Gamers need good gear. The wear and tear of countless intensive FPS
sessions take their toll on even the toughest equipment. So treat
yourself or a gamer you love to something shiny and new. Unless you want
to blame your last death on your crappy keyboard, in which case, never
mind.
Keyboards
Roccat Isku FX
The Roccat Isku FX is the only nonmechanical keyboard worth considering for gaming.
Roccat’s Isku FX keyboard isn’t mechanical, but wipe that sneer off your face: The Isku FX is surprisingly good.
It does everything a keyboard needs to do, and it does it
well—translating your key presses into taunting forum posts and expertly
timed reloads. The keys are spacious and comfortable, and they come
backlit with LEDs that can approximate every color of the rainbow when
configured with the lightweight, easy-to-use driver software. You can
also program many of the keys, and create macros to give yourself a
competitive edge. All for a mere $90—a fair price for a solid package.
BlackWidow Ultimate 2013
The Razer BlackWidow Ultimate has comfortable Cherry keys, most of which are programmable.
Farther up the gaming-keyboard totem pole sits Razer’s BlackWidow Ultimate 2013,
which serves up just the right number of frills to get the nod in a
highly competitive market. The keys are backlit and most of them are
programmable, supporting on-the-fly macro recording and multiple
profiles for the seriously persnickety gamer. The lovely Cherry MX Blue
keys are incredibly accurate and comfortable to use, whether you’re in
the grips of a marathon gaming session or working on some Shadowrun fan fiction. And $140 is a reasonable price to pay for a sturdy slab you’ll be able to use day in and day out for years.
Headsets
Logitech G430
The Logitech G430 costs much less than you'd expect, and it offers 7.1 surround sound.
Gaming headsets with inline controls should be far more common than they
are. They should also be this eye-catching, especially when they're
this affordable. Priced at just $80, the Logitech G430
may qualify as a budget offering, but it doesn't compromise on
performance. The 7.1 surround sound, which comes courtesy of the two
comfortable cans, serves up crisp, clear audio for gaming and music.
Plantronics Rig
The Plantronics Rig is dual-channel for multitasking.
Plantronics seems to have centered the Rig gaming headset’s
marketing around the fact that the Rig can seamlessly switch between
gaming audio and answering phone calls, thanks to its dual-channel
mixer. It’s a bit of an odd gimmick, no? Why not call out the fact that
the comfortable, attractive headset nicely complements your gaming PC or
consoles? Or point to the mixer itself, which offers on-the-fly volume
and equalizer controls? The headset's excellent voice quality will come
in especially handy if you have swapped out the boom mic in favor of the
line-in mic and are taking a phone call while on the road. But maybe
folks just don’t call me enough while I’m gaming. Which is fine, I
guess.
Astro A40 and MixAmp Pro
Yes, it costs $250. But the Astro A40 is worth it.
The Astro A40 and MixAmp Pro will set you back $250. It’s also the definitive gaming headset—compatible
with gaming consoles, PCs, and smartphones—delivering phenomenal audio
experience whenever and wherever you want it. The headset is incredibly
comfortable; it offers customizable magnetic decals to show off your
favorite games; and it looks good in a minimalist, quasi-cyberpunk way.
The MixAmp Pro, meanwhile, offers on-the-fly-controls for volume and
audio balancing, supports Dolby 7.1 surround sound, and provides a big
ol’ volume knob that you can spin authoritatively. If $250 isn’t an
unrealistic amount for you to spend on your ear holes, buy this headset.
Mice
Corsair Vengeance M65
It has a red sniper button. What more could a gamer want?
Using the Corsair Vengeance M65’s
sniper button—a big, red button located on the left edge of the
mouse—feels like cheating. Press it, and you’ll temporarily dial down
the mouse’s sensitivity—perfect for getting that extra bit of precision
you need to nail me with a headshot from halfway across the map with
little or no warning, you monster. This boost will primarily help out
novices, I suspect, users who’ve already mastered the “360 no-scope”
will appreciate the M65's 8200-dpi sensor, programmable buttons, and
lean price tag of $70.
Roccat Kone XTD Roccat
The Roccat Kone XTD takes customization very, very seriously.
The folks at Roccat are a bit preoccupied with the whole “customization” thing. Consider the Kone XTD:
The mouse offers five sensitivity presets (200 to 8200 dpi) and can
switch between them on the fly. The buttons are, of course,
configurable, as are the device's overall sensitivity, the mouse wheel’s
vertical scrolling speed, and the responsiveness of the mouse wheel's
horizontal tilt. Do people really use the horizontal tilt competitively?
Is this why I’m so bad at games? Anyhow: It feels great, comes with
removable weights so you can customize how heavy it is, and offers
customizable LEDs—because at this point, why not? It’s yours for $80,
and is certainly well worth the price.
Razer Ouroboros
The Razer Ouroboros is as kind to lefties as to all those other people, and the software has improved noticeably.
You know what really grinds my gears? The dearth of gaming options for
us lefties. Razer hears us, though: The Ouroboros is
nigh-unpronounceable, doesn't look much like a snake devouring it own tail,
and costs $150—but it’s also one of the best mice I’ve used in years.
You can adjust the mouse’s overall length and the angle at which the
palm rest tilts, and you can choose between two styles of magnetic side
panels. The many buttons are all programmable, though the mouse's
symmetrical design means that half of those buttons will inevitably be a
bit awkward to reach, unless you’re exceptionally dextrous. The
Ouroboros is a wireless mouse, but you can also plug in a USB cable if
you demand extra precision. Razer’s software has continued to improve,
fixing all of the quibbles I had with the mouse when I originally reviewed it. Fellow southpaws, it’s the holidays: Treat yourself.
Xbox Gamepad for Windows
The Xbox Gamepad outshines the competition in look, feel, and durability.
The Xbox Gamepad for Windows isn’t the only game(pad) in town, but it
might as well be. It’s the de facto standard for just about every PC
game, especially indies, and for good reason: It feels comfortable,
works reliably, and packs vibration motors for some sweet force
feedback. The Gamepad comes in wired ($40) and wireless ($60) flavors; and if you have an Xbox 360, it’ll work there, too.
GameFly
Has the gamer in your life been very, very good this year? If so, get
them a subscription to Gamefly. This is one gift they won't return.
I’m cheating a little, as this isn’t an accessory, strictly speaking. But GameFly
remains one of the best deals in gaming, particularly for folks who
want to save their hard-earned ducats. Consider the math: $25 a month
gets you two games to borrow at a time from GameFly’s massive library.
That works out to $300 a year for the right to play absolutely anything
you’d like, all for the cost of five new $60 games. Even if you normally
buy only used games, you're looking at saving a chunk of change with a
year's subscription to GameFly. PC gamers can get in on the action to,
with unlimited downloads of games that are admittedly a bit old, but
nonetheless constitute a nice perk. At the very least, give the free
trial a whirl, to get an idea of how long it takes to get your hands on
the games you want to play.
Roccat 
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