Are you a person who loves games? If so, the following game software, graphics hardware, game consoles, etc. I'm sure you will like it. Whether as a New Year's gift to friends or as a Christmas gift to yourself, you can't go wrong.
The following six items come from Time magazine's selection of entertainment inventions that will change and influence people's lives in 2020. 2020 is an extraordinary year, with illnesses and separations plaguing people, but at least there are games to make us happy.
This article is about THE BEST INVENTIONS OF 2020 - Entertainment
1. A Big Upgrade For Gamers, Microsoft Xbox Series S
Buy gift to friends: Microsoft Xbox Series S
The tech giant’s new video console is more than just a next-gen gaming device—it’s the basis for what could become the Netflix of video games. The Series S’s secret weapon is Game Pass: a subscription service where new hits like Halo Infinite will appear the same day as their traditional release. And those games will look even sharper—the Series S ($299) can run high-resolution games at 120 frames per second, a 100% increase over its predecessor, the Xbox One. What’s more, because there is no disc drive, the Series S operates almost silently, making it all the easier to concentrate on the action.
—Matthew Gault
2. A Real Game Changer, Nvidia GeForce Now
Buy gift to friends: Nvidia GeForce Now
Gaming isn’t cheap. PlayStation and Xbox consoles cost hundreds of dollars, and a top-of-the-line gaming PC could set you back thousands. And games running on less specialized devices—like a phone or laptop—often do so slowly. GeForce Now, a new service from the chipmaker Nvidia, does the hard work of rendering graphics in the cloud, allowing users to stream high-end games like Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Fortnite at top speeds on their phones, tablets, and non gaming laptops. Andrew Fear, GeForce Now’s senior product manager, likens the service to “a superfast gaming PC in the cloud.” Since it launched in February, some 4 million people have signed up for the service—available for $4.99 a month—to play games on whatever device they happen to use, while maintaining speed and quality.
—Matthew Gault
3. A Gaming Revolution, Sony Playstation 5
Buy gift to friends: Sony Playstation 5
Sony’s new gaming console is all about small advancements that combine to create a revolutionary experience. At more than a foot tall and weighing in at just under 10 lb., the PlayStation 5 is among the largest video-game consoles ever made—Sony needed the room to support visually spectacular titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Games load almost instantaneously, thanks to a solid-state hard drive. The graphics processor is almost 10 times faster than that of the PS 4, which allows for beautiful visuals, and a new controller is full of haptic feedback sensors that add a new dimension to play. When a character walks on the sand, players feel the grit in the controller; when Spider-Man grips a subway car, players feel the train’s rumble. Add it up, and it just may be the most powerful video-game console we’ve ever seen.
—Matthew Gault
4. A Much Needed Escape, Nintendo Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Buy gift to friends: Animal Crossing-New Horizons
When COVID-19 hijacked our lives earlier this year, many of us turned to video games for comfort. Few were more soothing than Animal Crossing: New Horizons ($59.99), which was released at the end of March, just as the pandemic took hold in the U.S., generating record profits for its publisher, Nintendo. Its secret weapon: simplicity. More than 26 million players cultivated small islands, tilling the land, designing houses, and managing a community. In the game, friends can also drop by for a visit—a rare, if virtual, comfort in these days of social distancing. Animal Crossing doesn’t just offer escapism, though: during the 2020 presidential race, Joe Biden’s campaign offered yard signs for people’s personal islands, and the President-elect even had a virtual campaign office that players could tour.
—Matthew Gault
5. A (Really) Flat-Screen TV, LG 65-in. GX OLED 4K TV (65GX)
Buy gift to friends: LG 65-in. GX OLED 4K TV (65GX)
Being stuck at home during quarantine can be a pain, but LG’s new top-of-the-range GX OLED 4K TV ($2,600) might just make it a tad more bearable. The screen uses self-lit pixels instead of a standard LED backlight, creating brighter colors and deeper contrasts along with the sharp 4K detail that TV connoisseurs have come to expect. And then there’s the profile: the TV is just 2 cm thick. As a result, the GX sits nearly flush with your wall. Yet it still boasts many of the convenient features seen in modern high-end televisions—including compatibility with Google Assistant and Alexa, allowing you to control your Internet of Things–enabled fridge or doorbell from the comfort of your couch.
—Billy Perrigo
6. The Vertical TV, Samsung Sero
Buy gift to friends: Samsung Sero
The Sero ($1,499) isn’t like most other televisions you’ve seen before, and that might be because Samsung didn’t design it with just TV viewers in mind. The 43-in. TV pivots from a horizontal to a vertical orientation with a click of the remote. Its design is optimized to accommodate social media posts, streaming services, and gaming—the kind of content you may be more familiar with viewing in vertical formats on your phone. The Sero also has optional wheels, so it can be moved around the house.
—Amy Gunia
