SCUF has been building a reputation as a aftermarket console control manufacturer for years. They have long been known for making the absolute best console controls out there and as high as 90% of professional console players use SCUF controllers.

Almost all SCUF Gaming Controllers share many of the same features. These features include quick and easy interchanging of the thumb sticks using SCUF's ring and lock system. With this feature your are able to swap between tons of different stick styles to find which one is perfect for you. It has a removable Control Disc that clips down over the D pad and gives much finer control over it.

Just about all of the SCUF controllers come with paddle switches on the back which relieve the need to ever remove the thumb from the sticks. They sport trigger stops which allow to fine tune how far the trigger must be pulled to actuate the switch. Finally they generally have some sort of rubberized grip that makes holding the control even under sweaty conditions no problem.

One big thing to bring up which may or may not be considered a con is that is is not a product you should buy on Amazon. If your looking into getting a top notch controller from SCUF then your best bet is to order it direct from them. This is because the SCUF controllers that are available on Amazon are all pre-built and shipped to the seller in mass and apparently with this, quality control goes down drastically.
This is not that huge of a deal because there really is only one model of SCUF controller available (for the Xbox One) on Amazon and you'd be seriously limiting your options by not going to SCUF's site and seeing what they have to offer. There is one major downside to this and that is that SCUF chargers a 15% restocking fee for any returns. This is kind of a let down because your spending such a large amount of money, if you want to return it you should not be punished, but it makes sense because they probably do not receive a lot of controllers back.

Like the rest of the products on the Life Long Gamers list, the ASUS STRIX 7.1 Gaming Headset is top notch quality, but along with it comes a top notch price tag. If your husband or grown children are on the lookout for a new headset this Christmas the STRIX has a lot to offer that might benefit them and looks pretty cool too!

The ASUS STRIX feature a cable with a 3.5mm jack on one end. This cable is connected to the “Plug-and-Play” USB audio station and digital amplifier which is in turn plugged into your device. Then the audio station connects to your device using any of the USB, single 3.5mm jack, or dual 3.5mm jack, which allows the headphones to connect to anything you can imagine.

The audio station itself is what provides the headset with true 7.1 surround sound and with it you can make a huge range of adjustments to the EQ and allows the switching between for pre-set profiles on the fly. This combined with the enormous 60 mm neodymium drivers create an overall fantastic soundscape that is clean and crisp on all frequencies, but a bit over powered on the bass out of the box (though this can easily be adjusted on the sound station). To manage all the options that are available with this STRIX is some included software from ASUS that is actually very well appointed, easy to navigate, and runs light.

Though the ASUS STRIX 7.1 Gaming Headset is constructed entirely of plastic they still maintain a well built sturdy feeling to them. They are designed to accommodate heads of all sizes, but are a bit lose for those with smaller heads. The ear cups feature a hexagonal design that is 130 mm across to allow even the largest of ears to fit well. They are padded with a nice soft foam that is both exceedingly comfortable and creates a good seal to outside sounds. The foam is then lined with a faux-leather that manages to stay fairly cool, but can start to get a bit sweaty during marathon gaming sessions.

The STRIX feature a suspension style headband which helps distribute the weight evenly, makes an already very light headset feel even lighter, and is exceptionally comfortable during extended game play. Another high point of the STRIX is the microphone. The mic is not only flexible, adjustable, or removable, but is also a much higher quality mic than can be found on most gaming headsets. With it the user will always be able to send clean and clear transmissions with very effective noise cancellation, which overall will have friends in voice chat giving thanks for the upgrade.

When it comes to negative points, the ASUS STRIX is actually pretty lacking and much of what there is to complain about could be seen as a bonus for some. As stated above the STRIX is a fairly large headset that can easily accommodate those with big heads, but on the flip side of that people with smaller heads might find them a bit loose and prone to sliding around. Though very comfortable when gaming sessions begin to approach lengths upward of 5 hours they tend to start getting a bit hot and sweaty.

