Gaming has quickly become one of the most popular pastimes and hobbies in the world. The gaming industry is a multi-billion-dollar market, with billions of players worldwide across a multitude of platforms. It is incredibly competitive, in many different senses of the word. With so many different genres, platforms and consoles, developers and studios, there is a constant level of one-upmanship. The playing environment has become extremely competitive too with the advent of eSports. We are now seeing worldwide video game competitions and tournaments with prize pools well into the millions of dollars.
We have come a long way from the days of Pong and Tetris however, and video games have become more challenging as time has gone on and technology has become more advanced. Whether you are a casual gamer wanting to improve your performance with your friends or an aspiring eSports player, here is a guide on how to best quip yourself in the world of gaming.
Learn the Controls: A lot of your success can be put down to muscle memory. The controls for any single game you play have to become second nature with split-second decisions the difference between winning and losing. Take time to learn and practice controls, button combinations and movement mechanics. Many video games offer training modes where you can hone your proficiency. Alternatively, you can toy with the difficulty levels as you learn when playing against the AI, gradually increasing them as you become more confident in your ability.
Get to grips with Game Mechanics: Every game no matter the genre has its own rules and mechanics. Understanding the intricacies of the game can give you an edge over the competition. Dedicate time to learning mechanics such as abilities of specific characters, strategies to complete objectives, damage types, weapon strengths etc.
Establish Strategies: Most video games require some element of strategy which can change depending on your environment and in-game situation. For example, if you are playing an FPS and are low on ammo, stay away from long range firefights. If you are a goal up on FIFA with minutes remaining, defend deeper. Establish these beforehand so you are ready if the situation. When playing online casino games using real money, it can help to set yourself a budget and stick to it and keep a cool head to stop yourself from chasing losses.
Game Sense and Awareness: With most games now centred around online-multiplayer modes, it is especially important that you develop a sense of what is happening around you. This could be anything from audio cues such as footsteps or weapon sounds to anticipating the ways your opponents are going to move.
Practice Deliberately: Practice is important no matter who you are but the way you practice should be tailored specifically to you. Identify weaknesses in your game and develop techniques to improve on them. Use tools to improve you reflexes if your reaction time is slow or training modes to improve your aim in first person shooters. It can help to record your gameplay sessions and review them to identify mistakes you are making.
Pick up tips from the top players: The eSports landscape is vast in 2024 and with streaming platforms such as twitch you can watch some of the best in the world play for free. Pick streamers and competitors who play the game you want to improve in and observe their strategies, how the utilize mechanics, their techniques etc. You can then try and adapt whichever techniques they are using to the way you play the game.
Tweak Your Settings: In essentially every video game, default settings are able to be tweaked to your satisfaction. If you are not utilizing this then you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage. For example, if you are finding that you are consistently second in one-on-one shooting situations then it may be worth increasing your sensitivity. If you are finding that your peripheral vision is cutting out large portions of the screen you can change the camera or field of view settings. Everything from graphics to audio is customisable and fine tuning them can significantly improve your performance.
Upgrade Your Geat: Although expensive equipment is not essential, a strong setup can definitely improve your fortunes. A good monitor allows for smoother graphics and textures and faster response times allowing you to see things before those on lower-performing monitors can. Ergonomic keyboards and controllers depending on your console mean you are less likely to strain yourself when playing and help improve your speed when using button combinations.
Adapt and Experiment accordingly: Online multiplayers are consistently updated, especially those that are widely contested in eSports such as FIFA, Fortnite and Call of Duty. As such, there are constantly changing in-game metas that best equip you for winning. This could be formations in FIFA, weapon loadouts or game strategies and exploits which are later patched. Experiment with your approaches and keep on top of changes to gameplay and metas.
