Dads who like to play
Have you sorted out a present for this very important man in your family yet? No, we’re not talking about your baby son, pet dog, or stroppy teenager. With Father’s Day fast approaching, it’s Dad who is well within his rights to expect a nice toy for himself this June. M&D asked Paul Wojnicki, one of our regular reviewers and a dad of two, for his opinion on a perfect gift which many fathers would be glad to get this year.
Many of you mums out there will have noticed that it’s not just children that happily spend their time and money on a PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch these days, but that Dad is equally content to sit in front of a video game with or without the kids. In fact, Statista claim that an astonishing 76% of men aged between 35 and 44 spent time playing video games during the Covid pandemic. So gaming gifts are a sure fire bet when it comes to Christmas, birthdays and – of course – Father’s Day. But with digital gaming being the new normal, giving a digital download as a gift can feel a little odd. So here are three great ideas for that special dad in your life that likes to dip in and out of a game now and then.
Best for Xbox fans- The Nacon MG-X
This is far and away my favourite gaming gadget, as it allows me and the kids to enjoy many of the games we get on the Xbox Game Pass on our mobile phones. The Nacon MG-X is basically an Xbox controller, with the exact same functionality as official game controllers, but which is capable of gripping any Android smartphone between its sides and turning the phone into a portable Xbox console. It’s so simple to use too; just turn the MG-X on, press the Bluetooth button for three seconds and connect your phone to it. Then use the secure grip to hold your phone and then stream your game on the Xbox Game Pass app.
The Nacon MG-X comes equipped with a rechargeable battery that provides up to 20 hours of gaming and is compact and robust. It feels great in your hands and the buttons and joysticks are smooth and responsive. My kids sometimes pair our MG-X with our Xbox, to use as a third controller when they’re playing Minecraft Dungeons with friends.
Personally I don’t like to spend too much time at home playing games and I seldom switch the Xbox on to play by myself, but the MG-X is great for dipping into the odd game on my mobile when I’m on the train to work or while I’m waiting for the kids at one of their after school clubs. I tried doing this using the touch screen before I had the MG-X and it was impossible, so it’s saved me from many an otherwise boring journey.
The MG-X will be a guaranteed hit with any dads whose kids have an Xbox, especially those that have the Game Pass Ultimate, which allows users to stream games on their phones. In fact, it’s probably worth buying instead of an Xbox if you’re just a casual gamer like me; why waste money on a console if you’ve already got a phone that can play the same games? Universal compatibility means that the Nacon MG-X Works with all Android smartphones equipped with Android 6 and later systems, up to 6.7 inches, so if Dad has an Android get him a MG-X to go with it.
The MG-X is available in Argos for £79.99
Best for Android tablet owners- The Sharpin Mini Pinball digital pinball cabinet.
The Sharpin Mini is a great gift for dads that enjoy old school arcades and pinball machines. It’s also perfect for dads that like building and tinkering with things. It comes in a neat flat pack that’s pretty simple to put together and with some basic push fit circuitry for the USB encoder that almost anyone could get their heads around.
Once it’s built, the Sharpin Mini turns any 10 inch Android tablet into a fully functioning digital pinball machine, all you need to do is insert your table and download one of the (surprisingly) numerous pinball apps from the Google Play Store.
It took me about 30 minutes to build my Sharpin Mini with my ten-year-old son, and he really enjoyed constructing it with me. Once it was built we slid in my old Android tablet, downloaded a couple of free apps and hey presto we had ourselves a pinball machine.
The Sharpin Mini looks great, it’s really portable and can be packed neatly away when not in use, but it’s large enough when playing to feel enjoyable and like a real mini pinball machine. The experience is far superior to the toy pinball machines that are available in toy stores and there are so many different digital tables available that it’s got years of potential entertainment in it.
Sharpin also make fully built digital pinball tables that cost hundreds of pounds, so having a budget option that can make use of an Android tablet is a great idea. The tablet doesn’t have to stay in the Sharpin Mini and can be removed in a few seconds thanks to the sliding wooden surround.
At the time of writing there was a sale on the Sharpin Mini, with it retailing at 83 Euros Euros from digital pinball
Best for re-living the arcade- PXN 0082 Arcade Stick
There’s nothing like the feel of a real arcade stick for dads who grew up in the 80s and early 90s. It’s a testament to that era that every generation of consoles since the first PlayStation, first Xbox and Nintendo have all tried to bring those 80s classics to your living room. Even the ultra-modern PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still have all the 80s arcade classics available for download.
So it’s no surprise that, despite the evolution of joysticks into all singing all dancing gamepads, old school arcade sticks (sometimes referred to as fight sticks) are still big sellers. They’re not cheap either, with many of the bigger names costing well over £100. To me, this might be okay for ultra-competitive gamers that use them for fighting games, but it’s rather a lot to pay for something that’s only going to be used occasionally for a bit of a nostalgia fix on old school games. They are often only compatible with one or two different consoles too.
The PXN 0082 on the other hand is compatible with almost any console you can think of in the modern era, the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PS3, PS4, PC and even your Android phone or smart TV, and it only costs £39.99.
For the price the PXN 0082 feels remarkably good, with the buttons and stick being responsive and having all the reassuring clicking noises that you’ll remember from arcade sticks in the 80s. Don’t worry, arcade sticks are supposed to sound like that! The nonslip rubber suction cups keep the PXN 0082 firmly in place and a nice touch is the rubberised-skin in the place where you would rest your wrist while playing, which feels really comfortable.
I liked the 0082 so much I bought two because my seven-year-old, Ella, loves the classics even more than I do, especially the two player ones like The Simpsons. We even made a mini arcade machine with one of them by connecting it to one of the kids Kindle devices and downloading some classic games. So now we’ve got a pinball machine and an arcade machine!
The PXN 0082 is available from Amazon for £39.99
These are great ideas my dad even though he’s nearly 80 loves gaming xxx