Christmas Gaming Gifts Guide

‘Sup nerds. it’s that time of year again; the decorations are up, the wine is mulling and shop fronts all across the internet are littered with virtual window shoppers. All visiting in the vein hope that instead of coming across the same 20 t-shirts and Funko Pops they might strike inspiration and happened upon the perfect gift to the beloved geek in their life. Well, fear not friends World Geekly News is here to help again with a range of suitably nerdy gift guides to help you track and something different interesting or just downright weird for the gift-giving holiday. Let’s get started with my area of expertise: Gaming gifts.

Universal Gaming Gifts: 

Univeral gaming gifts - A playstation 4 controller

If you want a present that will make a splash why not consider some custom hardware, you can tailor it to the tastes of those receiving the present and it’s a vital part of the gaming experience so sure to be used. You have two options to do this. On the somewhat cheaper end, Xbox offers some official Controller modifications through their online Design Lab which allows you to modify colours and engravings. Whereas on the expensive-ist side of the scale you could go with something heavily modded like a SCUF controller or one of their peers. This allows you a lot more flexibility in terms of designs and colour schemes, though it will set you back a pretty penny for the privilege. 

Another option that many gamers need is a good pair of headphones to enhance the gaming experience. If you want headphones for their pure sound quality then our recommendation would be a pair of Orange O edition phones. Their flat EQ rate makes for excellent gaming sound enhancement. But if you want a pair of “Gamer Headphones” with big ear cups, mics and the kitchen sink attached we’d suggest considering something like Turtle Beach Recon 70s or Logitech G432’s. Both are considerably cheaper than the Orange headset and pack decent quality and accessories for their price.

If your fancy hasn’t been tickled perhaps you can’t go wrong with giving the gift of gaming itself. undoubtedly this year the best way to do that, as we enter a world where games are going to be streamed Netflix-style to any screen in your home, is through a subscription service.  access to one of these services becomes about not just giving a single game for a gift but a library of games the size of which you definitely couldn’t fit in any wrapping paper if you were giving it physically. 

Universal gaming gifts - someone streaiming a game on xcloudOf the services currently being offered the front runner, and easiest sell is Xbox game pass ultimate. A service that will bundle in hundreds of games (a list which is updated regularly) but also access to play those games with friends on Xbox Live. If that isn’t enough when it becomes available early next year it will include a subscription to Xbox’s XCloud service*, that will allow games to be streamed from one screen to another making it a fully portable gaming service for which you only need a phone.

There are alternatives, of course, Google has its gaming offering in the form of stadia, a slightly less fully bundled service that offers a platform to stream to on a number of screens and TVs. The service has various points of entry each with different perks. Alternatively, Playstation has a more robust library of games than google, but a slightly less robust streaming capability. They may both be a better point of entry depending on your gift receiver though so consider both carefully. 

Younger Gaming Gifts

The easy go-to for younger gamers this year is anything related to Fortnite or ROBLOX. If this is what you’re looking for your in luck there’s a huge amount of merch available for either of these franchises, ranging from Funko Pops two action figures playsets and even nerf guns. If you’re looking for alternatives to these franchises you still got a lot of options on your plate: 

Younger Gaming GIfts - The three starter characters from pokemon sword and shieldTwo of the biggest family-friendly franchises this year come from, surprise surprise. Nintendo in the form of Pokemon sword and shield and Super Mario Maker 2. Both very child-friendly games but with the difference of one being about creating and challenging and the other collecting and collaborating.

Alternatively, you could consider tickets to a gaming event, Some events are not suitable for children below certain ages but there are a number of Games expo and comic con style events across the country which will give them the chance to play loads of games and bring some of their favourites to life.

Esports gaming gifts

Perhaps your beloved gift receiver is a fan of Esports, well fear not there is a myriad of presents for them too.

Firstly consider some appropriate team merch. No matter what game they are into, there is merch for it. Call of Duty? Rocket League? League of Legends? Dota 2? Overwatch? All of these have teams and all of those teams have merchandise to show off your support of the scene. Perhaps you could also consider looking for world cup merchandise for these games (if a tournament exists) this would allow you to know what team to pick based on country.

Or perhaps they’re more interested in the esports scene as a whole than specific teams. In that case, we would suggest two options. Firstly, a digital gift, a subscription to a premium streaming service. The leading provider is Twitch Prime, which allows users to further support streaming talent and get exclusive monthly downloadable content as well. 

Alternatively, Game’s chain of BELONG arenas has launched a range of teams in local game shops. This means that cities and towns all across the UK have esports teams where there was very little of this culture before. Someone with a more general interest in Esports culture might appreciate this as an introduction to their new local team. 

Homeware and Merch:

Everyone loves a nice bit of merch and for our more mature gaming friends homeware is equally exciting, it’s like merch for furniture! So here are some of our favourites, and some of the more niche stuff we found around the internet as well. 

Homeware gaming gifts - An image of an Anor Londo Scented Candle

  • Controller cushion, this cute little cushion comes from a handmade Etsy seller and would fit nicely on to the sofas of many gamers across the world: 
  • Art Prints, there are many types of gaming art prints on sale across quite a number of platforms, one of our favourite recommendations are these simplistic prints, another excellent option from a handmade Etsy seller
  • For fans of retro games, there’s a good selection of merch out there but some of our favourites are these NES and SNES themed wallets.
  • More art suggestions now with some wall art in the form of a loading bar, Perhaps a good choice in a hallway leading to a main room or in the opposite direction as you load into the outside world.
  • Looking for something a bit different, how about these upcycled DVD/game cases, a neat way to make use of old unwanted cases and gift a piece of merch/decoration.
  • Even more different still are these gaming themed scented candles who are made to look and smell like the game worlds they are named after. 

So there you have it, a large and varied list of gaming gifts that you can track down for whomever you may be looking to extend the festive spirit to. We hope this helps in your pursuit in the perfect Christmas gift, but fear not we have many more gift guides on the way to offer even more suggestions. Until then seasons greetings and happy gaming to one and all.

Cameron McCulloch-Keeble

Cam fan of all things gaming, film and geekery. here on WGN Cam will focus on Overwatch and some other professional gaming leagues.

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