It takes a lot of passion and dedication for a person to self-identify as a gamer. In some quarters, it is a negative to be thought of as a person who sits around all day playing video games. People used to go out of their way to avoid such a label. Now, a dedicated group of individuals embrace the moniker. Today, there is a fresh round of reasons why the “gamer” has a negative connotation. Clearly, passion and dedication are prerequisites for the ultimate gaming experience. Here are five more:
A Fast Internet Connection
You will get your gamer card revoked if you still think it represents someone with a neck-beard playing a single-player campaign on his gear in his mother’s basement. It is now all multiplayer. Even if one finds a single-player game worth playing, it will have to call home via the Internet to stay registered and validated. Bottom line: no Internet, no gamer.
As one provider of FiOS Internet in Seattle puts it, “Slow doesn’t cut it when it comes to the Internet.” That is especially true when it comes to gaming. Internet latency can make all the difference in your quest for simulated survival and supremacy.
A Great Monitor
We’re not talking about the kind of game where you close your eyes and imagine the scene as a grand wizard exercises bard-like skills to describe what is going on. Imagination is not required. You can see every drop of digital gore if you have a solid graphics system and a great monitor.
You don’t have time to imagine. The action is moving too fast. Pixelated ghosting effects will ruin your gaming experience. EGC puts together a list of the best gaming monitors of 2015
A Broad Soundstage
The reason concert performers seem larger than life has nothing to do with how they look, and everything to do with how they sound. The bigger the sound, the bigger the experience. No individual can fill an arena with sound unaided by technology. The speakers do more than amplify the sound. They send the sound to every corner of the space with all of the instruments clear and distinct in every part of the hall.
7.1 speaker systems are out there. But the best way to achieve this broad soundstage is in your head, or shall I say, on your head. Gaming headphones are not just about loud, rumbling explosions. They are about hearing every nuance of the atmosphere in three dimensional realism. Was that a blade of grass snapping behind you and just to the left? Having muddy sound where you thought it came from just above you to the right will quickly end your campaign. Without the right gaming headphones, you don’t stand a chance against the pros.
Ultimate Control
A powerful system paired with a lame controller is more of a liability than an advantage. In twitch gaming, your controller has got to be able to keep up. The controller has to feel like it is getting the signal the same time as you have the thought. If your reflexes are hindered by the controller, you just as well be knitting, because you certainly aren’t winning a competitive FPS.
Microsoft believes that the days of cheaping out on a good controller are in the past. Putting your money where their mouth is, Microsoft is charging $150 for their latest wireless controller for their console. If the Gizmodo hands-on doesn’t convince you, the video at the end of the review probably will.
A Fun Game
At the end of the day, gaming peripherals are meaningless without a fun game to play. Wii Sports could not make use of any of those peripherals. It didn’t need an Internet connection. It couldn’t take advantage of hi-res monitors. There was no advantage to having better sound. There was no tweaking the game controller. The only thing the game had going for it was that it was fun for the whole family.
When your playtime starts with a fun game, you are going to have a fantastic, gaming experience.
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