Welcome to TechCrunch’ s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide! Required assist with present concepts? We’ re here to assist! We ’ ll be presenting present guides from now through completion of December. You can discover our other guides right here.

To those who remain in it, video gaming is more than simply a pastime. It’s a method to get in touch with others, an outlet for competitors, and for the most skilled, a prospective profession course. As far as pastimes (or more-than pastimes) go, it can end up being truly costly.

So this holiday, surprise your cherished player with equipment that will keep their wallet complete and their fingers engaged.

Before you dive in, ensure to check your recipient’s chosen video gaming platform. While things like an enormous USB disk drive will usually work despite whether they’re on PC or Xbox, even the very best Xbox headset most likely will not deal with PS4. We’ve got ideas for each platform listed below, plus a couple of video games for each.

This short article consists of links to affiliate partners where offered. When you purchase through these links, TechCrunch might make an affiliate commission.

Logitech G502 Hero (or Lightspeed)

PC

If they’ve been video gaming for many years, your giftee may currently have a mouse they enjoy. If they’re simply beginning to enter video gaming on a PC, however, updating to a truly excellent mouse is a strong primary step. You do not need to fret excessive about compatibility with their existing hardware, and it must last them years.

The Logitech G502 Hero and the Logitech G502 Lightspeed are fantastic choices here. The Hero, a wired and more affordable variation of the Lightspeed, features 11 personalized buttons, weight modification, LED lights, and the name HERO sensing unit can scale in between 100 and 16,000 DPI — enabling them to discover their precise level of sensitivity convenience zone. The Lightspeed, on the other hand, includes 2 huge functions to the Hero with the Lightspeed cordless tech (very low latency for a cordless mouse) and cordless charging through the optional $100 PowerPlay mouse pad.

Price: G502 Hero (Wired), $42 on Amazon | G502 Lightspeed (Wireless), $150 on Amazon

Razer Huntsman Elite

PC

Though this keyboard is on the costly side, it’s worth it. The Huntsman Elite has very expensive hybrid secrets, utilizing both optical and mechanical sensing unit inputs for incredibly constant, extremely quick essential presses. The opto-mechanical switch eliminates debounce and assures a lot longer life expectancy (100 million keystrokes) then much of the competitors, so it’ll last. It has integrated storage for profiles, letting you rapidly swap in modifications you’ve produced various video games. It’s got a comfy wrist rest, and, obviously, RGB lighting.

Price: $175 on Amazon

Astro A50

PC + PS4 + Xbox

Having an excellent headset can seem like unfaithful, and the Astro A50s are quite damned excellent. With Dolby Headphone 7.1 Surround Sound, and 5GHZ cordless transmitter for low latency, I truthfully seem like they make me a much better gamer. The headset has controls for blending voice chat and video game noise, and the battery lasts as much as 15 hours. It is available in 2 variations: one for Xbox/PC, and one for PS4/PC; unfortunately, no variation deals with all 3 platforms.

Price: $300 on Amazon

SteelSeries Arctis 7

PC + PS4

If dropping $300 on a headset appears a bit excessive, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 will do the job at under half the cost. It uses Lossless 2.4 GHz cordless audio (low latency) and a great Clearcast bidirectional mic. SteelSeries states it has up to 24 hours of battery life, though I’ll confess that I ‘d never ever have the endurance to check that.

Price: $110 on Amazon

Astro C40 TR Gaming Controller

PS4 + PC

As video gaming gets a growing number of competitive, controller gamers have actually traditionally been at a little a drawback. While a lot of console shooters have systems like objective help to make and attempt up for the space, console controllers undoubtedly have less inputs than a PC player with their fullblown keyboard/mouse setups.

The Astro C40, my individual go-to PS4 controller, assists counter that a bit. With re-mappable panels on the back, trigger stops, and both wired and cordless abilities, the C40 is a controller that can up your video game. It likewise has a 12-hour battery life; I’ve never ever handled to really eliminate this controller in between charges.

(I have actually discovered a little goal drag on among the joysticks from time to time. That stated, the controller has a detachable panel for altering out joysticks, and Astro offers the C40 with a 6-month guarantee.)

Price: $180 on Amazon

Scuf Gaming Prestige Xbox Controller

Xbox

If your Xbox player isn’t delighted with the consisted of Xbox controller, a strong alternative is the Scuf Gaming Prestige controller for Xbox. It has 4 mappable paddles on the back, and is totally adjustable. That indicates you can customize the color, the length and shape of the joysticks, and the feel of the controller. One caution: it’s worth keeping in mind that in my experience Scuf controllers do not withstand a great deal of wear and tear, specifically thinking about the $160 price.

Price: $160 from Scuf

Seagate Game Drive 4TB

PS4/Xbox One

The video game you’ve been passing away to play is lastly out aaaaand now you’ve got to choose which of your existing video games to erase to make it fit. Or you might simply plug in a beast hard disk drive and forget all that for a while.

