You’ve got anamazing gaming machineand a dedicated play space to enjoy it in, but if you’ve already upgraded your gaming PC to the max, what else can you do to improve your gaming area? Other than adding a beer fridge, a foot massager and afancy gaming chairof course.
We’ve been on the lookout for ways to enhance our gaming experience to make it just that little bit snazzier. Turns out there are a number of pretty awesome bits of kit you can add to your system to make it even more incredible. Some of them are even just software updates too.
Philips Hue Light Sync
A while ago,Philips updatedits smart lighting range that allowed for the creation of “Entertainment Areas” in your home where lights could be synced with your TV if you had the right equipment.
Philips Hue Light Syncalso means you can easily set up Hue lights to respond to what’s happening on your PC or Mac.
For gamers, this means immersive and reactive lighting which changes according to what’s happening in the game you’re playing.
If you already ownPhilips Hue lightsthen setup is a breeze. Simplydownload the Philips Hue Sync toolfor your computer, connect it to your Hue bridge and then set up the entertainment area to include the right lights and you’re away.
The settings here allow you to do everything from getting the lights to respond to general screen use, games, music and video, as well as adjusting how the lights respond to each. If you have a multi-screen setup you can choose your preferred screen for the app to respond to and even set up keyboard shortcuts for quickly switching between modes.
This setup works with any colour Philips Hue lights you have in your gaming area, so it’s an easy setup to get started with.
If you don’t have any lights currently, we’d recommend purchasing a Philips Hue LightStrip and Bridge kit. This is an excellent way to add back-lighting to your gaming area and really enhance your gaming experience.
Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus [2 m] White & Colour Ambiance Smart LED Kit with Bluetooth, Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit
Philips Hue Play Gradient PC Lightstrip
Philips Hue has a lightstrip that’s designed specifically for yourgaming monitor.
It comes in various sizes suitable for between 24 and 34-inch monitors. It mounts really easily to the back of your monitor with the use of a few sticky-backed clips and bends simply to cover the back and sides.
The light can then be assigned to your entertainment area and combined with other Hue lights to create an immersive lighting experience in your gaming space.
It requires a Hue bridge as a minimum extra purchase, but with that andthe desktop app, you can then sync the lighting to your games, and music or just adjust it according to your mood.
It’s bright and brilliant and casts convincing synced lighting across your wall while you game. This is one of the best monitor lighting kits we’ve seen and perfect if you already have Hue kit.
Elgato Light Strip
Elgato is well known for itsstreaming gearand the Elgato Light Strip fits nicely into this line-up. Designed to help creators make their content stand out from the crowd, it’s a simple lighting system that is easy to control and offers not only bright lighting, but a variety of colour and warmth options to brighten up your life.
This light strip system sticks to any surface and uses Pulse Width Modulation to ensure the LEDs light in such a way that they don’t produce a flicker on camera.
This means controllable, satisfying and eye-pleasing lighting for your video without the hassle and frustration of cheaper lighting strips. Naturally, the system is also controllable withElgato Control Centerfrom your PC or Mac, as well as from your phone with ease.
If you have aStream Deck,it’ll work with that too. What more could you want?
Elgato Light Strip RGBWW LEDs, 2000 lumens, 16 Million Colors, Warm/Cold White, app Control, iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Stream Deck Integration
Nanoleaf Lines
If custom lighting appeals, then Nanoleaf Lines are another excellent option for upgrading your gaming area.
These are customisable lights that offer diffused lighting by bouncing the light off your wall. With Lines you may create various patterns on your wall and spice up your gaming area.
These lights are app-controlled viaAppleorAndroidsmartphones but are also compatible withGoogle Home,Amazon AlexaandIFTTTmeaning there are plenty of flexibility options.
This gives you the power not only to customise the lighting the way you want it via your phone, but also to control it with your voice or setup actions for the lights to react in certain ways - turning on at certain hours, turning off when you go to bed, etc.
On Windows or Mac, you candownload the Screen Mirroring appand choose various modes to mirror the lighting and colours on your screen. There are various modes to choose from including bright, high impact modes and ones that are colourful but subtle.
Razer and Nanoleaf Chroma compatibility
If you’re interested in Nanoleaf lights and you’re also a fan of Razer’s gaming gear, then there’s some good news as both companies have worked to make the tech cross-compatible.
Within the Razer Synapse software, you have the ability to select Nanoleaf as a compatible “module” once that’s done you may then sync the lighting within Chroma Studio. This means you can make the Canvas light panels match the lighting on your keyboard, choosing from the various lighting effects and even customising on a panel-by-panel basis.
You can also opt to sync that lighting with Razer Chroma compatible games (the list of which is constantly growing) for a more immersive and interesting gaming experience.
Another interesting highlight of this integration is if you have Nanoleaf Canvas panels, you can also customise the touch functionality to carry out actions on your PC - launching programs, skipping/pausing/playing music, activating a button on your keyboard, etc.
Nanoleaf Canvas Smarter Kit
Razer and Philips Hue compatibility
When Philips Hue Light Sync arrived,Philips partnered with Razerto tie the lighting into the Razer Chroma ecosystem.
This means if you own Razergaming mice,headsetsorkeyboardsthat areChroma compatiblethen you can pair these up with Philips Hue lighting in your gaming area. We did this with the Philips Hue light strip and a number of spotlights and the results were pretty impressive.
The setup is pretty simple too. Firstly you need to add an “entertainment group” within the Philips Hue app, then connect the Philips Hue module within Razer’sSynpase 3 software. The software then talks you through pairing with your Philips Hue bridge and then you’re pretty much ready to go.
Once it’s all set up, you can adjust the lighting to your liking. More importantly, when it’s turned on your Razer gear and Philips Hue lighting will respond dynamically depending on whatRazer Chroma compatible gamesyou’re playing.
Playing Worms W.M.D, for example, the Razer gear we were using turned a nice shade of red when we were blown up by enemy worms while during normal play the main keys were highlighted in different colours to make them easily accessible.
This system not only allows for a lot of lighting customisation but allows for brilliant syncing across a number of devices. Razer also offers an RGB lighting system in the form ofthe Chroma Hardware Development Kit. This can be installed on your desk, inside your gaming machine or on the rear of monitors to offer some more synchronised lighting that’s easily customisable within the Synapse software.
