Competitive gaming has become huge in the past 15 years or so. There are countless games on the market now that are designed to be highly competitive, including an array of shooters, MOBAs and fighting games. Whether you play for fun or you intend to compete professionally, leveraging technology to give yourself the best chance of success is essential when playing competitive games.
With the above in mind, below are some of the best ways you can make use of technology to give you a competitive advantage.
Optimize your gaming setup
The first and arguably most important step to using technology to gain a competitive advantage is to optimize your gaming setup. A typical gaming setup consists of the PC itself, a monitor, mouse, keyboard, desk and chair.
Having a good PC that runs your game of choice at the best resolution and highest frames per second is key. If you’re playing a shooter like Apex Legends and you’re playing at 100 FPS and your opponents are all playing at 200+, this is obviously a big disadvantage, so you need to ensure your hardware can handle playing at high frames.
In addition to the PC itself, you should also make sure you have a good monitor; ideally one that has a 144Hz refresh rate at minimum. The mouse you use is vitally important too. A good gaming mouse will not only be comfortable to use but also have all the hotkeys you need as well as being able to adjust the DPI on the fly.
Lastly, your desk and chair might feel like they’re not as important, but comfort is essential, especially when you’re playing for long periods at a time. An ergonomic chair and desk that has plenty of space will certainly help with this a lot, so they’re absolutely worth the investment if you play competitively. Once you’ve got your setup right, to play Big Bass Bonanza online or other popular names, there are plenty of trusted sites around.
Make sure your hardware and software is up to date
As well as having a good gaming setup, you should also ensure that your hardware and software is always up to date. Many competitive games nowadays are live service, meaning there are new patches and updates coming out all the time. It’s vital to ensure you have the latest version of your game installed if you want it to run at its best.
In addition to this, you should also make sure all your hardware is up to date, including any drivers for your mouse, keyboard, graphics card and any other components you use. The latest drivers can make a big difference to performance, especially where things like graphics cards are concerned, so be sure they’re up to date at all times.
Communication is key
If you’re playing a team-based game, such as Overwatch or League of Legends, being able to communicate with your teammates in the most efficient way possible is a must. Games like this tend to be very fast-paced, with key callouts at the crucial time often being the difference between winning or losing a game.
Although most games come with the option for text chat, this is far from ideal and isn’t really viable in any kind of fast-paced competitive game. This is why pretty much all esports teams will use voice communication when they’re in-game.
Depending on the game and how reliable its built-in voice comms are, it might be preferable to use voice comms via a third party app, such as Discord. Discord is known for its excellent voice communication technology, which is why many gamers rely on it rather than using in-game systems.
Make sure you have the best internet connection possible
When it comes to competitive gaming, wi-fi isn’t going to cut it in most cases – certainly not at the highest levels. To reduce latency and lag, it’s essential that you have a wired connection – ideally at the fastest speeds you can get. This will make sure you’re not going to experience any problems with your game at a crucial time.
As well as having a wired connection, there are also settings you can change in your router to ensure optimal speeds, so this is another thing worth looking into.
Conclusion
Gaming competitively can be very rewarding but can also be very frustrating if you’re hampered by a poor setup. By optimizing your gaming setup as well as ensuring all your hardware and software is up to date, you can be sure that you’ll have the best chance possible when it comes to winning, whether you play solo or as part of a team.
