Attaining elite gamer status involves dedicated practice, similar to athletes. Most people don't think about this and merely look at video games as a passtime like reading a book or watching a movie. Today though video games are a nearly $200 BILLION dollar industry with fans worldwide. I look back at my youth and remember competing in tournaments and LAN parties but those activities almost seem quaint compared to the industry that has developed around competitive gaming today. As with anything though, there are those who want to achieve more and level up faster than they would simply by being a casual player. That's what we're looking at today. Are you ready to take your gaming skills to the next level? 

I had the chance to check out the Arcade1Up NFL Blitz Legends Arcade Machine recently and I'm pretty impressed. While ideally, we'd all be able to afford the authentic coin-op machines that we remember playing as kids, this is a great alternative that has been designed for more compact spaces at home. This 4-player cabinet includes NFL Blitz, NFL Blitz '99, and NFL Blitz 2000: Gold Edition and even comes with a custom 13' arcade game riser for free-standing play. The NFL officially licenses it, has online multiplayer and leaderboards so you can compete against your friends, and is perfect for any game room or man cave. I’ll tell you all about this amazing machine - from its key features to assembly - so that you can decide if it's right for you!

The Logitech G Cloud Handheld Portable Gaming Console is a revolution in the gaming world, offering an experience that's as powerful and thrilling as a rollercoaster ride. It's the perfect device for gamers looking to take their gaming experience on the go, giving them access to cloud gaming and remote play with support up to 1080p and 60fps. With its comfortable handheld design, 12+ hour battery life, lightweight design, haptics and remappable controls, this console is sure to offer an unforgettable portable gaming experience for any avid gamer.

Writing reviews is tough... especially when it comes to something like video games where people who play more, have more skills and experience that you, and quite frankly "care more" about the games than most normal people ever could. There are many times when I've read a review that completely pissed on a game but then I found some moderately enjoyable redeeming feature that made the work something that I could recommend. This isn't the case. The reviews are generally accurate and as someone who was once a game developer, it pains me to admit that.

While there are many options available for emulating classic games downloaded to your computer or other device as roms, few options exist for playing those games from the original cartriges and CDs. Polymega allows just that and also supports a modular system so you can play games from virtually all of the top classic game consoles including: NES, SNES, Genesis / 32X, and TurboGrafx 16.

I'm sure you've seen all of the ads for new games coming out this holiday season. There's a lot to be excited about, but did you know that there are also plenty of ways to improve your PC gaming experience? Here are some great gift ideas that will help take your gaming experience to the next level!

Ever wanted to go mountain biking, skiing, or wingsuit jumping in a national park? Now you can with Riders Republic. The game is an open-world racing game where players are given the opportunity to explore various environments and settings inspired by real-world natural vistas of parks across North America. With realistic graphics, Riders Republic offers gamers a chance to experience nature without having to leave their living room.

The FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) is one of the most prestigious motorsport events in the world and WRC 10 racing simulator is the ultimate way to celebrate its 50th season (coming in 2022). This game features 120 special stages, 6 historic rallies, 4 new 2021 rallies and introduces a special "retrospective mode" that allows players to relive 19 events that shaped the sport's history. Oh yeah and it features 20 legendary cars from all your favorite manufacturers.

Each time there is a new Far Cry game released, there's one thing for sure... you're going to experience one of the most detailed outdoor environment action shooters that modern gaming hardware can deliver. That's true this time but the developers seem to have focused as much on innovation with tweaks that make the game that much better as much as they did with simply pushing the graphics to the point where it will consume every resource possible - even on today's top gaming machines.

WRC 9 is an off-road simulation franchise that holds the lead on the market for being the most in-depth sports rally game that is available on Xbox, Playstation, and PC platforms. While targeting realistic gameplay, WRC 9 enhances upon its predecessors with major physics improvements, redesigned environments & engine sounds, changes to AI with custom skill sliders taking place of named difficulty levels, an excellent sound mix, and new pace notes. All of these in-game engine overhauls create a much deeper sense of realism, providing complete immersion for the player while exciting returning WRC franchise veteran racers.

As more people watch professional video game streamers on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook, it's only logical to be able to want to do it themselves. The unfortunate reality though is that most of us will never have both the skill and personality to compel someone to watch and so I'm forced to find another justification for a device like the EVGA XR1 Video Capture Device. It might be just the excuse that makes you able to justify the purchase though!

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". 

Designed for all types of gamers and engineered to conveniently fit in your bedroom or game room, the Project Brooklyn gaming chair concept design transforms from an ergonomic gaming chair into a full-fledged entertainment powerhouse that delivers breathtaking, next-gen immersion for both PC and console gaming.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered was originally released in 2010 and is among my favorite racing games. In fact, that early 2000's era was ripe with great arcade-style racers that we could enjoy at home instead of needing to drop pounds worth of quarters at the rapidly disappearing arcades and family entertainment centers. We seem to be having a bit of a resurrection today with arcade-style racing returning to popularity so it is no surprise the EA would dig into their archives to bring back a title as fondly remembered as this one... just in time for the holidays.

 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.

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.

As someone who's handled their fair share of gaming headsets, finding the sweet spot between premium audio quality and practical durability can feel like searching for a unicorn. The Arctis Nova 7 Wireless manages to thread this needle remarkably well, offering a compelling package at $149.99 that doesn't leave you anxiously checking your bag every five minutes during travel.