Video Game Gear: 10 Things We Got In 2022 That We Now Can't Live Without

I have the Wooting 60HE to thank for my transition to a full-time mouse and keyboard gamer; it’s definitely been the easiest change in my life thus far. While the analog functions aren’t getting as much use as I’d’ve hoped (mostly due to PC games just not providing enough frictionless support for such a feature), being able to tune specific keys to respond remarkably quickly has lead to surprisingly noticeable improvements in my gameplay—turning on my heel and running like a coward out of Adkhar Village in Call of Duty’s DMZ is a breeze!

And while I thought the compressed 60% size was going to force me to use a different board for computing tasks, that hasn’t really happened. In fact, I’ve come to appreciate the resulting increase in desk space.

For writing, my System 76 Launch keyboard remains my main workhorse—the switches are a little softer, plus the split spacebar is lovely. But the Wooting makes for a profoundly better gaming experience. Its high level of customization via the Wootility software means that I have arrow, media, and function keys along with a very easily accessible function layer for all other extra key needs. For gaming, music work, video and photo editing, and even writing in a pinch, the 60HE is reliable and fun to use. Honestly, unless I build my own (which would require a fair amount of work and the sacrifice of sweet analog switches) I can’t see using another board for gaming.

Claire Jackson, Staff Writer

The Hori Split Pad Pro changed my Switch and my life, but mostly my Switch. My third set of Joy-Cons, which I’ve had for only a year, followed their predecessors in quickly breaking down. Their sides no longer lock to the Switch, tricking it into thinking they’re repeatedly coming loose. It’s a drag, and I need to ship them to Nintendo for a possible repair but that requires finding a printer to get the packing slip and standing in line at the post office and I’m tired just typing that.

So in the meantime I finally took advantage of a Black Friday deal to splurge on the Hori upgrade thanks to a friendly recommendation, and they’re amazing. The Split Pad Pros are cheaper than standard Joy-Cons, but bigger and more substantial feeling. Plus the thumbsticks aren’t super tiny and quick to lose their pluck. I can’t believe I didn’t make the switch (pun fully intended) sooner. Hopefully the prodigal Switch Pro has better Joy-Cons. In the meantime my Switch is finally working as I always wanted it to. I might even finally be able to beat Hades now.

Ethan Gach, Senior Reporter

Okay, listen. These headphones look ridiculous. I look like I’m trying to dress like Lucio in Overwatch when I put these massive cups on my little-ass head. The cups are huge and matte white with black accents, and I feel like I’m in a Pixar film whenever I put them on. These are not the kind of headphones I’d wear back in my streaming days, but I’m not a streamer anymore—and these bad boys may look silly, but they feel incredible.

As someone who has to wear glasses any time they game (I’m allergic to contact solution, it’s a long story), I can’t stress enough how rare it is to find a headset that doesn’t pinch my ears after just an hour or so of wear. The Sony Inzone H9s, however, are like fluffy little sound clouds that stay comfy during my lengthy sessions. And they’re wireless, which I always appreciate as a couch gamer with three cats who have, on more than one occasion, sent my wired consoles crashing to the floor. Plus, they sound incredible, making it easy for me to hear the footsteps of an encroaching enemy in Warzone 2.0 or enjoy the strange, diegetic singing of weird grandma bats in Elden Ring.

Alyssa Mercante, Senior Editor

My favorite gaming device I got this year is Valve’s portable PC, the Steam Deck. That’s right, I caved. Did I have to purchase the version with the most storage space and a higher price tag, thus making my month’s rent payment a dicey situation? Probably not. But I definitely don’t regret it in the slightest.

The inciting incident for my purchasing of a Steam Deck wasn’t to play the new hotness video games like the rehabilitated Cyberpunk 2077 or to see if it can run Crysis 3. The prospect of playing the Mass Effect trilogy again on the go or cozied up in bed was what got me to open my wallet.

