Hello ladies, gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi and this is the Gamerhub community. The festive season is about to land on us like the modded Thomas The Tank Engine in Skyrim, so we thought we’d help you all out with some Christmas Present ideas. Of course, for those celebrating Hannukah or Kwanzaa, this could also be used as some gifting ideas. Myself personally, I let Kris Kringle visit a little earlier, and I’m now in possession of a PS5. My mate, who I have referred to in the past, is somewhat relieved at this news. Know that we’re not doing this on commission, these are just some very shiny toys we at the Gamerhub would love to get at Christmas time. Writing this honestly feels like going through an Argos catalogue at the beginning of December and hoping that I get something other than the itchy Fat Face jumper I got every single year. Anyway, enough about the embarrassing trip down memory lane and on with the list.

First on the list: The Sony Pulse 3D headset.

Face it, since the era of the original Xbox 360 and Turtle Beach headphones, we all love ourselves a good headset. Sony decided to up the ante in 2021, and while this headset is still admittedly a few years old, it’s very good and the age of the headset means that it is reasonably affordable. Also Sony are about to release a slight update by giving the headset a new lick of paint, to match their new DualSense controllers. The 3D audio really does centre you in the middle of the action, so these are great for both the COD gamers in your life as well as the Fortnite gamers. The software updates are pretty darned impressive too, with equaliser presets such as “bass boost” (for those who love Spotify) and “shooter” for those who enjoy the “no Russian” missions. The best thing about these lovely toys? They work for PC, Mac and the PS4, so nobody gets left out, but they work the best for the PS5.

Currently available from Curry’s, AO.Com and all good retailers. RRP is currently £69 (noice).

Second- Turtle Beach Recon 200 Generation 2 Headset

Full confession here folks: I like flashy gadgets. I have a Pride-themed controller for my Xbox One X, I have a saltire-themed wrap for my PS5 on the way, and my phone case is purple. There comes a time, however, where colourful gadgets become inappropriate. For example, a brightly-coloured headset wouldn’t be appropriate when interviewing a game-designing legend, and for this, Turtle Beach’s geniuses have us covered. This headset comes in a sleek black design with the added bonus that you don’t look like a Star Trek or Tron extra in the process. They’re reasonably priced, with an added, albeit battery-powered, bass boost. The microphone is half-decent and they’re wired to prevent any wireless-based shenanigans when you compliment your opponents whilst teabagging them at Sniper Elite 5. Compatible with just about every console as well.

Currently available from all major retailers. RRP £49

Third: Logitech G203 Lightsync Gaming Mouse

Bear with me folks: This mouse won’t help you take a submersible full of billionaires down to see the Titanic wreck, but being a left-handed gamer myself, this particular mouse is one of the better things Logitech released this year. [Editor- Did he really make that joke?] It’s wee, compact and perfect for those with smaller hands or those who prefer precision when playing Call of Duty on the PC. It has to be said, this little bit of kit is very ergonomic and I really do love the customisable RGB lights on it. Fortunately, despite the budget price for this mouse, it doesn’t skimp on the comfort either, and to be fair to Logitech, their gaming peripherals are renowned for their good quality normally. Compatible with most PCs, PlayStation and Xbox, this one retails at £23, and I’ve already purchased one.

Fourth: Elgato HD60 S+ Capture Card

The funny thing about this is that I am actually building my own racing rig at the moment, with the intention of streaming, and to do that, I have built in one of these beautiful pieces of kit. If you fancy being the next Lew Langton or the next Twitch sensation, you are absolutely going to need one of these beautiful things. It allows you to capture footage straight from your consoles, directly encoding it for playback on a livestream. This one is surprisingly simple, and effectively allows you to “plug-in-and-play” with a HDMI and you’re off to the races. It works with software such as XSplit, OBS Streamlabs and OBS Studio. One of the main selling points is that it allows you to stream in full, glorious 1080p at 60fps, so even PC Master Race people can be satisfied and it is compatible with all major consoles. Not sure about it working with a Google Stadia though.

Available just about everywhere and the RRP is £177.

Fifth: Philips Hue Play HMDI Sync Box

Man, I really want one of these babies, and I might end up getting one. It’s simple: plug one end of this into your games console and the other into your telly, and you can make every Philips Smart Bulb in your house to change colour to whatever you’re playing in the game. Seems a bit of a gimmick, I admit, but a friend has one, and watching footage of Forza Horizon 5 in a room with one of these babies and it becomes incredibly immersive. Dust storms turn the room bright orange, the night driving sequences turn the room dark blue. Pass me a bottle of Jarritos and get me rolling!

A word of warning: You don’t need a Philips TV but you do need the light strips and light bulbs from Philips, but when all put together, this really is a must-get.

Available from Philips or AO.com, RRP £230

Sixth: Panasonic SC-HTB01 Soundslayer Soundbar

Portable, cinema-quality sound with Dolby Atmos that can sit right under your monitor that was developed to make Final Fantasy 14 sound exquisite? Yes please! Where do I sign the contract for my soul? I kid, of course, Faustian deals are no joke, but damn this piece of kit is astonishing, portable and astonishingly portable. For all the gamers who get a major stonk-on when it comes to sound, this bit of magic should absolutely be what you put on your letter to Santa. The words  “pocket rocket” seem to have been invented for this thing, and let me tell you, it’s loud! Now for the techie bit- this beautiful piece of engineering connects via HDMI, so it’s portable with just about everything.

Available from Amazon, RRP £200 (ish)

Seventh: SanDisk 128Gb Micro SD card.

Nintendo gamers, I haven’t forgotten you. I use a Switch myself, but let’s be real for the moment. What we get in cool gimmicks and good Pokemon games, we’ve lost in terms of memory. The base Switch has a memory of only 32GB, and my mobile phone can carry more than that. Worse still, the Nintendo eStore is painfully slow. So much so that I could probably binge-watch Friends over 3 times before a new game finishes downloading. So, Nintendo has done something rather magnificent. You can fit a Micro SD card into the console, effectively tripling (or even higher) the memory, to give us gamers more games to take on the go. The official ones (look for Super Mario Bros. characters on the cards) go up to 128GB, but I’ve found my switch will work with any card up to 512GB.

Compatible with all Switch models, RRP £10

So, these are the things we have our eyes on this year, and I hope you all have a great festive period.

For The Gamerhub, I’ve been Daibhi and you are all legends.

Pray I don’t teabag you on Sniper Elite 5 on Christmas Day…