The Seagate GameDrive 4TB will right away bump up your console’s storage capability, including area for another 50+ video games. It utilizes USB 3.0, which implies it does not require an additional source of power and transfers at excellent speeds. It’s a spinning disc instead of strong state — the benefit of which is that it keeps things low-cost, the drawback being that the read(/ load) times tend to be a bit slower.

(Tip: Pretty much any USB 3.0 hard disk drive larger than 256GB will deal with PS4 or Xbox One, though you’ll require to wipe/format it for each console the very first time you plug it in.)

Price: 4TB Game Drive for PS4, $114 | 4TB Game Drive for Xbox, $120

A huge ol’ microSD card

Switch

As with the Xbox/PS4, many people will most likely ultimately desire method more storage than the 32GB that comes developed into the Nintendo Switch. Unlike the Xbox/PS4, nevertheless, the Switch taps microSD cards instead of external USB drives.

Fortunately, microSD cards have actually seen extreme rate drops over the last couple of years. You can get cards as huge as 512GB for under $100 nowadays. 2 thing to be knowledgeable about: you’ll desire a card that supports transfer speeds of a minimum of 60-95 MB/s, and you most likely wish to purchase from a brand name you acknowledge from a seller you trust. Bootleg cards with mislabeled capabilities are a thing.

Price: Sandisk 512GB microSDXC, $80

Games:

Giftee currently got things covered on the hardware front? Get ’em some video games! No video game is one-size-fits-all, so here’s a smattering of options throughout platforms and categories.

(Trying to find out if a video game appears right for somebody? Search for “Lets Play” videos on YouTube, or see a Twitch stream. It’ll take a couple of more minutes than simply viewing a trailer, however they’re typically far better representations of what a video game is truly like.)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019 )

PC, shooter + ps4 + Xbox

Call of Duty has actually been a staple in any player’s diet plan for the previous years. The franchise has actually had a rough couple of years, the neighborhood has actually been re-energized with the current launch of Modern Warfare *, the follow up to one of the franchise’s most popular titles. This boots-on-the-ground FPS video game must be a welcome present to a lot of players, as long as they do not currently have it!

(* Confusingly, this one is formally simply called “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” with no number following it, regardless of it being the 4th CoD video game to share the “Modern Warfare” name. Make certain you’re getting the one made in 2019, not 2007, 2009, or 2011.)

Price: $45 on Amazon

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Action/Adventure, ps4 + pc + Xbox

The upcoming release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker makes this 2019 title an outstanding alternative for your player, who might want to advance in a galaxy far, far the minute they leave the theater. This action-adventure video games follow the story of Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan, who is wanting to complete his training and bring back the Jedi Order, all while preventing the Empire’s effort to hunt him down. It’s a real Star Wars tale.

Price: $40 on Amazon

The Last of United States (Parts 1 &&2)

Action/Adventure, PS4

The Last of United States at first introduced a couple of years back, however the title has actually been remastered for PS4. The title follows Joel and Ellie, 2 survivors of a Zombie armageddon as they attempt to make it through warring factions, the military, and the zombies themselves. It’s a cinematic experience that your player might wind up betting hours without even seeing. And the cost effective part 1 is a fantastic method to prime for the 2020 release of part 2, which you can pre-order now.

Price: Last of United States 1 (Remastered), $17 | Last of United States 2 (Pre-order)

The Outer Worlds

Action RPG, PC+ PS4 + Xbox

The Outer Worlds is a first-person RPG that makes sure to please traditional Sci-fi fans. The fairly intricate video game permits gamers to make choices as they transfer to brand-new worlds and fulfill brand-new NPCs, all the while taking part in battle circumstances with hostiles. The video game is offered on Xbox, ps4 and pc, with a Switch variation set to introduce in 2020.

Price: $35 on Amazon

Untitled Goose Game

Puzzler, PC+M air conditioning+PS4+Xbox+Switch

Anyone thinking about a very light-weight, lean-back sort of video game will value the Goose Game. Basically, the gamer is a really irritating goose, and finishes jobs that make the lives of surrounding people harder. It’s charming, it’s enjoyable, and it’s economical.

Price: $20

Pokemon Sword/Shield

RPG, Switch

The very first initial Pokmon video game for Switch is an excellent getting on point for those brand-new to the franchise. The Pokemon business altered some crucial elements of gameplay to make recurring actions less penalizing and produced a terrific, appealing story. There are likewise lots of brand-new Pokemon to find on the fastest-selling Switch video game ever, and a thousand+ from previous generations.

As with a lot of primary series Pokmon titles, there are 2 variations of this video game — Pokmon Sword, and Pokmon Shield. They’re a little various — every one has a handful of distinct Pokmon you can’t get in the other, some visual distinctions, etc — however there’s not truly an incorrect option.

Price: Pokemon Sword, $60 | Pokemon Shield, $60