Christmas Gift Guide – Part 2

GAMETEE Art Prints – £14.99 each, £39.99 per set

Games as art, the never ending debate is over. Turns out the answer was to print fancy pictures on swanky paper. Maybe I’ve got this wrong. Regardless GAMETEE have nailed it with these art prints. These exclusively commissioned prints are just the thing for adorning any wall in a gaming household and pull of that masterstroke of not explicitly identifying their source but being obvious to those in the know. The Cyborg Ninjas series does an amazing job of appearing to be a set of authentic comic book covers, right down to the price tag, whereas the Strife/Angel/Valentine set capture the brooding trio just perfectly.

Delivered safely rolled in a surprisingly attractive tube with a certificate of authenticity leaving you to slap a bow on it and call it wrapped up. They also have some very nice sets of stickers and badges, perfect for filling stockings.

Mad Catz R.A.T. M Wireless Mouse – £99

If you’re after a hardcore gaming mouse that’s wireless, compatible and looks like its from the future then you’ve found it. The R.A.T. M combines the sort of technical precision you need with a small and light, highly portable mouse. It’s a lot of money for a mouse but it’s packed with the sort of tech that gamers need for gaming on the move and on mobile devices. If you’re willing to part with this kind of cash for quality either for yourself or as a gift you’re probably the sort of person that wants the numbers. Deep breath – it has 25-6400dpi twin eye laser sensor, 50G acceleration, 120Hz polling rate, Up to 6 m/sec tracking speed, 10 Programmable Buttons (With 5D button), USB Nano Dongle, 10m Wireless Range and it’s Bluetooth Smart Ready. Phew!

If you’re none the wiser from that the bottom line is it works well but it’s a little on the small side, even with an adjustable palm rest, so if you’ve got hands like shovels this won’t be comfy. If you have normal hands and a ton to spurge, it’s a good purchase.

Mad Catz G.L.I.D.E.3 / G.L.I.D.E.5 Gaming Surfaces Mouse Mat – £12.99/£19.99

If you’re using your last gas bill as a mouse mat then you’re probably not thinking about spending 15 sobs on a premium enhanced tracking performance gaming surface. If you’d ever used one though you’d realise why maybe you should consider it. Certainly it a good gift in a reasonable price range for a gaming friend. While they might not quite know what face to make when you give them it, they will thank you later. They’re constructed from micro fibre-covered foam with a high-grip rubber underside. It’ll work fine with a laser mouse but is optimised for use with an optical mouse. The G.L.I.D.E.3 is made for high-sensitivity feedback at 38% larger than a standard mouse mat and the G.L.I.D.E.5 is for low sensitivity gaming as the surface is 317% larger than standard. In other words there’s a wee one and a big one depending how much you like to wave your hand around. Due to it’s size the G.L.I.D.E.5 works perfectly when shared between left and right handed mouse users sitting perpendicular to each other. A niche case for sure but, as you can see below, one we have to deal with every day.

Right now there isn’t a range of colours but this one is kinda Christmassy anyway.

Plantronics RIG Headset – £109.95

While the Tritton Kunai we featured a few days ago excelled at keeping things neat and simple the Plantronics RIG headset has its sights set on something a little more complex. The idea of the RIG is to allow you to keep your mobile phone wired to your headset at all times and provide an easy way to switch between game chat and mobile calls or music while balancing the level with the audio of the game you are playing via the provided amp. If it sounds complicated and that’s because it is, but once you worked out how you want to wire everything up, and there are many ways you can do that, the setup is very smart indeed. If you wish you can also strip out all the extra wiring and use the RIG as a mobile headset with inline mic or a standard PC headset with a boom mic. For all its complexities you also get a lot of freedom from this remarkably comfortable and great sounding headset, just be ready to have a lot of cables to plug in. While the headset only offers stereo sound I think can all secretly agree that true surround sound from two speakers is simply not possible and should be shunned.