Gaming Chairs

The world of gaming is about much more than consoles, computers or games themselves. There are all sorts of other aids to your gaming joy from the best specially designed gaming keyboards to fantastic gaming mice. Another gamer accessory which is a secret desire for many is a gaming chair. These ergonomic, interactive chairs add to the immersion of gaming and they are becoming more and more popular every day.

You may find it difficult to persuade your significant other or perhaps your parents that a big colourful gaming chair will make a great addition to the living room and is almost certainly worth spending a large sum of money on. The range of gaming chairs out there is astounding. There are simple chairs designed for comfort. There are chairs that create the illusion you are in a car and make great racing game accessories. There are chairs that make sounds, vibrate in response to the onscreen action and even move to help create the illusion you are in the thick of the action. In this article we are going to take a look at some of the best looking specialist PC gaming chairs, from relatively affordable mass produced options all the way up to crazy custom jobs for pro and rich gamers.

One of the biggest names in the gaming chair market is Pyramat and they have a wide range of products. One of their cheapest options is the Pyramat Cobra which is designed for comfort with a headrest and a micromesh backrest. It also has built in speakers with a headphone option if you need to keep it quiet. Sadly it isn’t very comfortable and if you are in the 6 foot region like me this is not the chair for you. The sound quality is also pretty cheap and it doesn’t do anything special.

Let’s skip right along onto the Pyramat S1500W Wireless Sound Rocker. This is a bit more comfortable and once again has built in speakers including a subwoofer for some deep bass. It can connect wirelessly which is a big plus and there are audio controls and a headphone option on the side of the chair. Both of these chairs are really for console or handheld gaming.

The Pyramat Wireless PC Gaming Chair is more my style. It looks like an office chair that is wearing Kevlar armour. It is comfortable and easy to manoeuvre with built in wireless audio and a rechargeable battery that lasts 5 hours from a single charge. The sound quality is decent and this is a chair that won’t look horrendously out of place next to your computer. The snag is it costs around $200 but it is one of the best gaming chairs available.

Here is another company looking to dominate the gaming chair market and their products tend to be a bit more expensive. The Playseats Evolution Gaming Seat costs around $300. It looks like a piece of exercise equipment but it is actually specially designed for racing titles. It is made from reinforced tubular steel and has a hard wearing flame resistant seat cover. There is a place to attach a racing steering wheel and even pedals for an authentic racing experience, just watch out you don’t crash into the coffee table (then again, if it bursts into flames, the seat will resist it). This racing seat is endorsed by the A1GP which may mean something to racing fans.

Maybe you are more into flight simulators in which case you may want to check out the HotSeats 723 Flight Simulator TRX Game Chair. You won’t get much change from $6,000 if you want to buy one of these and it includes a 23 inch HD widescreen monitor, a high performance PC, surround sound, flight simulation controllers and pedals and that all important cup holder. Can it be worth that much money? Well no of course it can’t but it is definitely the best gaming chair for flight sim fans.

HotSeats also do a Deuce Game Chair which is designed for racing games. It includes two Racer GTX Game chairs, surround sound, steering wheels and pedals and of course that vital cup holder. This one costs over $4,000 but for racing against a mate it could be a lot of fun.

This is a comfy leather recliner which has built in feedback motors so you get vibrating sensations which are in tune with the onscreen action. It also has powerful built in speakers with a headphone jack and you can get one for $500. There is a kid’s version too which has a big picture of Sonic on it. The Ultimate Game Chair V3 may look a bit ugly but it is very comfortable and the headrest with speakers either side is a clever design. The fact it vibrates according to the action makes it an attractive option and you can imagine the heightened excitement for horror games.

Here is another complete solution which is designed to be comfortable and stylish. You can fit whatever system you like onto the sturdy frame. It has a comfortable car seat and various arm and accessory rests. There is support for speaker systems as well and you can even get built in surround sound. There are loads of options from seat and table upgrades to custom paint jobs and you can even get heated seats. The rigs use real car seats from manufacturers like Porsche so you're talking serious comfort. You are looking at paying at least $1,700 for one of these but the sky is the limit for the extras. If I had the money a V1 Chair would be on my shopping list and it is probably the best gaming chair on the market.