Aside from my Steam Deck playthrough of Mass Effect hitting the hurdle of who I’m going to romance this time around, having a Steam Deck has dramatically increased the amount of time I play video games this year. I’ve sunk countless hours into playing the massive backlog of my Steam library, as well as have putzing around on the Steam Deck’s web browser. Plus, its custom boot video animations are sick as hell.

Most importantly, the Steam Deck is my preferred portable gaming device by virtue of how sturdy that hoss feels to hold, never cramping my hands up during a play session. Cough cough, Nintendo Switch. 

Isaiah Colbert, Staff Writer

Me, a handheld gamer? Well the Steam Deck definitely made me into one in 2022 and I improved its on-the-go experience further yet with one of the best Deck accessory sets currently available: the Deckmate. The Deckmate starts a “grip” that locks onto the back of your Deck, to which you can affix your choice of useful and eclectic attachments. I got the Deckmate very early on and it’s been hard to imagine Steam Deck life without it. The Deckmate has a bunch of features, but I use its kickstand attachment the most. When I need to plug in more hardware, the Deckmate “puck” I have adhered to the Deck’s rears holds a handy USB-C hub rife with ports and connections.

The kickstand provides a welcome chance to lounge alongside the screen for more passive consumption, as the Deck has enough bulk and weight to get tiring to hold after a long session. And propping it up on a table and syncing a wireless controller means that “tabletop mode” isn’t just exclusive to that Nintendo thing.

The only times I’ve removed the Deckmate has been to test out a few docks (unfortunately the Deckmate and Valve’s official Steam Deck Dock don’t totally get along). But honestly, as cool as the various docks are, if I’m home, I’m probably going to game on my more powerful desktop PC, anyway.

My Steam Deck is meant for handheld, portable experiences. And the Deckmate makes those even better.

Claire Jackson, Staff Writer

This was the year I finally took the plunge on virtual reality, and you know what? I’m still not sure this will ever be our bright video game future of endless possibility. I don’t know who wants to walk around with a giant thing around their head that collects sweat. I don’t know how many people have the space to set up VR properly, or frankly, the money. Sure, some more accessible kits exist, but if you want the best possible experience, it’s the biggest wallet destroyer in video games. And a lot of games that end up in VR, really didn’t need to be VR in the first place.

Even as all those things are true, VR can be a remarkable experience. A decade into this career, it’s harder and harder to retain a sense of optimism or wonder about the medium of video games or the conditions that produce any of the things we love. The first time that Beat Saber really clicked for me, though, I remember thinking that I hadn’t felt such a pure, distinct sense of amazement since I was a kid, and like damn, isn’t that what we’re always hopelessly chasing?

Let’s not even get started on VRChat, a testament to the digital online worlds and attitudes that were mercilessly killed by big tech. All of this [gestures wildly] could have been so different. Messier, maybe, and more beautiful, definitely.

Does this stuff have a future, I don’t know. And maybe it doesn’t matter. Now if only Beat Saber would get some Bad Bunny in there…

Patricia Hernandez, Editor in Chief

This year my wife surprised me with a brand-new iPad 10. It should be noted we had set spending limits for Christmas this year, and she secretly broke those rules to buy me the iPad. In her defense, I did surprise propose to her Christmas, so we’ll call it even.

Anyway, I still think the iPad is one of the best ways to play mobile games in 2022. I generally don’t like or use Apple devices, but I make an exception with the iPad because they tend to be very snappy to use and also give me access to iOS-only games and services, like Apple Arcade.

While I previously owned an iPad, it was starting to show its age, struggling to run newer games like Diablo Immortal. Now, with my fancy new iPad 10, I can run Immortal and other games flawlessly, often at higher settings and with faster load times. Add a controller to the mix and you have a fantastic Game Pass streaming machine, the best way to play things like Call of Duty Mobile. When I’m not in the mood for games, the iPad 10 becomes my ebook and comic reading machine of choice, too. A lovely gift from my amazing wife and best friend.

