The PC Gamer Christmas Gift Guide

Peripherals and desktop items

There comes a time in every gamer's life, usually coinciding with the annual giving of gifts, where all sense of scale goes out the window. The notion of cost is secondary to the dull, desirous throb at the centre of your soul. "But I WANT it," it seems to throb out in morse code. Go on, give in to your capitalist gland.

Logitech G400

Defy the muscle-paralysing agony of gamer-claw with this fine Logitech mouse. There's no need to drop a tonne of cash unless you want something ludicrously over-featured: this offers classic Logitech style in a brand-new design, and with a sensitivity of 3600dpi, it's comfortable and precise.

Logitech: $50 / £31.30

Cyborg Gaming AmBX lights

"OMG, your wall is, like, glowing." It's the oddest add-on, a lighting system that reacts to your game's colouring, and splashes on the wall behind your monitor. It even comes with sunscreen for when you play Far Cry 3.

Cyborg Gaming: $99 / £90

Razer Deathstalker

What does a keyboard need? No, not keys. No, not the board. No-one likes a literal smarty pants. It needs a customisable LCD keys and a programmable screen exactly where the keypad should be, so you can use it to control things, like music players or WoW buff bars.

Razerzone: $250 / £230

Saitek PRO Flight Multi Panel

There is joy to be had in the ancient but still loved Flight Simulator X, particularly if you augment it with this clicky, switchy flight panel. It lets you ignore the keyboard and make changes to your in-game plane from your desktop . Just like, er, the keyboard.

Saitek: $150 / £130

Corepad Deskpad

You know what your keyboard is missing? A mousemat beneath it. It sounds strange, but I swear this mousemat that covers most of the desk is one of my favourite purchases. It keeps the desk soft, for mouse slams, and you'll never worry about going off the edge, unless you're Stretchy McArmlong.

Corepad: $31 / £25

PCGamer

PC Gamer is the global authority on PC games—starting in 1993 with the magazine, and then in 2010 with this website you're currently reading. We have writers across the US, Canada, UK and Australia, who you can read about here.