The life of a gamer isn’t all that difficult. At its core, gaming is just an endless cycle of buying games and playing them. With that being said, there are a few frustrations that can crop up every once in a while, and nothing spoils a gaming session faster than a broken controller or faulty keyboard, am I right?
With these simple tips and tricks, you can stave off some of the more aggravating aspects of gaming and restore your sessions to what they ought to have been in the first place: fun and engaging.
Wireless mice and keyboards are convenient, there’s no doubt about that. They’re portable and they don’t weigh you down with cable weight. However, the convenience of being cable-free can prove inconvenient in other ways, especially for gamers.
Wireless speeds. It’s true that wireless speeds are good enough for day-to-day computer use, but depending on the games you play, you may need the fastest speeds you can get. The difference of a few milliseconds can be felt when playing a highly-responsive FPS or RTS, and it can be enough to interfere with your play, even with a premium gaming mouse.
Wireless interference. More devices utilize wireless technology now than ever before. With all of that data traveling through the air on limited channels, you may run into some wireless interference. None of that happens with wired mice, keyboards, and Ethernet. The closest issue would be running out of available USB ports, but that isn’t much of an issue these days.
Battery life. Batteries are a fact of life for wireless devices and every wireless gamer has at least one story of when their batteries died in the middle of an intense game. Sure, battery life has improved over the years and rechargeable batteries do exist, but that will just be one less thing on your mind if you use wired devices instead.
Cable storage within toilet paper rolls is not a new idea. In fact, it was first mentioned in Stephanie Winston’s Best Organizing Tips book which was published way back in 1996. Despite that, not everyone knows about the trick and, for those of us who knew but forgot, it’s always nice to be reminded.
Practically speaking, toilet paper rolls aren’t much different from using plastic twist ties to hold your cables together, but they’re definitely more tidy. Combine them with an old shoe box or empty package box and you’ve got yourself a fully-equipped organizer for all cables, whether they’re for your consoles or your computers.
The best part is that the reuse of materials helps to cut down on environmental waste. If you need some more ideas for keeping your cables tidy, check out these clutter-free cable storage tips.
Speaking of cable management, are you storing them properly? One of the biggest cable gripes for consoles and computers alike is that cables grow faulty over time, which can be just as annoying as wireless interference and dead batteries. However, the issue may be due to an improper coiling technique. Practice the technique in the video above and extend the life of your cables.
So you’re playing a game on your computer – or even just browsing the web – and your mouse cable keeps getting caught on the edge of the desk. Or maybe your high-quality woven cable is heavy enough that you constantly feel the pull of it. When concerning mice, all it takes is a tiny pebble in your boot to make you go mad.
That’s why you need a mouse bungee. It’s a simple apparatus that holds your mouse cable from above, relieving you of its tug even as you push and pull the mouse all across your mouse pad. It’s one of those things that you first brush off as a gimmick, then later wonder how you ever lived without it.
Depending on your habits, gaming can rack up some serious costs. Consoles are prohibitively expensive, and games themselves can burn enormous holes in your wallet. Abide by a few simple guidelines, however, and you could end up saving hundreds of dollars.
Don’t pre-order. There are many reasons why pre-ordering games can lead to disappointment. The main reason? You’re buying the hype, not the game itself. Whatever bonuses you’d get from a pre-order are rarely worth the price tag, and it seems that gamers are catching on. Recently, Activision noticed an industry-wide decline in pre-orders, and you’d do well to join the trend.
Don’t buy on day one. It’s tempting to buy games as they launch, but the risks of being an early adopter apply here as well. Retail prices are high, you’re likely to run into bugs that weren’t caught in the Q&A phase, and it’s hard to know if the content will match the hype. Wait a bit, see what others think, and only buy when you know it’ll be worth it.
Don’t impulse buy. Steam summer sales are some of the best value in gaming, but it’s prudent to remember that buying something on sale is only saved money if you were going to buy it anyway when it wasn’t on sale.
Don’t forget about your posture while gaming. Something as simple as a comfortable gaming chair can be the difference between relaxation and chronic aches. For computer gamers, there’s a real affliction called “computer fatigue” and you ought to heed these tips for fighting it.
Five years down the road, do you want to be kicking yourself for developing a gaming-related injury? No, I don’t think so.
What other gaming lifehacks do you know? Do you have any little secrets that you use to make your sessions more enjoyable? Share them with us in the comments below!
Image Credit: Young man playing video games Via Shutterstock, Ergonomic Mouse Via Shutterstock, Toilet Paper Cables Via Instructables, Money Basket Via Shutterstock
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