Puma makes gamer shoes now, but they really just look like thick socks

Ever thought that you needed gaming footwear to up your game? Yeah, me neither. But Puma has decided that we need gaming shoes now, and they're going for AUD$160 (S$150) in Australia. Puma calls them Active Gaming Footwear, and they're supposedly designed with console gamers in mind.

Here's how Puma is describing them:

Designed for indoor and in-arena use, it delivers seamless comfort, support and grip so gamers can adapt to different active gaming modes and game their best.

Okay, sure! There's even marketing spiel for each of the shoe's "modes". According to Puma, the shoe features a "media wrap-up grip" in SEEK mode, "lateral wrap-up support" in ATTACK mode, and "heal wrap-up stability" in CRUISE and DEFENSE mode.

I'm not sure why you need so much support for your foot when you're just sitting down, but I guess they're more comfortable than shoes?

The Active Gaming Footwear also sounds more like a thick sock than an actual shoe, with a sock-like fit and knitted upper. There's a rubber outsole for "grip" as well, and foam for increased "torsion control". Clearly I need this to sprint around in my house!

The only thing missing is RGB lighting.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFXoTc3dvco&feature=emb_title[/embed]

It seems to me like gamers have made a reputation for themselves as suckers for unnecessary things, and brands are just looking to capitalise on that. After all, someone actually made an HDMI cable with RGB lighting.

This also isn't the only gaming product from Puma. The sportswear company has also worked with Playseat on a gaming chair, and it'll be available soon at US$253.66 (S$344). At the very least, the Puma Game Seat looks quite different from your regular gaming chair, more closely resembling a lounge chair for console and mobile gamers.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.