Everyone knows that you don’t need to have the best setup in the world to enjoy video games. Video game developers have an interest in keeping their games accessible and you can get away with an old setup if you’re a casual or even a hardcore gamer.
But, if your goal is to play video games for a living, you need to invest in a top-shelf setup. Having a good setup will be essential for success during competitions. It will also help if you want to make money on the side when you’re not competing. Let’s take a look at some reasons why having a great setup is such an advantage for competitive gamers.
1. It Allows You to do Much More Than Gaming
As a gamer, there’s a strong chance that you’ll have to do much more than just gaming to earn a living. Most gamers are also big streamers and online personalities. This means that they need an optimal setup not just for gaming, but for streaming and editing as well. Online streamers need plenty of room for a microphone, lighting, and more. The right setup makes it much easier to stream content live on sites like YouTube and Twitch.
Some pro gamers also host online boot camps or create info products. Again, it will be essential that you have a good enough setup for your boot camps to go smoothly and facilitate the product creation process. A poor setup is likely to cause problems, which could lead to negative feedback from users.
Some gamers like to engage in other hobbies like coding, web design, graphic design, or trading, for instance. Having a great setup will help you there too and allow you to multitask better. Again, the more room you have the better. A cramped workstation is not conducive to productivity and before long, you’ll be struggling to achieve anything useful.
You could even multitask while you’re playing games. With a multi-monitor setup, you could play on your main monitor and use the other monitor for instructions or responding to messages. And, if you’re into online gambling, then you could play many different types of casino games at once. This is something you often see poker players do, but you could have one monitor where you play slot machines, another one where you play roulette, and the third one for sports betting, for instance.
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2. You’ll Be More Competitive
The main reason why you want to have the best setup possible as a competitive gamer is to be more competitive. If you don’t have a good setup, you simply won’t be able to perform at the same level as everyone else.
Even small things like ergonomics and display quality can affect your reaction times. This could make the difference between you getting a kill or being hit in FPS games or having you miss an action by a split second when playing a MOBA.
It’s vital that you are comfortable when settling in for a long session. The more uncomfortable you are, the harder it will be to get into the zone needed for maximum concentration.
3. You’ll Be Healthier and More Comfortable
Another benefit of having a good setup is that you’ll be much more comfortable and will be able to play for longer without sacrificing your health.
Playing for long periods on a sub-optimal setup can lead to health issues like hand cramps and extreme neck back pain in some cases. You might also deal with back pain or even suffer from more serious conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, which could easily put you out of commission.
This is why you need to invest in a great desk, chair, and keyboard. Look for a chair that offers optimal lumbar support and get a good mechanical keyboard. If you need to order these items online, make sure there is a good returns policy, so if the item isn’t right for your setup, you can return it to the retailer for a full refund.
You might think that a mechanical keyboard will only help with accuracy, but they are much better for your hands than non-mechanical keyboards. Using a mechanical keyboard will reduce the number of cramps you get. It will also improve wrist health and prevent tennis elbow injuries, which are more common than many people think among competitive gamers.
As far as the monitor goes, you should know that the model that you pick can have a big impact on how much eye strain you experience. So, if you don’t want to end up with a huge headache at the end of the day or have to take breaks every 30 minutes, go for a high-quality AMOLED model as they have much better contrasts. ASUS also released a line of monitors that were made specifically to combat eye strain. If this is something that interests you, look for any model that features Eye Care Technology.
As you can see, there are tons of reasons why competitive gamers need to invest in the best possible setup if they want to be successful. Not only will having a sub-par setup make it more difficult for you to compete but it will also make playing less enjoyable in general, so don’t be stingy and go for the best setup you can comfortably buy.
This is especially important for pro gamers who make a living from their gaming activities. Consider it a business expense and keep all your receipts, so you can claim them as a tax-deductible expense.