2023 has been one heck of a 12 months for video games. The sometimes gradual month of January noticed the launch of the critically acclaimed Lifeless House remake, the shadow-drop sensation Hello-Fi Rush, and the just-fine Fireplace Emblem Have interaction. And each month since has seen a gentle stream of high-profile bangers, from Like a Dragon Ishin and Tears of the Kingdom to Baldur’s Gate three and Alan Wake 2.
There’s only one draw back to all this excellence: There’s simply an excessive amount of nice stuff on the market to select from! So for those who’re on the lookout for a present for a cherished one, there are a great deal of nice choices to select from at each value level. Listed below are our picks for the perfect gamer presents of 2023.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 Console
Graphic: Sony / Kotaku
In the event you’re trying to splash out for certainly one of your family members this 12 months, they usually don’t have a PS5 but, this special-edition console is an enviable reward. It additionally features a digital copy of Spider-Man 2, the most effective video games of a phenomenally stacked 2023.
The white shell for the usual challenge PS5 is a grime magnet, even when it simply sits inside a media unit all day. This Spidey console has a bit extra of a particular look that’s simpler on the eyes, even with the customary layer of mud. It comes with a spiffy customized controller, too. –JG
Graphic: Nintendo / Kotaku
Nintendo Swap Professional controller
Shopping for an additional controller in your console setup can really feel a bit like shopping for tires in your automobile—terrible costly for a necessity. But when there’s a particular somebody in your vacation gifting record who performs a variety of time enjoying Nintendo Swap whereas docked to a TV, the Swap Professional Controller is a superb choice. The Pleasure-Con holder that comes included with the console simply isn’t very snug for longer play classes.
At $70 retail, this controller is on the pricier finish in comparison with wired and/or off-brand choices. However the Professional Controller’s heft and stable building really feel nice in your arms. Typically the proper reward is one thing you’d like to have, however hate to purchase. The Swap Professional controller suits the invoice completely. —JG
Xbox Recreation Move subscription
Picture: Microsoft / Kotaku
It’s a cliché for a motive: Xbox Recreation Move actually is the very best deal in video games. For a month-to-month price of $16.99 for PC and Console—it’s much less for those who decide for only one platform—you’ll get entry to a whole lot of video games throughout a broad number of genres. That features latest releases reminiscent of Lies of P, Like A Dragon Gaiden, and Starfield, and a bunch of traditional favorites like Persona four Golden and Fallout: New Vegas. And if you are going to buy a number of months in a single go, you’ll probably get a considerable low cost. What do you get the gamer who has every thing? Every thing else. –JG
Persona 5 Royal Phantom Thieves make-up assortment
If you recognize somebody who loves make-up and the Altus RPGs, this can be a no-brainer.
Graphic: Recreation Magnificence / Atlus / Kotaku
Truthfully, in the event that they solely love one or the opposite, Recreation Magnificence’s Persona 5 make-up palette would nonetheless be an excellent reward—Persona followers will surely think about the attractive packaging a collectible, because it contains attractive art work of the enduring characters on every make-up merchandise, from blushes to lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes.
And make-up followers will definitely have loads to play with right here—for those who acquired for the complete, restricted version assortment,there are six totally different lipsticks, 4 blushes, 5 shimmery eyeshadows, two eyeshadow palettes (providing each funky and vibrant colours and extra earthy, muted tones) and 5 liquid liners. It is a *assortment* for positive. —AM
SPONSORED BY DELL ALIENWARE
Dell Alienware x16
Graphic: Sony / Kotaku
Meet the world’s most refined gaming laptop computer, the Alienware x16, made for devoted gamers to carry out their finest whereas wanting as modern as attainable. With an anodized aluminum physique in Lunar Silver colour and a collection of customizable lights, avid gamers can categorical their distinctive personalities on the glossiest of tech canvases.
So far as gameplay, the 16:10 facet ratio and QHD+/FHD+ choices enable customers to immerse themselves within the worlds of their favourite video games. Dolby Imaginative and prescient brings the sport’s graphics to life as builders supposed, with optimum colour profiles exceeding conventional HDR (excessive dynamic vary).
Relating to audio, Dolby Atmos sound powered by six audio system permits each kick, punch, and shout to encompass you. It’s probably the most immersive of playable interfaces within the sleekest bundle, weighing solely 6 kilos and measuring roughly 11.5 inches deep, 14 inches broad, and an inch excessive. Assured to be the reward any avid gamers in your life will likely be thanking you for on-line and IRL all 12 months lengthy.
