Thinking about expanding beyond the limits of traditional video games on your console or PC? Virtual reality headsets are finally moving into the mainstream, thanks to falling prices as well as an increased availability of games & apps. Check out some of our favorite VR headsets available during the holiday season.

Be aware that sale son these devices typically pop up during Black Friday sales. In addition, some companies will bundle packages of games together with discounts up to 50 percent off.

Best Wire-Free Experience: Oculus Quest 2

Hands down, the Oculus Quest 2 is one of the best VR experiences to introduce new users to the entertainment value of virtual reality games. Available in two storage size options (128GB and 256GB), the Quest 2 is an all-in-one virtual reality headset that doesn’t require PC connectivity. It comes with two touch controllers (powered by AA batteries), a spacer in case you have glasses and offers 1,832 by 1,920 resolution (per eye).

Battery life is a bit short, at 2.5 hours. However, an hour of playtime is probably the average length of time before the headset gets to heavy to wear. There are a number of accessories you can add to your Quest 2 to make it more comfortable to wear, in addition to extending the battery life by several hours.

During Black Friday 2020, a couple of the Oculus headsets were discounted between $20 to $50 and a few discounted game bundles hit the Oculus store. Look for similar discounts this year.

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Best VR for Console Gamers: PlayStation VR

Ideal for anyone that already owns a PS4 or PS5, the PSVR system has a large catalog of games and one of the highest refresh rates at 120 Hz. Downsides include one of the lowest resolution headsets on this list, 960 by 1,080 resolution (per eye) and a limited userbase for multiplayer games.

Games can be somewhat expensive, but sales occur significantly more often than games on the Oculus store. Some players have mentioned issues with motion controller tracking and issues sealing out light.

On the flip side, this is one of the least expensive VR headsets and often comes bundled with games. During Black Friday 2020, many bundles were discounted as low as $199. In addition, Sony is offering 3 free VR games with a PlayStation Plus subscription.

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Best VR for PC Gamers: Valve Index

While tethered to a PC, the Valve Index offers one of the best visual experiences due to a 120Hz refresh rate (and a 144Hz experimental mode). The Valve Index also offers some of the most comfortable to wear headsets and is compatible with some lower-tier graphics cards.

The Rift S offers 1,440 by 1,600 resolution (per eye) as well as 37.5mm off-ear speakers. Look for sales on the Valve Index  around Black Friday, but it will still be expensive compared to an Oculus headset.

It’s also the only headset with access to Half-Life Alex, one of the most impressive VR games on any platform.

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Best Headphones for VR: Logitech G333 VR Gaming Earphones

If you are looking for a good set of earbuds for your VR headset, the Logitech G333 are ideal for a few reasons. The short cable length keeps the cable away from your arms when swinging the controllers. It also comes with three options for silicone tips and and and aluminum housing.

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2021 Gift Guide: Best VR Gear for Escaping into Virtual Reality

Oh, the glorious Steam sale. It pops up a few times a year to empty the wallets of anyone who plays PC games. It’s gotten so popular that competing digital services like Amazon and GreenManGaming run similar sales during the same time period in order to pull sales away from Steam. Even EA’s Origin gets into the mix, but I wouldn’t recommend using that service to my worst enemy. (Be sure to check the section on Steam’s Trading Cards below!)

If you are new to the process, here’s the skinny. Steam, Valve’s PC game distribution platform, cranks up a massive sale on nearly all items in the store. The current one just started (June 24) and will run through July 8th at 10 a.m. PT. The next massive sale will hit during the winter of 2021, so it’s best to jump on sales right now to get some amazing deals. The sale period usually lasts for about 10 days and discounts range from 10 percent to 90 percent depending on the type of sale.

1. The Standard: This discount starts on the first date of the sale and lasts the entire sale period. This is the only sale price requested by Valve from publishers when it comes to purchasing a single game. It can be between 10 to 90% off the normal price of the game.
2. The Bundle: If you are new to PC gaming, this is really where you can get the most bang for your buck. Valve either bundles games from the same publisher or the same genre all together and adds an additional discount on top of the standard discount. It’s a great way to purchase a ton of games at once, typically for $25 to $75 depending on the bundle.

Patience Doesn’t Matter Anymore

The key to getting the best value out of Steam sale purchases used to be patience. During the older format in early 2015, you could snag amazing discounts with daily and flash sales. However, these were phased out in favor of a single discount for the entire sale period.

It doesn’t really matter what day you make your purchases on now. The sale price will be the same on the first day as the last day.

In preparation for a sale, I usually make a list of games that I want to add to my collection. You can use the Wishlist feature within Steam after you register for an account or simply type it out in Excel or Notepad. I’ll also come up with a budget of what I want to spend for each game.

You can also add funds to your Steam account prior to starting in order to cut one step out of the purchase process, however that’s not a huge necessity anymore due to the lack of daily and flash sales.

The Right Tools for the Job

If you are using Google Chrome or Firefox, I recommend checking out the  Augmented Steam extension. It provides a plethora of added features like color coding games you already own to avoid duplicate purchases, identifying 3rd party DRM, showing DLC categories and providing a pricing history to see if you are really getting a great deal.

If you are stuck at work or on a PC that you can’t make purchases on, be sure to download the Steam app for iOS or Android phones. This will help you keep up to date on the latest deals and make purchases that you can download later on your gaming PC.

Advanced Tips

If you’re looking for information on a game and standard reviews just don’t cut it, pop over to r/gaming in Reddit and look for the thread on each day’s deals. There’s usually a solid discussion on both the quality of the deals as well as the quality of the games.

You should also be sure to check out r/steamdeals and r/patientgamers for alerts on newly listed Flash and Daily deals as well as tips on cheap prices on competing services. Amazon, for instance, competes heavily with Steam and will discount games even more aggressively sometimes. Those games can also be downloaded directly within Steam, assuming it’s a digital version with a Steam key.

If you have a little extra money to invest in heavily discounted Steam games, consider purchasing a popular game at a 50 to 75 percent discount and hanging onto it rather than installing it. Beyond trading with friends in the Steam community, r/SteamGameSwap allows you to trade game keys with others. When something comes out that you really want to play, someone may consider trading that game for a key or keys that you own. If you are creative with trades, you could come away with a new release for the discounted price that you paid during the last Steam sale. You can also trade away duplicate games from a Bundle pack as well.

Steam It Up!

Those are the basics to taking advantage of the big Steam sales. Go forth and hand over your paycheck to the Mighty Gabe during the next Steam sale. If you are interested in beefing up your gaming PC in preparation of the next major Steam sale, check out our Build-a-Gaming-PC guide here.

How to Score the Best Gaming Deals During This Steam Sale

Developed by Flickr user Danny Farmer, this collection of illustrations takes the marketing pitches of fictional corporation Aperture Science (Portal 2) and mixes that with the 1950’s style of propaganda posters. Portal 2 elements depicted within the series include repulsion gel, propulsion gel, conversion gel, the portal quantum tunneling device and a selection of Cave Johnson quotes from the game.

If you haven’t explored the hilarity of Aperture Science CEO Cave Johnson, you desperately need to play through the inventive puzzle game. Voiced by J. K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Law & Order), Cave Johnson’s narration of various Aperture Science projects is exactly what makes Portal 2 such a joy to play. Listen to this clip to get an idea of what I’m talking about: LINK.

If you have played the game, be sure to check out the full collection of Portal 2 propaganda posters below:

Which one is your favorite?

Ten Stunning Portal 2 Propaganda Posters