front, these cards will clearly list which PlayStation consoles that they can be used with. The difference in the cards will depend on the face value of the card.
Some go for as little as ten dollars all the way up to a hundred. It’s the same thing with the different Xbox cards that you can get. Each one of those will also have a different amount.
With the Xbox gift cards, you can get them for specific games like the ones featuring favorite superheroes. Some of the much anticipated games for Xbox haven’t even been released yet, but you can still go ahead and pre-order them.
Some of the hottest ones slated to make an appearance later in the year are Metro Exodus, State of Decay 2 and Far Cry 5. What’s popular with many parents and with many younger kids are the cards that are for Nintendo games.
You’ll see these as Nintendo e-Cash. What you give when you gift someone one of these cards is the gift of choice. They can pick whatever game they want. What they can get will depend on the face value amount of the e-card that you buy.
Sometimes, these can be enough to purchase more than one game depending on the amount. But Nintendo has a huge selection of games for kids to choose from. There are more than 1,000 and these include both favorite games in Nintendo as well as their new releases.
These can be used with the Wii U or kids can use the cards with the 3DS system. Steam gift cards are another great gift idea. This is a gaming platform that offers access and the ability to download thousands of different games.
You can get favorites as well as new releases like Skyrim, Rocket League or Sonic Mania, or Call of Duty WWII. Steam is a great platform and many teens and oung adults are members.
Virtual Reality Gaming Gifts
There are plenty of reasons why people of all ages like virtual reality gaming. When they play these games, it’s as if they’re stepping into a whole new, three dimensional world. They can feel the action and it’s like they’re right in the middle of it rather than playing as a bystander.
These types of games are popular with kids, teenagers, adults and especially hard core gamers. But the experience that anyone can enjoy really will depend on the console and the accessories that they have.
The better the equipment they have, the better they play. In 2017, there were many great items brought to the market for the virtual reality gaming community. One of these is the Sony Playstation VR.
The reason that it’s one of the best virtual reality headsets that you can buy is because it allows player to be able to move naturally. They’ll be able to react to things in the games just like they would in real life.
The headset gives them that immersed feeling so that the world they’re in fades away while the virtual reality one takes over. Another reason this one is on many wish lists is because it has 3D audio.
This means that the player can hear the sounds in real time and be able to tell where they’re coming from. Another virtual reality gaming gift that you’ll want to consider is the HTC Vive.
This is a platform that comes with the headset along with wireless controllers and the base stations. With the headset, the player can feel like he’s in the game and the controllers will feel like they’re part of the player’s hands.
The base stations have SteamVR Tracking capability, which means that the player can have precise movement within the gaming world. With the HTC Vive, the person can play standing, sitting down or can move around in a wider space.
The graphics on this are good and so are the audio. Plus, with this, players get access to more than 1,500 games – and that includes the new games and any updates that are released.
If you’re looking for something that’s in the Playstation line as far as consoles go, then you’d want to look for the Playstation 4 Pro console. The Oculus Rift + Touch virtual reality system is also popular.
Sometimes, people who wear glasses can experience trouble using the headset with virtual reality gaming. That’s why you want to look for glasses like the SILMIEN 3D VR Glasses.
These can be worn right over top of a pair of regular glasses because they’re made specifically with extra width for that purpose. People who love virtual reality gaming would love to get gifts of new games for the holidays.
What you have to look for in this area are games that are sure to be compatible with the type of system that they have because many of them don’t have crossover ability. What you want to look for is what’s newest in 2017 or what the hottest games are on bestseller lists.
Among those, you’ll find ones like Fallout 4 for the Vive, Star Trek: Bridge Crew for the Playstation and Syren for the Rift. Those are just a few though, there are more new ones that you can get as well as some older favorites.
XBox Video Gaming Gifts
If you’re looking at gaming gift ideas, you can’t go wrong choosing one of the many Xbox options that are available. One of the most popular ones as well as the one being on the top of every game lover’s holiday wish list is the Xbox One S.
This console allows users to play their favorite games and gives them options for the latest releases. You can find these sold as a console or as bundles. The bundles, even with their varying game titles, are all popular.
The Xbox One S 500GB Console – Battlefield 1 is a bundle deal. With this gift, the user will get the console, the complete Battlefield 1 game, the Xbox wireless controller, the HDMI cable, a power cable and a couple of extra trial game access features for EA and Xbox Live Gold.
You can get the same deal in a bundle but the game changes to Gears of War 4. Or, you can get the Forza Horizon 3 bundle. You can get the Xbox 360 console and some of these you can still get as a bundle.
Many of them offer players a free trial to Xbox Live Gold. One of the things that’s popular with Xbox are getting the different controllers that are different from what you’d get in a bundle.
One of these is the wireless controller the Dawn Shadow special edition. You can get one of the wireless controllers in blue as well and these different hued controllers are on many wish lists this season.
Something else that’s topping many lists is the docking station for Xbox One that’s designed to be compatible with the X as well as the S controllers. It’s the Fosmon Dual Shot high speed docking station.
One thing that Xbox is well known for is the kind of games that you can get with the various consoles. Many of these are such huge hits that when the pre-order sales begin, they can end up selling out quickly.
These games are usually broken down by who’s going to be playing them. For example, the games that are for kids are geared towards family entertainment. This means that there will be less or no violence in the game.
The newest kid game for 2017 is the LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 Deluxe and it’s not out yet, but you can pre-order it in time for the holidays. Or you can get the LEGO Ninjango game.
For adults, the newest and most wished for upcoming games for the year 2017 are Konami Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, Nascar Heat 2 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.
Playstation Video Gaming Gifts
You might be looking to buy gifts for your friends or family whose existing gaming platform is a Playstation – or they want the console. This is one of the most popular video game systems that you can buy today.
You can get the PlayStation 4 Slim 500GB Console – Uncharted 4 Bundle which is very popular – and it’s on the list of both kids and adults. With this, you get the system plus a DualShock wireless controller.
You also get the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End game. One thing to make a note of when you’re buying a console system or a console system bundle is that most of them only come with one controller.
So you’re better off going ahead and buying a second controller because it’s no fun to get a gaming system and discover that no one else can play it with the person that you give it to.
Besides getting a console or a bundle, there are also plenty more great items that you can get for your gift recipient. One of these is headsets. The newest headset for Playstation consoles is the ASTRO Gaming A10 Gaming Headset.
The headset is a combination of blue and black. They have memory foam ear cushions – so even if someone wears them for a marathon gaming session, they’ll still be comfortable.
In addition to being comfortable, the headset has an omnidirectional mic as well as immersive audio, so they’re sure to be a big hit. Of course, it’s not fun at all to go to play a game and end up finding out that the controllers haven’t been charged so you can’t play.
You don’t want that to happen to the person you’re giving a Playstation gaming gift to. That’s why you’ll want to consider getting the PS4 Controller Charger, Dual USB Charging Docking Station Stand.
It can hold two controllers for charging at the same time. You get the cable with this. What makes this such an in demand gift is that players don’t have to wait for their controllers to charge.
They can still play whatever game they’re playing while the controllers are being charged. If you’re thinking about getting Playstation video gaming gifts for someone, but they already have the console as well as the headset, controllers and charging station, then what you’re going to want to get for them are some of the latest games.
One of the newest releases is Uncharted: The Lost Legacy or the NBA 2K17 Standard Edition. If you’re not sure what game to get for an adult, you can get a Playstation gaming gift card and let the recipient choose for himself.
If you want to buy for kids who love video games, just remember to plan your purchase on whatever game is based on a popular movie. You can’t wrong with that. Check out upcoming releases to have a gift that is sure to impress!
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