Turtle Seaside Stealth Professional headset
Graphic: Turtle Seaside / Kotaku
I used to be completely gutted when my older Turtle Seaside headset snapped the place the ear cup attaches to the scarf and solely projected sound via one speaker. How might I hear my enemy’s footsteps when solely my proper ear cup was transmitting audio?! However when Turtle Seaside despatched me a substitute headset, the corporate very kindly upgraded me to the Stealth Professional wi-fi headset for my Xbox Sequence S. As a perpetual glasses wearer and fixed Overwatch participant, consolation is tantamount, and the Stealth Professionals are like fluffy clouds—if fluffy clouds might blast premium, spatial sound and successfully cancel out the sound of my cats play-fighting instantly in entrance of the TV. The swappable battery system means that you can cost a spare battery pack whereas enjoying, seamlessly transitioning to a full battery everytime you want, and hooking it as much as my Sequence S was so simple as urgent two buttons. This headset boasts a reasonably hefty $329 price ticket, however when you’ve got a hardcore gamer in your life, this can be simply the factor to make their vacation additional particular. – AM
Elden Ring ARK/eight clothes
Graphic: Ark8 / FromSoftware / Kotaku
I’ve at all times complained in regards to the lack of vogue in online game vogue, however the Elden Ring assortment from ARK/eight is right here to close me the hell up.
The gathering (which ranges from $145 for a T-shirt with the boss door emblazoned on it to a $1,000 bomber jacket with an all-over Lands Between print) is head and shoulders above most game-related merch, which is so usually relegated to logos printed on t-shirts or gaudy sweatshirts adorned with cartoonish characters. This feels elevated and refined, like one thing you would put on out and be complimented for with out a single individual understanding you’re repping FromSoftware’s award-winning motion RPG. Positive, it’s dear, however when you’ve got a fashion-loving gamer in your life, this is likely to be the proper vacation current for them. —AM
PlayStation Portal
Graphic: Sony / Kotaku
I’m gonna stage with you. No person wants a PlayStation Portal.
You have already got to have a PS5 with a view to use this factor, and just about its sole perform is as a handheld second display screen inside the similar home. But when somebody close to and pricey to you loves gaming from the consolation of a mountainous quilt as a lot as I do, they are going to be delighted to see this frivolous little bit of frippery staring again without delay they tear off that wrapping paper. It’s much less of a splurge than a Steam Deck, and feels a bit extra contemporary than beginning a Swap library from scratch on the tail-end of 2023. –JG
Warby Parker x Spider-Man 2 eyeglasses
Graphic: Warby Parker / Marvel / Kotaku
I’ve horrible eyesight, and I’m additionally extremely choosy on the subject of wearable online game merch—that’s why the Warby Parker x Spider-Man 2 assortment is so particular. Not solely are the glasses choices daring and totally different, with frames that stand-out from Warby’s already fairly fashionable lookbook, however they really feel like they’re thoughtfully linked to the in-game world Insomniac constructed for us to play in. Warby despatched me the Miles Morales pair, a daring, black body that feels each fashionable and retro on the similar time. Warby Parker has moderately priced prescription eyeglasses and sun shades (my body begins at $95), in order that they make the proper reward for family and friends members who might use an improve to their eyesight (and their fashion). – AM
Pottery Barn Tremendous Mario sheet set
Gaming merch has come a good distance because the 1990s. These Tremendous Mario themed bedsheets function iconic power-ups and objects from Nintendo’s traditional franchise, largely in a refined grey and white sample with occasional pops of colour.
Graphic: Pottery Barn / Nintendo / Kotaku
They’re appealingly refined—at the least, till the lights go down, when the stray colourful mushrooms and cash are illuminated in glow-in-the-dark inexperienced. You may completely put these dangerous boys beneath a wonderfully respectable, grown-up quilt and most of the people can be none the wiser. Better of all? They arrive in a queen, which which is a comparatively uncommon incidence for kid-friendly novelties like these. –JG
Exhausting Drive T-shirts and hats
Graphic: Exhausting Drive / Sega / Kotaku
Gaming T-shirts are a dime a dozen, however gaming T-shirts you’d truly wish to put on? That’s one other matter completely. The sport-news satire web site Exhausting Drive swoops to the rescue with each refined and unsubtle nods to our pastime. As a proud proprietor of the Sega Bass Fishing tee, I used to be pleasantly shocked simply how delicate and nicely made their shirts are—they usually received’t shrink right into a crop high when you throw them within the wash. (Sister web site The Exhausting Occasions has some glorious punk-themed wares in your perusal as nicely.) And don’t sleep on the hats both: you should be thanked in your service within the console struggle. –JG
Nintendo Swap Lite Aloha Version
Graphic: Nintendo
No person beats Nintendo on the subject of lovely, limited-time colorways for its consoles and equipment.(I might have put the Tears of the Kingdom Professional Controller earlier on this record, however sadly it’s all however not possible to search out except you wish to pay a premium from a reseller or purchase a doubtful knock-off.) In the event you’ve acquired a variety of journey or commuting forward in 2024, the Swap Lite is tiny and has a formidable library of video games. You possibly can’t plug it into the TV, however this can be a nice second console—or a method to share your favourite interest with a youthful member of the family. This explicit bundle is a fairly uncommon deal, by Nintendo requirements. Mainly, you’ll get a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons without spending a dime, together with a cute and distinctive design for the console itself, in both pink or teal. The Kings of Kyoto hardly ever put their first-party choices on sale—and once they do, the reductions are comparatively small. If I didn’t have already got two Switches, I’d need this. I type of nonetheless do. –JG
