10 Gift Ideas for Loved Ones Who Are Always Live
It’s highly likely that at some point in the past year, you’ve watched someone stream on Twitch, Facebook Gaming, or one of the other lesser-known personal streaming websites. Perhaps you’ve finally found your calling or gained a little more insight into what exactly the kids these days are doing on their computers all day. Either way, COGconnected has got you covered with suggestions for yourself or the streamer in your life.
Elgato Stream Deck
Being able to control your stream on the fly is super important, and the Elgato Stream Deck simplifies that as much as possible. It comes in three different sizes depending on how many buttons you think you need, and each of those buttons can actually be turned into a folder where you can effectively have more buttons. Its software is also integrated with a ton of different services you’re likely to use while streaming, and can actually be used when not streaming as well to open up specific programs or adjust speaker volume. But you’ll definitely feel the value most when adjusting OBS without having to pause your game or lose momentum while live.
Torch Mic
If you want a microphone with that sweet RGB aesthetic that doesn’t break the bank, the Roccat Torch Mic will serve you well. As mentioned in our review, it requires zero set up so you can just plug it in and start gabbing away. It comes with three different settings for cardioid, ASMR, and a special quiet mode for those late-night streamers with roommates. Be sure to check out our full review for more details!
Elgato Ring Light
Box lights can be challenging to set up if you don’t have a ton of space in your streaming room, and unless you have specific lightbulbs they’ll probably also hurt your eyes pretty quickly. Grab yourself an Elgato Ring Light and clamp it onto your desk wherever you’d like to make your life way easier. It requires a specific Elgato app to work (not sure why they haven’t centralized all of them yet) in which you can adjust brightness and warmth settings to get the light that’s right for your camera without burning your eyes. It’s a little pricey, but honestly a worthwhile investment.
Xbox Game Pass
Aside from being the best deal in gaming, Game Pass’s library is super useful for streamers. The affordable subscription service comes with over a hundred games including all of Xbox’s first-party exclusives (like the Halo, Forza, and Gears of War franchises), and new releases under that banner are included the day they launch. It also comes with a bevy of noteworthy third-party titles like Marvel’s Avengers, Scarlet Nexus, Resident Evil: Biohazard, as well as the Yakuza franchise to name a few. It also gives access to EA’s own subscription service EA Play, so you can jump into all the sports games you could ever need along with the Dead Space and Mass Effect franchises. It’s available for PC and Xbox separately, but you can also get Game Pass Ultimate which grants access to service on both platforms, as well as the Cloud streaming service which allows you to play games on your mobile devices. It’s perfect for streamers who don’t feel the need to be playing every single new game that drops, but you’ll still get a ton of those included.
Logitech C922 HD Pro
Webcams are not mandatory in the world of streaming, but they definitely help with engagement and showing your audience who you really are. Since most streaming software can’t handle anything higher than 1080p anyways, most streaming webcams are relatively affordable. The Logitech C922 HD Pro is the best of both worlds with an easy price point of $99 USD and full 1080p resolution. The only catch would be the Logitech software that you use with it needs to be updated regularly, but it does offer a lot of versatility in its exposure and zoom settings so you can make it look just the way you want. Coupled with the aforementioned Elgato Ring Light, you’ll look like a pro even if you’re just starting out.
Be sure to read through to page 2 to find 5 more must-have items for every streamer!