Once upon a time, gaming was a very sedentary affair: it meant standing or sitting in one place for hours at a time. Many still do this, but now it is by choice, not necessity. Today's gamers are no longer confined to the family living room or dimly-lit mall arcades; they are always on the go, and enjoy a lifestyle filled with the love of portable gadgets and gizmos. It's now time for THG's look at the coolest toys and gear for the boys and men who love to play.

A Great Alternative To Gaming Naked

Gamers aren't the object of jokes and scorn any longer. In fact, being a game developer has become a very legitimate and even sought-after occupation. Social organizations are also now starting up in the field of gaming - as are support groups. At last year's E3 Expo, the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) released a study that reported a whopping 239.9 million games were sold in 2003. Furthermore, 54% of American households planned to purchase at least one game this year. If you consider that many households comprise retirement communities, one can conclude that video games have now entered the vast majority of American homes.

Gaming has thus moved away from being the realm of pocket-protector-sporting nerds; it has gone mainstream and become cool. As a result, there are now a few companies out there catering to gamers with style, who know that their hobby is no longer something to hide. After attending a dizzying number of gaming conventions and events over many years, I have come across a number of gaming T-shirts.

39% of Gamers are females. Mmmm. Females.

Unfortunately, a few of the companies that make these shirts are putting cool copyrighted art and logos onto cheap materials. Remember that shirt featuring Nintendo's Mario relieving himself on King Koopa that you picked up from the man on the corner with the wooden cart? After a few turns in your washing machine, it may become your next dust rag.

If you gotta game and you wanna look cool doing it, GameSkins has the clothes you need.

After searching long and hard for a company that made quality shirts with great designs and a good understanding of the inside jokes peculiar to gaming, I found GameSkins. When I want to be loud and proud about what I do for fun (and work, for that matter) they're the folks I trust to make me look good. They have lots of designs for gamers born in nearly every era of the gaming industry - Atari, Arcade, 8 bit, 16 bit, and so forth. Console gamers and PC gamers alike will find designs to enjoy. The website's tagline is "Apparel for the Gaming Generation," and it really is the best place to get the goods.