I’m pretty sure that most of us have seen these “gaming glasses” every time we go to a Best Buy or Fry’s Electronics. Even on some smaller YouTube and Twitch channels I see these people claim to be sponsored by NoScope Glasses and Gunnar Optiks. Most of us tend to laugh at the thought of these being targeted for gamers, when amber-colored lenses have been used by hunters and other outdoorsmen for years, but the one thing that people seem to wonder is if they work. Well I’m here to tell you my thoughts about them. Before we start, I want to note that I own 2 pairs of Gunnars, the Vayper and MLG Phantoms. Also, I am not being endorsed in any way by any company that makes these kinds of glasses.
I’ll be honest and say that I never intended to own a pair of these glasses and had only heard of them after seeing some big named streamers like Hotted and Swifty wearing them a couple of years ago. One day I was walking around Best Buy and found a pair of Vaypers on clearance for $40, so I decided to buy one. The whole idea of it helping out with glare and less stress on your eyes sounded appealing as I am always looking at a screen whether it be a TV or a Monitor. While you don’t notice anything right away (besides the Amber tint and the not so comfortable “Temples”), you will after extended periods of time. I did feel like I wasn’t blinking near as much and that the strain on my eyes were almost nonexistent. After wearing them for up to 10 hours a day for about 3 weeks I came to the conclusion that they did help, but then I wondered how much of it was just a mental thing.
After really thinking about it, they do help out, but not near as much as I first thought. I just felt like there were basic things you could do that would help out tremendously. First off, remember when you played a game and you had to set close to the tv due to the wired controller (or older when some were hardwired into the system) and your parents always said “Don’t sit so close to the TV, you’ll hurt your eyes”? Well that certainly does help. Another thing is to not play games at night with all your lights off. I know we’ve all done it in some way whether it be on laptops, tvs, or cell phones. It does cause massive eye strain and while wearing those glasses do help out, the best thing is to just have the lights on.
Just remember that everyone’s eyes are different and everyone will have different opinions. While I found them to help, there are also things that you can do on the side to help take some of that eye strain go away. I do find that I feel better at night when I go to sleep after gaming or working on my computer. I don’t rub my eyes and they aren’t as blood shot when I take them off. Again everyone will feel differently after trying them on and say that there are alternatives in some form. The best thing would be to do some research, or if you happen to know somebody who owns a pair to just try them on yourselves.
