Does Expensive Gaming Gear Make You a Better Gamer
If you have been a gamer, PC or otherwise. It is safe to say that you are familiar with a slew of gaming gear that is available in the market. The “gaming” gear is aimed towards gamers, and the best part is that they even come with the aesthetics to aid the whole situation. Needless to say, gaming peripherals have made a way for themselves in the market, and they are here to stay for a longer time than you might think in the first place.
However, there is one question that always rang in my mind. Do you really need expensive gaming gear to become a better gear? Can’t you just practice and become the best you are at every single game that you play? This is something that a lot of people ask, as well. After all, do you really need a $200 keyboard and will it really make you better at games?
In order to figure that out, we are going to actually walk on the path and find out if more expensive gaming gear is better at making you good at games. This means that we are going to be looking at monitors, keyboards, mice, headsets, and mousepads. Since these are the one that is in direct relation with gaming.
Gaming Monitors
Monitors are essential for a lot of different reasons. Not only are they going to give you a good experience, but if you are someone who is good with colors, you can actually use monitors to edit photos and videos, too.
However, when it comes to gaming monitors, things become a little tricky. Are they actually better than your standard monitors or are the manufacturers just using fancy terminology to milk the extra money out of the consumers?
So, the gaming monitors? Let’s talk a bit about them. The key features of these monitors are as follows.
- High refresh rate.
- Low response time.
Now whether or not these two factors make you good at gaming is the thing that you need to consider. Well, in all honesty, having a high refresh rate definitely does allow you to respond quickly since you are able to see things sooner than your opponent does. But for that, you need really good reflexes and cognitive skills. While low response time does not play such a huge part.
Still, to say that a gaming monitor does not contribute to improving you in gaming would be wrong. It does make a difference, especially when you are talking on a professional level.
Gaming Headsets
There is a massive difference between gaming using speakers, and using headphones. Headphones are much better because they give you a better spatial understanding. However, do you really need “gaming headsets” to be better at gaming or can you make do with whatever headset is available in the market?
Truth be told, as an audiophile I owned both the Corsair Void RGB and the Audio-Technica ATH M50X, and while the Corsair Voids were great, they simply could not match the audio fidelity and quality of the M50x. I actually had a much better experience with the latter and the sound was really, really good with all the frequencies present at all times.
Playing games on studio headphones, I realized just how natural the sound quality feels. While it will not make you a better “gamer” by any means. If you are someone that appreciates good sound design, music, and overall audio, you should definitely go for better headphones. You can actually buy some pretty decent studio headphones by spending just as much as you would on a gaming headphone.
Gaming Mice
I have to be honest, I do not remember the last time I saw a mice that was just advertised as mice and not a gaming mouse. With so many amazing options available in the market, it gets hard to choose the right one. You often find yourself wondering if buying a mouse with a higher DPI is something that will have a better impact or not on your overall gaming performance.
Well, I will be honest here. When it comes to mice; the things that matter the most are the sensor, the weight of the mouse, and the grip that you prefer. These things make the person good at gaming. However, just because a mouse is lighter or has better sensor does not directly mean that you are going to be getting good at gaming.
It is a harmony of your own skills; too. If you go over to Twitch or YouTube and watch some professional gamers playing the games, you will realize that most of them are actually very good even with cheaper mice in the market.
This means that spending $100s on an expensive gaming mouse is not really going to do you any good if you are not really good with mice in the first place. This is the bitter truth that everyone needs to know about.
Gaming Keyboards
I still remember the time I got my first mechanical keyboard; it was the Corsair K70 Rapidfire; I was ecstatic, to say the least. When playing games, the one thing I noticed for sure that during longer sessions, I no longer felt the fatigue you get from gaming on a membrane keyboard. My fingers were able to press the keys without any issues, and I did not have to bottom them out, either.
While it did not make me a better gamer, by any means. It certainly made my gaming experience much more comfortable. On the other hand, the thing that changed the most was my typing experience. I was able to type for longer periods of time without feeling tiredness in my fingers. Not just that, I was also able to type without any errors, write more words in shorter periods of time, and have an overall lovely experience with a mechanical keyboard.
While mechanical keyboards will not inherently make you a better gamer; they will certainly help you have a much better experience; and a much more comfortable one, as well.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, we can only think the same question again. Does expensive gaming gear make you a better gamer? Well, depends on what you are looking at. The monitors with a higher refresh rate and low response time certainly contribute to that factor to some extent. As for other gear, you can buy the gaming gear and certainly have a much better, much more comfortable, and much more consistent experience.
As for whether you will be better at gaming is something that we cannot guarantee since you require skill, not expensive hardware.
