Father’s Day Gift Guide: Best gaming gadgets for dad

Give the gift of gadget this Father’s Day to dads who love gaming. Here are just a few ideas to make the virtual adventure loving, family man smile.

Infinity 4PS (Scuf Gaming, starting at $124.95) — Empower father to feel like a professional gamer as he virtually mows down the bad guys with this customizable, rechargeable and wireless controller for Sony’s PlayStation 4 entertainment console.

Through a painless online ordering process, the game is built to specifications by the Scuf technicians for each individual player through. The device offers the same core design of a PS4 DualShock controller.

Except, it also features: a pair of paddles underneath the controller (programmed to two of the four action buttons with electro-magnetic, on-the-fly remapping capabilities); adjustable side triggers with position and tension settings; side trigger extenders; interchangeable thumbsticks (four size options to change in seconds); and a full rotating control disc (for the directional buttons).

Twenty-seven color choices are available for the 4PS shell ranging from Pinky to Digital Camo red and Zombie orange along with colored multi-textured grips (hard rubber-like military grade) to deliver style and comfort for long gaming sessions with pals.

Since its Dad’s day, also consider tossing in the Gamers Bundle ($39.95) that includes a hard case, a 10-foot braided, USB 2.0 charging and data sync cable, four extra thumbsticks (long, regular, domed and concave), a ring and lock kit for the stick swaps, and a tube of Gamer Grip to help with sweaty hands.

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Of course, Pop is going to need some games to give the new controller a work out and here’s a trio of exceptional titles worth adding to the Father’s Day gift parade.

• Doom (Bethesda Softworks, rated hair raising Mature, $59.99) — Dad becomes a marine stranded on Mars and attempts to prevent the galaxy from being overrun by demons from Hell.

Expect this high-speed and bloody first-person shooter to really test the reaction time of a player who is now one with his new controller.

Wield high-caliber weapons and even a chainsaw in this visually grotesque smorgasbord that features a harrowing solo campaign, multiplayer mayhem and a chance to build maps to meticulously challenge players worldwide.

• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Computer Entertainment, rated Teen, $59.99) — Nathan Drake comes out of retirement for a final exotic adventure to help his brother find a legendary pirate’s treasure in a near perfect third-person adventure.

Mr. Drake has a habit of using dangerous parkour techniques and some outrageous climbing skills to survive.

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The added finesse functionality of the 4PS should come in mighty handy for the solo campaign as well as taking on friends in the multiplayer treasure hunts and death matches.

• Ratchet and Clank (Sony Computer Entertainment, rate E+10, $39.99) — The visually stunning but still hilarious reimagining of the classic platform game from 2002 requires Dad to control the fame Lombax and his mechanical pal to jump, climb, solve puzzles and run a gun around the Solana galaxy to stop the evil plans of super Blarg villain Chairman Drek.

The 4PS’ precision will definitely come in handy during various high-flying space battles and intense ground firefights. Suffice it to report, this is a nostalgia trip worth taking.

Universal Gamepad (Satechi, $39) — Guys with big fingers trying to play games on a smartphone already know the frustrations. I’m betting Dad will most appreciate a much more traditional way to tackle his mobile adventures with a Bluetooth wireless controller.

The great news is Satechi’s Gamepad resemble a slightly smaller version of an Xbox 360 controller and loads up on functionality with familiar four-button layout (labeled Y, X, B and A), two joysticks, four side triggers and a directional pad.

It features a spring grip carriage at its top to secure a phone in, houses a rechargeable (via USB connection) Li-On battery and has a range of 23 feet.

For iPhone users, it offers a mainly nostalgic jaunt (due to a lack of compatibility with MFi programming) into the history of video gaming for such classic game bundles including “Midway Arcade” (10 games for 99 cents including “Rampage” and “Joust”) and Atari’s “Greatest Hits” (99 games for $9.99 including “Centipede,” “Asteroids” and “Tempest”) along with new titles such as “Temple Run.”

For those using Android-operating systems, users can appreciate a more robust line-up including free games such as “Angry Birds,” and “Modern Combat 5” or “Grand Theft Auto 3” ($4.99).

Also, a joystick mode for the Windows operating system further extends the hardcore gaming possibilities with compatible titles ranging from “Mad Max” to “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” and “Fallout 4.”