Rechargeable Batteries
It may sound obvious, but it’s the truth: Few peripherals have changed how I game—or, yes, saved me more money—than investing in a solid pair of rechargeable AA batteries. You have to understand, I spent the bulk of last generation playing games on PlayStation 4 and Switch, which conditioned me to believe that, when you need to charge a controller, you…plug in a cable. And yet, over the past year, like my colleague Zack Zwiezen, I’ve found myself gravitating more toward my Xbox Series X over my PS5. The proliferation of Game Pass throughout 2021 is no doubt a direct catalyst. An impressive fall slate—dozens of hours spent in games like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite—has also ensured my Xbox is frequently on. Since the console’s standard-issue controller runs on AAs, picking up a set of rechargeable batteries has saved me (based on the rate AAs are going for in NYC these days) something like, oh, I don’t know, probably $1.5 million dollars? That seems correct. -AN
