Shoes for the Gamer in Your Life

Famous partnerships become transcendent in their ability to reel in a loyal following and stick around for a long time, so it's no wonder the meshing of shoes and video games has started to take off faster than a rocket to the moon.

The pairing is a real forehead-smacking moment. Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Now, kicks and video games.

A realm usually reserved for professional athletes and top-name designers, footwear has evolved alongside gaming for years and has come together time and again for some epic creations.

No longer a niche, and with more and more surely coming down the pipeline, here are some of the best shoes for the gamer in your life.

Nintendo Vans

Vans is one of the first to really take the initiative here, teaming with Nintendo to offer some epic designs gamers will fall in love with right away.

Vans hits on a little bit of everything with the collection, from Super Mario Bros. to Donkey Kong right on up to the Legend of Zelda series.

Various Instagram users help sample some of the epic series:

These bad boys come in many different designs and don't figure to stop anytime soon. It's a simple matter of picking a favorite Nintendo classic and looking to Vans for the hookup.

Converse Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary

Officially licensed Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary Chuck Taylors?

Yes, please.

This offering only hit store shelves in Japan, but luckily a thing called the internet exists. Good thing, because these kicks are lookers:

There's a little something there for everyone who happens to be a fan of the series. From the levels themselves on the side to the appearance of various characters, this isn't a series of kicks to ignore when on the market for some footwear.  

Converse Bowser Edition

The bad guy has a release out there, too.

This one was also only released across the pond, but no complaints when it's this pretty:

There is a Mario version there, too, but who doesn't want a Bowser edition? The bad guy doesn't get an offering like this often, so one can understand why it was an incredibly popular release.

PlayStation AF1

Say hello to one of the rarest video game shoes around. 

Inspired by the PlayStation's XMB (XcrossMediaBar) interface, the PlayStation Air Force 1 was a rarity only offered in small quantities for the 10th anniversary of Sony's flagship game console. Sneaker Bar Detroit wonders this year if a 20th anniversary edition is on the way, so keep a lookout.

Even Kobe Bryant was a fan:

Seriously, though, anyone with so much as a finger on these needs to clutch it dearly. It may or may not make a return but remains one of the hottest AF1 editions in history.

JRDN4 x PS4 20th Anniversary

Designer Jonny Barry of FreakerSNEAKS didn't wait around, celebrating the release of the PlayStation 4 with the JRDN4 x PS4 20th Anniversary.

Undoubtedly a slick looker, this one goes above and beyond for the Sony lover—it comes with an HDMI port.

No lie:

Many custom kicks exist in the video-game realm, but this one goes above and beyond. While maybe not for diehard Microsoft-Xbox followers, it's a hit right out of the park for those who ride with PlayStation. 

Megatron Trainers

The NFL and video games mashed into the kicks world thanks to one crafty nickname. 

Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson went by the moniker "Megatron," which anyone familiar with the Transformers universe will understand. Nike helped make the combination downright epic with three superb releases.

The CJ81 Megatron Trainer Max, Megatron Nike Air Trainer SC II and CJ81 Megatron Elite TD are all incredibly good-looking offerings featuring the familiar purples, reds and design of the universe.

It would be easy for a company to try to capitalize on the popularity of video games and miss the mark.

Nike has done no such thing here with the mashup of football and a popular sci-fi series.

Nike SB Dunk Mid "Ryu"

Few fighting franchises hold a torch to Street Fighter, so it's only right the legendary series is one of the first to get a widespread, endorsed release.

The SB Dunk Mid "Ryu" doesn't do anything crazy with graphics, keeping it simple and modern with the proper colors for series lead Ryu:

It's a slick look, and likely where the kicks game surrounding video games will continue to head. When the shoe industry realizes just how popular releases like this can be, the mashups will only bleed together further and create epic offerings like this.

SB Dunk High "Pacman"

The king, of course, has one of the best offerings out.

It was only a matter of time before the kicks game got Pac-Man in on the action. As one can see, Nike does it in a big way with an epic SB Dunk offering.

Again, this is the direction the merger will continue to take. There's no debate this shoe is a looker with a design any gamer—young or old—can appreciate.

Speaking of age, like video games themselves, the game-inspired shoes span generations in all-inclusive fashion. Gamers can rock any of these out with pride because seemingly with the snap of a finger, game-inspired shoes are some of the most coveted out.

Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.