Sometimes it is silly fun games that are the best distractions. You know, those games where you simply pick up the controller and connect with a friend and play for half an hour and then go back to work. That's the experience that I had when checking out Monster Truck Championship recently and it renewed my passion and interest in racing games... something I had lost many years ago due to them being overly complicated.

There are tons of great gift ideas that you will probably want to consider. This post will primarily focus on five of the best gift ideas for gamers. The gaming industry has a wide selection of items and there are a lot of different possible products that you could take a look at. Several premium gaming accessories are going to be included as gift ideas within this post because they are some of the most popular ideas for possible gamer gifts.

While I'm a huge fan of military shooter games and economic sims, Japanese RPGs and puzzle games have a special place in my heart too. There's a sense of story, use of colors, innovative music and character development that Japanese developers like SEGA have mastered. Here's some of the new and upcoming releases that the brand has coming out this fall.

Video game enthusiasts are always searching for that edge to improve their scores and while usually, that involves graphics cards, monitors, and mice - the value of a superior keyboard can not be underestimated. Most of us probably are still using that trash keyboard that came with your computer and I'd imagine that many of you are just using your laptop's keyboard thinking that is "good enough". It's not. For gaming as well as comfort with everyday typing, there is nothing better than a great keyboard. That's why I'm always thrilled to try a new one with sturdy mechanical keys that I can pound in anger battling foes on the battlefield as well as passionately typing out my latest article. With the new HVER PRO X RGB Optical-Mechanical Keyboard from Kaliber gaming, it takes things to the next level by offering optical-mechanical switches featuring IR technology for the fastest response time possible.

Wreckfest is the spiritual sequel to one of my all-time favorite racing games - Flatout / Flatout 2. It's down and dirty, smash-em-up awesomeness that has a serious racing engine beneath the hood. Wreckfest is available now on PC, Xbox One. and Playstation 4 and it is the perfect game for anyone who loves creating carnage on the race track.

I'll admit - I'm rediscovering video games again after having taken a break for a number of years. However, I'm very excited with what I've been able to find and Miscreated is one of the highlights that I've enjoyed dumping hours of time into over the past couple weeks. It's a survival game that actually isn't "new" but has just released it's 1.0 beta version on Steam this month. Prior to that it was available to fans through the "Early Access" program. With an absolutely stunning environment to explore, resource monitoring, base building, and crafting Miscreated represents one of the most impressive gaming experiences that I've had in more than 10 years.

I'm going through a sort of "re discovery" of games, back in the day, I was a HUGE gamer. Virtually anything new that came out ended up on my computer and I had multiple video game systems at home as well. Somewhere along the line though that all faded and video games became something that was a passtime for the "younger me". Today though, I feel like games have matured quite a bit and I'm starting to have more time now to revisit this passtime and enjoy games again in a new way. As I've began exploring again, here's some of the ones that I'm looking forward to spending more time with in 2019!

Generally when you shop for a new computer it's just like buying a car... there's the practical side of your brand that say you just need something to get you to work and back... but then there's the fun side that says, "but I want to feel good doing it!" That's what I love about this Legion Y530 laptop that Lenovo sent me to check out as part of our holiday gifts for guys. I'll admit, I'm not a seasoned tech reviewer and despite my previous life being a hardcore gamer - those days were years behind me. Until this week anyhow when I was "forced" to test this laptop out... for research purposes of course. 

Sure, you can connect your Xbox to pretty much any old TV and start playing... but what's the fun in that? There are so many awesome gaming accessories now that the hardcore gamer has so many options to customize their experience. Here's a few of our favorite products for guys who love video games!

There are some amazing video games out now for the Playstation 4 and this fall is a great time to be a gamer. If you don't already have a PS4, these titles will probably make you want to put on on your wishlist. Hopefully Santa is in a good mood this year!

When it comes to gaming headsets, you want something that sounds great, extremely comfortable for long gaming sessions, and is affordable. My neighbor and I did a bunch of research today and came away from our marathon gaming session very pleased with the Stealth 600 from Turtle Beach.

In Star Trek they have holodecks and we've experimented with Virtual Reality for decades now - but it's never been seamless. We're almost there though, and so I was very excited to be invited to be among the first to try out Virtual Reality at Level Up inside of MGM Grand Las Vegas. This is as close as we've come to being able to experience immersive virtual reality environments and it is absolutely one of the best adventure experiences in Las Vegas today. 

For many of us, John Marshall Jones is living a life that we can only dream of. Not only has he been a successful movie and TV star but now he's going to be staring in one of the top video games of the year - Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, which is due out on November 11 - as Amiral Raines. 

Among his other credits are more than 100 TV show appearances including roles on "The Mentalist" "Hart of Dixie" "Shameless" "Glee" and "Pretty Little Liars" and he's also going to be in the upcoming film, "Paint It Black". 

It's starting to be that time of year again - we're passed the Christmas crush of new games an gearing up for the spring. As a huge fan of the Far Cry series, I'm super excited about the pending release of Far Cry Primal. So, I decided maybe it was time to do a roundup of some of the other games that will be coming out this year that I'm looking forward to as well!