This is easily remedied by taking them off for a bit and cooling down, but sometimes games don't give that option. Finally and most importantly there is occasional reports of connectivity loss to the drivers. This often manifests as crackling in the speakers and is more than likely due to poor quality soldering of the connection. However this issue has only effected a minority of owners and in most cases they were promptly RMA'd a new pair.

If your gamer has grown and moved away or your husband is playing games on some old wobbly desk. Its about time they got a big boy desk. Something big and sturdy that can support the abuse of their gaming and provide them with enough space to keep their gaming area clean and organized. The most space efficient way to accomplish this is by getting a nice L shaped desk to minimize the space taken in the room and maximize desk surface. This Christmas if your loved ones are in search of a desk big enough to fit into their gaming den the Somerset 71W L Shaped Desk might be worth a look.

The Somerset 71W holds true to its name, offering a 71 inch wide gaming desk surface on both sides of the L. Of course there is some overlap where the two sides meet, but it doesn't change that the desk is huge. The desk surface sits about 30 inches from the floor providing plenty of leg space even for taller people. On one side it features a storage cabinet that has wire cut outs in the back and could easily support the average sized mid tower.

On the the other side it has two drawers the bottom being about double the size of the top. Both of which provide ample room to stash away things that are cluttering the game space. The desk is 100% particle board, but designed in a way that it is still extremely stable with not wobbles to speak of and will be around for a long time as long as its not moved too much.

Unfortunately there is some minor downsides to the 71W that are worth mentioning. When opening the desk to begin assembly it will quickly become apparent that the parts are not labeled well. With this hindrance the desk can take up to a few hours to put together. However this should make a good project to get your husband doing something other than gaming for once.

The keyboard tray like most desk's is flimsy and for the most part useless for a PC gamer who needs room for their mouse. Finally the holes drilled for the drawer sliders are reported to often be drilled uneven. Resulting in the draws being hard to open and visibly not level. This problem is easily fixed by drilling some additional holes, but this means you will need a drill which is not on the list of required tools for assembly.

This Christmas is a great time to get your gaming loved ones a hop up on their chair situation. If they have been using some basic office chair from OfficeMax then there is definitely something better out there. Most gaming chairs take the form of the seat from race cars these days and the DXRacer Formula Series Office Chair is no exception. Though it does differ from a lot of what is on the market in some important ways, earning DXRacer the title of the official chair of some of the worlds biggest gaming conferences and competitions.

DXRacer is a well known gaming chair manufacturer and has earned a reputation for producing chairs under strict quality control standard. The Formula series is no exception and hosts an array of features that help set it apart from the pack. It is padded with high density cold cure foam making its very comfortable particularly during extended use. The foam is upholstered in a mixture of high quality PU leather that comes in a variety of colors and a very durable mesh that does a great job keeping your back ventilated during intense game play. The back extended up providing a very comfortable headrest that with the addition of the included pillow is very soft and also features and easily adjusted lumbar support.

The frame of the entire chair is constructed of tubular steel which is notable by how robust it feels, maintaining a very stable and level seating position. The hinge that hold the seat to the back is also made of steel and houses the mechanism that allows to adjust the lean of the seat independently from the seat. This hinge not only allows for fine adjustments to seating position but also allows the chair to lean back all the way into a reclined position.

The base of the chair features a lever that has the basic functions of adjusting the height as well as locking the chair from leaning. The arm rests are padded with a soft foam that stays comfortable over long periods. They are also height adjustable, can swivel to help the user find that sweet spot for their setup, and can totally be removed if desired. Lastly the chair is extremely quick and easy to assemble.

Side note – On DXRacer's website there is a “Shopping guide” that lists all of their chairs and the recommended weight and height requirements for each. Not much changes between the models of the chairs so if your concerned about fitment check the chart and whichever chair it says is right for the intended person will still offer all of the same premium features and quite possibly more.

