The Scope Weekly Early Holiday Season Gamer Shopping Guide

Everyone has a gamer fanatic in his or her lives, finding a present for them each year is a task, and it is about to get even more complicated. The Scope Weekly took a look at the hottest trends.

With the holiday season quickly approaching the biggest players in gaming consoles, software and new game releases are pulling out the big guns.

According to Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, the Holiday Season is the biggest time of the year for gaming companies:

“The lineup of hardware and software this holiday will look to some to be an evil conspiracy specifically designed to drain the wallets of hard-core gamers.”

Patcher explained that around 40% of the industry’s sales take place across the last three months of the year, no wonder they are all planning huge new releases in the next few months. We will also see a bigger emphasis on virtual reality and rather than all of the focus is on big Blockbuster games there are some exciting independent game releases coming up.

With so many new gaming options available NPD Group, a firm that tracks retail trends in the United States, are predicting an increase in the subscription to monthly rental game services such as GameFly and Redbox.

Big gaming fans sign up to these companies and are charged a monthly fee, in return, they have a huge catalog of games to choose from – a more economical option for the hardcore gamers out there.

First thing First – Protect Your Your Eyes

Elite - 99% Blue Light Blocking $55.95 USD
Elite – 99% Blue Light Blocking – $55.95 USD

We love for you to have fun with your stations but we want to start by reminding you that extensive hours spent in front your stations, or any other electronic devices can ruin your eyes.

As we reported in an earlier story, recent studies have linked the blue light emitted from your devices as dangerous to your health.So make sure to protect your eyes with a pair of computer glasses from the Prospek Spektrum Collection line or Gunnar.

The Prospek’s collection starts at $33.95 up to $55.95 and represents Spektrum’s blue light blocking glasses for different needs, gender and age groups, with a good selection even for kids. We tested the Prospek eyewear. and felt a definite improvement.

A Change of Gaming Platform for Some

A huge rise in the number of people using their mobiles and tablets as a gaming device means that this holiday season will see an increase in the number of digital and mobile games being downloaded.

According to Deloitte, mobile, and tablet, devices are the leading gaming platform at $35 billion, compared to $32 billion for PC games and $28 billion for the console.

Naturally, because of the rise in the number of users relying on their portable devices for gaming, there are set to be some strong releases, with graphics becoming a whole lot more interesting too.

Some examples of independent games to watch are Gang Beasts, a melee party video game (made by Boneloaf for PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 VR; $20) and Hand of Fate 2, an action role-playing game (made by Defiant Development for PC and Xbox One).

Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift

A New Virtual Reality Trend  

A new gaming trend that is set to showcase itself across the final few months of the year is virtual reality. According to Jason Rubin, head of content at Oculus (a Google-owned company) interest in virtual reality is increasing, which is mainly down to the release of virtual headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vine and of course, Sony’s PlayStation VR.

The Scope Weekly is especially interested in Oculus latest news. Oculus is accepting pre-orders for a fouth sensor, finally enabling room-scale VR. The Rift VR itself comes with one sense, meaning that buying an Oculus Touch provides two-sensor tracking enabling 360-degree tracking within a restrained space. Now, Oculus is offering a standalone sensor for $349. Oculus Touch controller kit costs $200, for a total of $280 to discover widely the environments that can be explored with the Oculus Rift.

There are some exciting new virtual reality releases too, such as Rock Bank VR by Harmonix, a game that lets players create their own guitar solo in front of a huge audience.

An Abundance of New Gaming Consoles

 

Xbox One S
Xbox One S

If you are looking to treat the gamer in your life, there are some massive new console releases planned for the holiday season.

 

November 10 will see PlayStation release the PlayStation 4 Pro, which will support their new VR headset and have more processing power than previous models and 4K display (retailing at $399).

See Enhanced Games in Action

See how PS4 Pro takes great games to the next level with enhanced graphics and gameplay.2

Nintendo is also getting in on the new release action with their NES Classic Edition (retailing at $59), which includes a controller and 30 pre-installed Nintendo game classics – yes, Super Mario Bros. and Pac-Man feature.

Microsoft’s, the Xbox One S, can’t be forgotten either, with its 4K Blue-ray and video streaming, Xbox One S has over 1,300 games: blockbusters, popular franchises, and Xbox One exclusives.

Tough decisions

What will you be buying for your game fanatic, or if you love games yourself what will you be adding to your Christmas list? Let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear from you.


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