Sometimes I wonder what the thought process behind the gaming aesthetic was. RGB (*if tunable) itself is fine and adds a nice opportunity for personalization, but are those tacky fonts, crystal-facet enclosures, and overall showiness just tasteless or do any gamers actually prefer that look?
Guilty as charged.
Edited to add, this is actually a slightly old picture. I have a white GPU now.
She’s a beaut!
Needs a few of these little guys!
Ok that’s pretty cool!
Sick
No, RGB is annoying and gets disabled if I have no other choice. It’s cheap and tacky looking. Basically anything marketed as ‘gaming’ in my eyes is sub tier garbage.
My overall view on all products, not just gaming stuff if the more buzzwords and slogans and whatnot a company uses, the less I give a crap about them and will actually actively avoid it. Just means they spend more on nonsensical crap then the actual product.
In short; More marketing budget = less quality product
I absolutely love the tacky gamer look. I think that most flagship tech these days has a terrible lack of whimsy which makes me a bit sad. Look at back at the old imacs compared to the laptops that apple offers today. Look at the phones of the early 2000s compared to what’s currently on offer. It’s all straight lines and greyscale now. I do understand that that’s a classier look, but I wish there was more out there for people like me who want something that looks a bit more colourful and fun whilst still having good specs.
In my opinion, the gamer aesthetic usually doesn’t go hard enough. When my PC is turned off, it’s just a black rectangle. But it’s the best I can get without breaking the bank or doing something super custom.
To be fair, those pretty old designs produced a lot of plastic waste. The aluminum ones are much better for the environment. Still, I do miss the interesting designs, shapes, textures and colors.
I think the industry still thinks their target audience is 12 year olds. It’s evident also in the aesthetic of the games they make. That being said I am seeing a slow change for the better. If only I could say the same about the prices…
I don’t like the aesthetic but a lot of my stuff is “gaming” branded for functionality reasons (eg high refresh rate monitor; mice with extra buttons; the mech kb I wanted happened to be gaming branded but I would’ve bought a keyboard with same specs and price that was not gaming branded). The gaming aesthetic is a bit weird when you think about it.
yeah i like the gamer aesthetic
I liked the transparent/translucent electronics trend of the 90s and early 2000s, the transparent blue PS2 and green original Xbox models were great.
The modern gamer RGB aesthetic with RGB everything and the jacked up PC cases? I hate it, I think even the light bar on the PS5 is too much. And the new Xbox, I don’t even know what it’s called series something, it looks terrible.
the transparent/translucent electronics trend of the 90s and early 2000s
I’ve been feeling nostalgic for this look lately. I really like how it emphasizes the artificial nature of the device in question and invites you to think about how it works and how it was put together - while minimalist electronics do exactly the opposite, almost as if you’re embarrassed about owning it and want to pretend that it’s not there.
I started off with fan grills and led fans and cold cathode lighting way back when.
Now, my gaming PC, which is about due for its 5 yr update again, is in an old antec sonata case from 2008ish. I’ll probably splurge on a new one next round, but if it’s fancy, it will be one of those unassuming fractal cases with wood.
No lights if I can help it.
Yep. I’m the (apparently minority) weirdo that LOVES the rainbow vomit lights. I have lights everywhere on my computer and desk and it brings me so much joy. It just feels happy to me to have the bright rainbow colors slowly shifting. I find it delightful and will pay extra to ensure devices are not only rainbow capable, but are the right type of rainbow (slow shifting) that I love. My side of our gaming office drives my husband nuts. I regret nothing!
Some gamers do. Like most humans they are attracted to bright, flashy patterns of colors. (most animals actually are). But most mature gamers I know, would rather put some money in better equipment, than flashy colors. So, gamers are as different as the rest of us. Some are caught by the hype, some are not. You see it in cars too. Some like bling, som focus on the actual car.
Me? I like RGB in my keyboards backlight. I don’t like it to flash, but I like to make it an orange/reddish color, because that’s easy on the eyes, when using your computer at evenings or nights. That’s about it.
I do the same but with blue lights on everything. No patterns, color-changes, or whatever - just everything on a low, static blue
I kinda like RGB but not in the pulsating rainbow way how it seems to always be on marketing materials.
I like keeping it to one colour, with the intensity at half. It is nice to change it a few times a year for a fresh look.
The fonts and other stuff, I don’t care that much as long as the components are good quality. Maybe subconsciously I would consider design if I had to choose between options that performed and cost relatively equally.
I turn that shit off asap. I’ll put cool stickers on my case or use a low backlight for the keyboard but otherwise why would I want a bunch of distractions from the screen?
I bought RGB crap once. It stayed on while the PC was in standby mode. Never again.
I was into it in the early days but got over it quickly. Now I want the opposite and minimize attention my PC draws to itself. Its just pointless and kind of annoying. It was impressive back when it was new and challenging but now its just an element of marketing, and one that I’ve come to strongly dislike in my builds.
I was looking for something with a nicge natural wood finish. LED is dine but no blinking fading, just a solid line without any distraction.