Logitech has achieved well beyond legendary status when it comes to gaming peripherals. In specific they have earned endless amounts of notoriety for their gaming mice throughout the years. Logitech's gaming mice have always promised advancements over the competition and held true to these promises, while maintaining a price point that makes it hard for other manufacturers to compete. The G502 Proteus Spectrum Gaming mouse is no exception to this and would make a great stocking stuffer this Christmas.

The G502 boasts an array of premium features that help set it apart from the competition. The ergonomic shapes is designed specifically for right handers, and provides good comfort over extended game play. The shape of the mouse forces the user into a claw grip and doesn't feel exactly right when trying to palm it. It features an optical sensor that is adjustable from a minuscule 200 DPI all the way up to an unnecessary 12,000 DPI. The DPI is quickly adjustable using 2 of the 11 buttons on the mouse.

The buttons are all easily programmed to do anything you want inside Logitech software. The mouse features on board memory that allows it to save your profile to the mouse itself. This is infinitely useful for those who play games at other peoples houses or LAN centers. Included with the mouse are 5 3.6g weights that can be added to the bottom of the mouse to customize the weight. One specifics strong point of the G502's is the mouse wheel. The mouse wheel is a step above the basic mouse wheel.

Its a bit larger than a standard one and it metal. There is a button right in front of the mouse wheel that if pushed unlocks the mouse wheel and allows it freely spin which is great when browsers web pages. The mouse wheel also has the ability to be clicked to the left or right making for easy hands free navigating. The G502 sports a 6 foot tangle-free braided cable. Last a least important for a gamer is the back lighting located behind the Logitech's logo. This logo is lit by an RGB LED that can be customized to over 16.8 million colors and brightness levels using the Logitech software.

Of course as with all gaming peripherals there Logitech G502 does have some downsides, fortunately the majority of them rest in preference and are not an actual problem with the mouse. The first and least important of these is the cable. Due to it's braiding it is very stiff and requires a bit of time for the cable to lay down right. This is not a huge issue, but the cord can go a bit wild and cause a slight amount of push back against the mouse for the first week or two.
The mouse is not suitable for a palm grip instead causing the user to choose between a classic claw grip or a hybrid palm-claw. It is designed specifically for right handed users and can not be used by a lefty. The scroll wheel is easily actuated left and right. This issue doesn't not present itself in game because the buttons are not mapped to do anything, but can be quite irritating when browsing the web. The G502 is a super heavy mouse, which brings into question why anyone would add more weight to it with the included weights.
The DPI up and down buttons are located in a spot that make them very easy to actuate in intense moments. Likewise the sniper button can easily be pressed when, and is unrecognized by the majority of games as a button so remapping it is useless. Both the DPI buttons and the sniper button are better suited not being programmed to anything so you don't have to worry about accidentally pushing them. Finally this mouse is not plug-and-play, and without the software the mouse is leaves a lot to be desired.

When it comes to gaming keyboards mechanical is the way to go and Corsair has been making top of the line mechanical keyboards for quite some time, earning themselves a reputation as the best when it comes to gaming keyboards. The Corsair K95 RGB Mechanical Keyboard is the tippy top of Corsair's keyboard line and provides the gamer with everything they could ask for. This Christmas might be time to get your gaming addicted husband an upgrade from that ratty old 10 dollar Microsoft keyboard from 2001.

The K95 features an aircraft grade anodized brushed aluminum frame which is built to withstand a beating and overall makes this keyboard very stable, sturdy, and long lasting. The keyboard features legendary switch manufacturer Cherry's speed switches, which provide a great mixture of tactile responsiveness without the key clicks being overly loud. On the left side of the keyboard is a row of programmable macro keys labeled G1-G6. With Corsairs software these keys are easily and quickly programmed to whatever you need.

The K95 has 8 MB of storage on board which allows the user to save up to 3 profiles to the keyboard, making it simple to take your keyboard to another computer without having to set it up again. Like all of Corsair's mechanical keyboards, the K95 sports 100% anti-ghosting allowing the user to press as many keys simultaneously as the wish with no issues. The keyboard features USB pass through slot for easy access to a USB port. It has a detachable dual sided soft touch wrist rest which allows you to choose which side fits your needs better and does a great job of relieving pressure from the wrist.