Zack Zwiezen, Staff Writer

This one is a weird entry, because it’s not directly a video game or an accessory, but it’s definitely improved my overall gaming experience. I’ve now got multiple Anker 4-Port USB wall chargers, and multiple 6-foot (or longer) Anker cables for all the various things that need to be charged while I’m gaming. Now I can charge my PS5 controller, my phone, my vape, and my watch all in one go (among other things), without having to even be close to the outlet or my console to begin with. I nabbed some USB C-to-USB A adapters for added flexibility. Blessed.

Patricia Hernandez, Editor in Chief

2022 was the year I decided to get serious about my retrogaming setup. I was tired of having a 104lb CRT dominating half my computer desk and a PlayStation 2, MiSTer, and whatever other consoles I was currently interested in always in peripheral vision. After a bit of thought I concluded that the TV and all the consoles would be better off on a wheeled cart. A retro cart, if you would. It could live in my closet, or be wheeled out to wherever seemed fun. So I started speccing that out.

The best form factor ended up having two lower shelves—for the consoles, a smaller TATE-friendly/PAL-compatible PVM-1354Q CRT a friend had recently sold me, and bookshelf speakers—with the big-ass 29” TV up on the third, top tier. Both CRTs could accept RGB or YPbPr/component video…which to standardize on? Component seemed easier for a couple reasons, so I went with that. Then I just needed a switcher to not only flip between MiSTer, PS2, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Wii, and Xbox, but to route any of those sources to either of the two screens.

That’s six in, two out. I wanted optical audio switching, too, for MiSTer, Xbox, and possibly PS2. Combined, those requirements take us far beyond the feature set of any basic switcher you’ll find on Amazon or Ali these days. Thus I turned to the bright, shining past of the mid-aughts, when component video adoption peaked and specialty A/V products catered to the more esoteric YPbPr-wrangling needs of the era’s home theater enthusiasts.

A few promising candidates surfaced. One high-end mid-2000s switcher was very fancy indeed and could actually transcode between analog and optical audio (wow!). But ultimately I was won over by the still-fancy but slightly more modest Impact Acoustics Deluxe Component Video / Digital Audio 6 In / 2 Out Matrix Switch, aka the “40697". You can see it above. Not only can it route those six inputs to either screen, it can output to both screens simultaneously…the same source, or two different sources. Oh dear, am I blushing?

After a week or two I managed to find a NOS (new old stock) one, and it proved just as performant as hoped: Any console on any display is now just a button-push away. The cart project is still in progress as I seek a working Xbox, look into appropriate Wii hax, and transition to a new display up top (kinda wishing I had gone with RGB now, actually!) but I’ve already been enjoying having all my beloved old games in a single, self-contained, no-compromises tower of power. Even got a beanbag! Hell yeah.

Alexandra Hall, Senior Editor

Though I reach for a mouse and keyboard more often than not (particularly for competitive games), some evenings are just better spent leaning back with a controller in hand. That’s typically how I enjoy indie games and third-person RPGs. This year, the “Duke,” a reimagining of the original Xbox gamepad—yeah, the big one—has filled that role while also giving me a bit of what I missed out on in the early 2000s. It also makes my hands feel small; I’ll take every victory I can get.

My first exposure to an Xbox was at a friend’s house with the original Duke and Halo: Combat Evolved. I instantly fell in love. The controller felt distinctly premium and I loved the demanding presence that came with its enormous size. It even made Halo feel that much more epic. Sadly, I got an Xbox after the consoles started shipping with the smaller, and inferior, “S” controller, and was never able to source a Duke. Thanks to Hyperkin, I finally have one.

While it’s a bit of a bummer that the Duke isn’t wireless—thanks, proprietary Microsoft wireless bullshit)—and the “bumpers” Hyperkin added feel like an afterthought, I’m typically using this on PC, where wireless is hardly a concern, and mostly for indie games in which I often don’t need all the buttons of a modern controller.

Also, having the black-and-white buttons back really makes a case for controllers to return to six face buttons.

Claire Jackson, Staff Writer

How about you? What gaming gear did you fall in love with this year? Let us know in the comments!