You'd think there's a limit to the sheer unrelenting, blind consumerism a sub-culture can breed. There are the iPhone geeks, who will say a $200 phone cover is somehow warranted for their already needlessly super-expensive phones, and then there are the “hardcore” gamers, who will say a 8000 taka “gaming mouse pad” is worth it.

Are there any truths to these gamer claims, though?

Gaming keyboards

Mechanical keys, pretty lights and shortcut keys. How much of it do you actually use while gaming? Well, to be completely honest, very, very little. A keyboard is a crucial instrument, and a good keyboard is necessary for a well-rounded PC experience, but a gaming keyboard offers very little in terms of actual advantages. The backlit keys help during stealthy late night gaming sessions if you don't want to let your parents know, and the solid mechanical *thunk* of some top end keyboards are very nice and makes you want to press buttons like DeeDee from Dexter.

Any advantages of the extra keys? Unless you're competing in the top leagues of a strategy game and you need to have easy access keys close at hand, no, they absolutely do not justify the extra money you have to pay over a regular keyboard.

Mice

Razer, Thermaltake, Steel Series, Logitech- all of these big-shot companies make hardcore gaming mice with a gazillion buttons and hyper-sensitive clicks. Here, we have to admit, they do offer a significant improvement over the middling pointers, with much better sensitivity and smoothness, as well as ergonomic designs that make them fit perfectly in your palm. For first person shooters and strategy games, they offer a genuine plus for the high-end mice equipped gamer, but is it still worth the price?

Nope. It's not about the equipment you have; it's about how you play your game. If you suck with a regular mouse, you wouldn't experience much of a difference with a high-end gaming mouse. So skip the overpriced furry animal.

Mouse Pads

These are massive, textured mouse pads which apparently serve as the perfect surface on which you should operate your gaming mouse. Sounds useful and it actually works. But what it doesn't do is justify the insane prices for what is effectively a slab of rubber and some padding. 3000 taka plus for a mouse pad? No, thanks.

Headphones

Over 10,000 taka for a pair of pink headphones? Why?

A gamer will tell you a good pair of “gaming headphones” gives you a solid chance of countering a stealthy attack from the rear, because you can hear the said attacker before he can stab you in the back.

What.

If you use them, fine. We won't question your judgment. But we might ask NBR to look into your accounts. However, when it comes to someone planning on a budget and trying to think rationally, these products are genuinely irrelevant options that they do not need to obsess over. Unless you get them as gifts from that rich aunt or friend, don't bother.