I'm all about some great gaming deals. What could be better than getting your hands on an awesome new peripheral for your console of choice? A headset to bring the environment to life? A new racing wheel to get you closer to the virtual tarmac? A thumbstick extender to extend your... what? That's right. For every good great accessory, there are a hundred pieces of useless tat, too.
Every year, while I'm searching for the great deals, it's our curse that I have to encounter the terrible ones, too. But why should I have to suffer alone? That's why I'm highlighting some absolutely awful 'deals'.
Look, I did my due diligence. You want good deals? Read our Cyber Monday PS5 deals, Nintendo Switch Cyber Monday deals, and Cyber Monday Xbox Series X deals hubs. Have a read of our Cyber Monday gaming deals live blog.
Now that you know what's good, it's time to turn your attention to what you should run fifty feet from.
PlayRealm NO Falling Off Thumbstick Extender
Real talk, who exactly are the PlayRealm No Falling Off thumbstick extenders made for? Genuine question. I spend a lot of time online in gaming Discords, Reddits, and TikTok. No one, no one is talking about this accessory for your PS5 DualSense whatsoever.
And it's not some hidden gem. You would be taking away from the grip and texture of the controller's thumbstick if you topped them with these plastic caps.
Also, what's the angle here? They don't fall off? Have you ever been playing a game only to recoil in horror that your gamepad's thumbstick grips have suddenly vacated their original position? I've been playing video games for over 20 years, and it's a horror I'm effortlessly dodged. What's more, you're paying a pretty penny for what amounts to a novelty, too. PlayRealm thinks it can get away with charging $15 for these useless accessories.
Do you know what fifteen bucks can buy you? A burger. A month of PlayStation Plus Extra, which nets you over 400 games from the wider PlayStation catalog to stream and download at your leisure. While I could understand there being some kind of tactile advantage here, these grips are solely marketed on never falling off, inventing a 'solution' to a 'problem' that doesn't exist in the first place.
ONISSI Pro Gaming Gloves for Sweaty Hands
Gaming... gloves? Sweaty hands? Do you suffer from liters upon liters of secretion when the gaming sessions get intense? Does it spill out of your palm and fingertips from every pore making the simple act of holding a controller a herculean feat in and of itself? What do you mean no?
But seriously, who exactly asked for specifically engineered gaming gloves to improve performance? That's the question I'm asking. Unlike weightlifting gloves or even light MMA gloves (4oz or below), there is no specific grip angle for you to be able to hold each end of a gamepad. What's more, these are fingerless, with your digits completely exposed to all elements. Sweaty fingers are just as likely to slip and slide over the face buttons as your unprotected hands are.
Mugniv Game Over Controller
Have you ever heard of reinventing the wheel? Well, what could be a bigger example of that than the Mugniv gaming cup. There are two handles instead of one, and neither looks particularly comfortable. Unlike the vast majority of mugs, there's nowhere for you to curl your fingers around to hold it comfortably. Instead, it's meant to emulate a gamepad, except with the consequence of pouring a potentially warm beverage down yourself. Not ideal when you're mid-game.
Maybe it would be easier to hold with a pair Onissi pro gaming gloves for sweaty hands...
I'm actually annoyed at myself that I may have come up with a use for this gloves.
