Is this really the ultimate gaming chair?

Nissan gaming chair
(Image credit: Nissan)

Nissan – known more for making cars than designing gaming peripherals – has created what it claims is the 'ultimate gaming chair' – but don't get too excited, as you won't actually be able to buy it.

Nissan has revealed concept designs for the ultimate gaming chairs, although it doesn’t want to make them as actual products – it’s just showing the likes of Secretlab how it should be done.

So how should it be done? In honor of National Video Games Day – which actually happened last Thursday (yes, we missed it too) – Nissan revealed ‘concept esports gaming chair sketches’ which are inspired by the seats in a number of its vehicles.

These are the ‘ultimate’ esports gaming chairs, no less, and are designed so that the player doesn’t have to choose or compromise between aesthetics and comfort, with the Nissan chairs offering both, the company claims.

The three concept designs presented are based on the Nissan GT-R Nismo, Nissan Armada, and Nissan Leaf vehicles, and in no way carry any kind of hidden marketing agenda in attempting to plug how comfortable the seats in these respective cars are, we’re sure.

Nissan gaming chair

(Image credit: Nissan)

The headline offering is a chair inspired by the GT-R Nismo, and it looks sporty – unsurprisingly given that this vehicle is a 3.8 liter twin turbo sports car – decked out in red (leather) and black (synthetic suede) and fashioned from lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum. It also has speakers in the headrest.

Nissan says it’s ‘shaped like a racing seat for ultimate performance’, although we’re not convinced that the perfect ergonomic design for a gaming chair particularly correlates that well with a racing seat. Unless you’re indulging in a spot of Forza or Dirt Rally, maybe…

Anyhow, you can see the design above, and it does look quite smart – in a boy racer, or middle-age crisis kind of manner – so we present it without further comment.

Nissan gaming chair

(Image credit: Nissan)

Captain cool

Concept offering number two is a captain’s chair inspired by the Nissan Armada SUV, featuring black and brown leather, and looking like a comfortable affair with lumbar support. This concept also offers built-in heating or cooling, to warm you up on those winter gaming days, or cool you down in the heat of summer.

Of course, what you really want in a gaming chair is better fuel efficiency – wait a minute, we’re getting confused; we mean for it to be ecologically sustainable, which is why Nissan’s third concept is based on the Leaf electric car.

In fairness, we are all in favor of an ecologically sound construction for any product, whether it’s a car, a gaming chair, or anything else, and the Leaf-inspired chair is built for sustainability using eco-friendly materials, with USB charging ports built-in.

Nissan gaming chair

(Image credit: Nissan)

Although the Leaf concept chair at least appears to consider the possibility of adjustable parts being necessary to improve the ergonomic side of the ‘ultimate’ gaming chair, with adjustable armrests, and an integrated leg rest.

We feel that ergonomics in terms of adjustable bits and pieces is more often than not an underrated consideration when it comes to gaming chairs – any piece of furniture you spend long, long hours sitting in should be able to be tailored to best fit the needs of your particular body shape and size.

Anyway, so there you have it: Nissan’s three big ideas which the company says it has ‘no plans to build’. Although it did add that it will gauge public reaction to the concepts via Twitter – perhaps hinting that it might think about making something if there was a considerable reaction?

Nissan does have an existing connection to esports in terms of sponsoring FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming.

Via Slashgear

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).