While the term 'gamer' is becoming increasingly vague, which is a positive sign that everyone from small children to retirees can love video games as a perfectly normal part of life, the conventional use of the phrase is still a segment of the market relentlessly targeted by companies. IKEA is another joining in, creating a range of gaming furniture that seems to be focused on competitive PC-centric gaming, and of course streamers.
The range has previously had trial launches in a few countries, but is now set for a global roll-out in October. As suggested above it's targeting a very specific setup - many of us may slump in a cosy chair or sofa to play games on the TV, whereas a lot of the range is focused on competitive angles or streaming. That's fair enough, though some of our team have seen the concept images and gone from 'it's a bit like a bathroom' to 'it was clearly designed by Batman'.
Some of the PR blurb is below:
In total, the new gaming range includes more than 30 products, covering both furniture – gaming desks and chairs, a drawer unit – and accessories – a mug holder, a mouse bungee, a neck pillow, a ring light and many more. The new range offers gaming desks and chairs of different price range to meet the needs of different target groups.
“We want our products to offer better ergonomics and functions so that gamers can become even better at what they do without wearing out their bodies – become better athletes, basically.” – says Jon Karlsson, IKEA designer.
Some of the products seem strange; this scribe isn't an IKEA regular so didn't realise weird wooden hands were a popular product, and there's now a chunky variant for gamers.
There's also a neck pillow, which we understand could be very useful for people with injuries or comfort issues, but nonetheless seems like an odd inclusion in this range. Maybe it's for simulating a mid-flight nap on a longer journey in Microsoft's Flight Simulator.
As you can guess, we're not convinced by IKEA's gaming range, but if it is for you then it'll definitely be worth a look when it rolls out in October.
[source about.ikea.com, via about.ikea.com, theverge.com]
Comments 24
Never felt comfortable with any kind of "gaming gear" .
that hand can do more than you can imagine 😂
I already have gamer furniture from IKEA. It's called a couch. Very comfortable! Beats sitting at a desk.
Okay this has to be a paid advertisement
Hopefully I'm not the only person who remembers the days when being a "Gamer" was a stigma and you were weird. But now its become normal, weirdly I don't like it
@Bunkerneath Just like "nerd'".
Sometimes trying to look cool has the opposite effect.
Just give me something quirky and cosy!
Never been so enlightened than when I watched Gamers Nexus's video on buying an office chair over a gaming chair. Gaming chairs, or most of them anyway, are simply a scam, they're potentially harmful for your long term health even I'd wager. My old man, as he's nearing retirement, is often sitting for long hours in front of his computer and wanted to buy a gaming chair from a local store that had a deal on them, I told him "ask if you can try it out first before you fork any money for one", and it's good that he was able to, cause he said it was a horrible experience sitting in it.
Anything coming out of Ikea with the word "gaming" attached to it, I'd be wary of instantly. With that being said, heck, a shelf or a desk, whether it's from Ikea or anyone else is just furniture, it's not like that can harm you. But you don't need a "gaming" shelf or desk to game. Attaching the word "gaming" to it is just another way to milk more money out of naive customers.
I don't need racing stripes on a chair for gaming. They already lost me with the chair in the image above. I'm not their market.
No thanks, I'll stick with the comfortable office chair I have in my room.
@HalBailman Don't give Apple any ideas with this Beats Sitting by IKEA.
I play my 3DS on a futon
Let's just make all our normal stuff black and jam it together with a gaming chair. That is what gamers like, right?
Is gamer a personality trait nowdays?
@elias84631
It's like when a guy grows a beard and it becomes his whole identity.
I love walking through Ikea.
Lots of great ideas.
I used to use the cheap Ikea shelving to house our game systems. (But someone along the way gave us an old entertainment center cabinet to house our game gear so the Ikea shelving has been giving storage duty now. LOL.).
But my daughter's gaming PC is set on an Ikea desk (with hidden cable channels to reduce clutter). And she has an Ikea office chair.
Cheap. But . . . fairly well thought out and well built.
Most of the Ikea stuff we've bought have lasted a long, long time.
"...a mouse bungee..."
A what now?
@KillerBOB #rawmeatcowboy
This reminds me of the Terrorbyte in GTAV.
Don't buy this "gaming" garbage, that's just a marketing word to sell things to the kids
@Azuris Same here, because it's wrong ergonomic.
I remember trying ergonomic keyboard in 1990's.
My arms were exhausted 10 times faster than with a normal keyboard.
Ergonomic stuff don't sell well, because it doesn't work for most people. There is less focus on curved screens now too.
Ergonomic things is nothing more than a marketing gimmick for things people don't need or can even use.
I do have a "racing chair", Steelseries Mouse, Pad and Keyboard.
Thats about as "nerdy as it gets here".
My Racing chair have "neck and as* pillows", but i never use any of them.
I couldn't see the pull out of the wall toilet, but I'll assume it is there somewhere.
So I get to step into Tron?
I thought this stuff was already available? I’ve definitely seen the hand headphone holder in the game room section a few months ago in the Shibuya IKEA… Maybe it was out in Japan early though?
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