Hey guys this is Austin!
And today meet with my top five gaming life hacks.
You know because I'm really good at this stuff.
[intro]
Coming in at number 5 is: stop using Wireless.
The future is supposed to be all about ditching cables like this, right?
Well my setup isn't the best example.
Going wired actually isn't a bad idea.
The most obvious example is wired versus wireless Internet.
If I compare running my Xbox one on Wi-Fi versus being plugged straight into my router,
you can see there's a decent difference especially in the download speed,
and, importantly for gaming, the latency.
Not only can plugging in help improve things like your paying.
They can also help you avoid lag due to random interference
especially in areas with tons of Wi-Fi signals.
While sometimes running Ethernet cables all over your house isn't practical,
it can help you avoid some problems.
Something that's also easy to overlook is plugging in your controller.
While wireless controllers are usually reliable these days,
if it's convenient it makes sense to keep things plugged in,
as having your battery dying game can be a huge pain.
For number four we've got optimizing your setup.
While most of us will game whenever and wherever,
it's actually really helpful to have a setup that's nice and comfortable for you.
One of the first things is getting a good place to sit.
I usually game in a normal desk chair on PC and, while you can spend a ton of money on these,
the important thing is that it's nicely padded and his height adjustable.
Bringing your chair to a level where your wrists are comfortable while gaming is important
not only to be able to focus better on the game, but also to keep yourself from straining your wrists.
At number three we have something for console gamers: optimizing your TV.
If you like to game on a PC odds are you're using a monitor but if you
game on a console using a TV makes a lot of sense.
Compare a decent PC monitor to a much bigger TV
and you'll see there's actually not a huge price gap.
One of the big differences is that TVs tend to do a lot of processing to make
the image pop, which can add a bit of lag, where monitors tend to take the signal
without messing with it too much.
Luckily, you can minimize this on most TVs by turning on game mode.
Dig into your menu until you find picture options and switch over to game mode.
What this does varies by TV,
but it typically turns down the processing on the image to improve input times.
For some TVs you might not notice much of a difference,
but it's definitely worth a shot to see if it works for you.
Moving on to number two we have: fine tuning your graphics settings.
This one is definitely more aimed at PC gamers but by tweaking your graphics settings you
can make a huge difference to the gameplay.
While it would be nice to have a PC that can handle every game completely maxed out all the time,
usually you're going to need to customize your settings to keep things running smoothly.
Ideally you want your game to be running at at least 60 frames per second
which is the max refresh rate of most monitors.
The best way to measure your framerate is with a tool called Fraps.
With it you can turn on an FPS indicator to show you exactly how smooth your game is running.
Now jump into the game settings and adjust the graphics until you get a solid framerate.
There are also tools that can help you work out settings like Nvidia's GeForce
experience and AMD's gaming evolved but I prefer to figure out things manually.
Once you get everything set up correctly, you should notice a massive difference.
And finally at number one we have: dialing in your control sensitivity.
When you're playing a game it's tempting to just jump right in.
However spending some time fine-tuning your controls can be a big help.
Most games default to a fairly low sensitivity,
which is great for people who are new to the game and just want to have a bit of fun,
but as you get better it can really slow you down.
By jumping into the settings and turning sensitivity higher you'll be able to look and aim a lot faster.
With high sensitivity at first you'll probably be awful, as there's a big learning curve,
but dial in the exact settings that works best for you and once you get used to it
it can make a big difference.
If you're playing on PC the advantage can be even bigger.
Get the perfect mouse settings and things like aiming and moving become way quicker and easier.
It's a simple tip but perfecting your controls can help us surprising amount.
So what are some of your favourite gaming life hacks?
Definitely be sure to share in the comments below.
Anyway I've got to give a huge shout-out to audible for making this video possible.
Audible.com is the leading provider of audiobooks with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across
all types of literature including fiction, nonfiction and periodicals.
Right now audible is offering a free audio book.
If you try them out and that includes one of my favorite books of all time: Ender's Game.
I remember loving this book when I was younger and listen to it again has been great.
Best of all you can get it for free from audible.
To download Enders game or another audio book for free just head over to audible.com/austin
Audible has always been a huge supporter of the channel, so definitely
go to audible.com/Austin and give them a shot.
Anyway guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one.