Buyer’s Guide: Gaming Chairs

We all know the mental confusion that comes with gaming: “Shall I buy a pc? A PlayStation 4? An Xbox One? Or all three? And what about the Wii U?” “Which game shall I buy next? World of War Crack’s just realised their latest expansion, but that means I won’t be able to get The Elder Scrolls until October”.

Yeah, gaming is full of confusion, and it’s not just about the playing platform and the games. It’s about the entire rig. If you're serious about gaming, then everything has to be just right.

One of the most important features of your rig is your chair. Think about it: most people spend their gaming time sat down. Many people game for upwards of 2 hours at a time (and yeah, some of you it’s 15 hours at times!). It’s important that your chair is comfortable and ergonomically fit…

…but there’s much more to gaming chairs. Below, we have produced a guide to help you to make the right choices when it comes to buying your new chair. We hope you find it useful.

1. Choose the right style
There are three main types of gaming chair:
• Rockers: they're very low to the ground so some people might find that less comfortable. They’re super fun, because you can rock around on them while playing.

• Racers: these look very much like a hybrid between an office desk chair and a formula 1 racing car seat. As you can imagine, they’re great for people that play a lot of racing games, because they can really make you feel as if you’re in the moment.

• Pedestals: these look very much like the rockers, but they’re lifted off the ground slightly. Most allow you to rock backwards and forwards, but do make sure of this before you buy them.

Your choice here is simply a matter of personal preference. It’s all about how far off the ground you want to be and whether you want to be able to rock forward or not.

2. Make Sure It’s Compatible with Your Console/PC/MP3
Some chairs may or may not be compatible with your devices, so you really do need to check the product description before you buy one. Furthermore, you might want to plug more than one thing in at a time, e.g. play music from your MP3 player while playing your X-box one, so make sure that it’s compatible with all your devices.

3. Choose a Chair with Built-In Features
Personally, I feel it’s a waste of money to buy a chair that doesn’t have any of the good gaming features. For example, if your chair doesn’t have rumble feedback from the bass, then you are seriously missing out. It sends good, good, good, good vibrations through the chair as you’re playing. Did you feel that bomb explode? No? Then you’ve got the wrong chair!

Another feature that I love is the Bluetooth speakers and surround sound. It makes the chair feel immersive, and when you couple that with the rumble feedback, it’s the best at-home gaming immersion that the average person can have to date. They’re not even that expensive, you can buy a decent chair, like the Gioteck RC5 for under £100.

4. Choose a Chair with Lumbar Support
You’ll probably spend a fair amount of time in your chair, so it’s important that it’s ergonomically sound. It needs to have decent back support, and this especially important for frequent players.

We hope that you have found this article informative. If you’d like further information, please get in touch.