Finally and what has become Corsair's calling card is the 16.8 million color customizable back lighting RGB LED's. What your able to do with the colors and effects on this keyboard is out of this world. There is so many different color combinations and several different effects that can be created, as well as being able to light up the keys that matter while leaving the others dark. Along with the back lighting there is a “LightEdge” at the top of the keyboard that is separately programmable from the other lighting and adds a cool glow in front of the keyboard.

Though a relatively short list, the K95 does have some negatives that are worth mentioning. First off the cable is very thick and stiff, making it hard to get the cable to lay down the way you want to on your desk. The font on the key caps is not the easiest to read. The included wrist rest is held on by plastic clips that tend to break fairly easily. The software though not overly complicated does take a little bit to learn how to navigate. Finally the programmable macro buttons are unable to do some higher functions such reboot the computer or launching games.

When it comes to gaming monitors there is a couple things that actually matter. Obviously the size of the monitor is something to consider. You don't want one that is so small you can see anything, but you also don't need a big screen TV as a monitor because you could never take in all there is on that screen quickly. The second thing to consider is the refresh rate. Though many people out there will tell you it does not matter a higher refresh will make a difference in game. Third is the response time. The response time is the time which it takes the pixels to turn from light to dark or dark to light and the lower the better. This is very important to a game as a low response time will cause the screen to blur. If all of these things are met then the monitor is for sure going to be a good gaming monitor. Displaying all these characteristics the LG 34UC78G-B 34-Inch 21:9 UltraWide Gaming Monitor is also curved. This Christmas get your gamer the biggest and the best while still feeling like you got a good deal.

Though the LG 34UC79G-B 34 inch seems like it might be a bit big, the fact that it is curved changes everything. The curve goes a long way to help keep such a wide monitor in frame while gaming. As it's name makes obvious the LG displays in resolutions that fall into the aspect ratio of 21:9. It supports AMD FreeSync to help those with AMD graphics cards to experience a tear free display. It sports a lowest possible 1ms response time. The LG 34UC79G-B support 60Hz, 75Hz, and of course 144Hz, which when set on either setting above the stock 60 does a great deal to help smooth out the appearance of games.

The LG 34U uses a very easy to figure out menu system that is navigated using a joystick located at the bottom of the monitor. This is great because the colors do need some calibrating out of the box, but after doing so the colors can look amazing. When navigating the menus the user will find a few useful built in features that are useful to the gamer. The first of these is the Crosshair feature which allows you to place a cross hair in the center of the display in case the game your playing doesn't have one. Next it has some advanced gaming features such as a Black Stabilizer that allows the user to see much better in dark areas of games. It also has a feature called Dynamic Action Sync which assures smooth and fluid gaming action.

On the backside of the monitor it sports a Display Port for those with newer GPUs and to help future proof the monitor. Right underneath this are two HDMI ports for the ability to connect multiple monitors or can be used with additional software to split the display for two systems on one monitor. To the right of these are an audio in and audio out 3.5 mm aux jacks. Above these is the built in USB hub which provides 2 addition USB ports.

The LG34UC79G-B does have a few minor downsides that should be mentioned, but in the long run are not all that off putting. First off the included stand is slightly under featured for the price. Though it can be raised, lowered, tilted, and spun into portrait mode it does not allow for swiveling from left to right and requires the whole base be turned. There is no option to have the monitor turns itself off when the system its connected to is turned off, requiring the user to manually power it down by pushing the button every time.

The monitor is slightly dim compared to a lot of its competitors. The cables that are provided with the monitor are top notch, but are a bit short and might not work for everyone's setup. Not to mention there cable that would connect your computer to the USB hub is not included. Finally and probably most irritating is actually not a downside to the monitor, but some games and movies will not support the UltraWide resolutions and will require you play or watch with small black bars on the side of the screen.