Introduction

With games becoming more hectic, and requiring faster reflexes, the need arises for outstanding mouse pad surfaces to provide the level of accuracy needed to successfully dismember any enemy stupid enough to come into your line of fire. Nova was established in 1993 and has succeeded in producing outstanding mouse surfaces ever since. One such mouse mat is the Microptic Winner 3. Designed as a successor for the Winner 2, offering the same quality surface in a smaller size. It is said to offer “various new innovations, developed especially for gamers”. I plan to put this to the test and see how good it can really be.

Features and Specifications

• Size 268X233mm
• Thickness: 3mm
• Bi-material: The new pads keep Nova’s unique material
• Inner material is now available in two colors, Black or White
• Outer material available in three colors, Red, Black or Silver
• 8000 DPI, 0 Latency
• Non-skid base

Packaging

The Nova Winner 3 arrived to me in a clear plastic wallet with two holes in, one so you can feel the top of the pad and one so you can feel the bottom of it. This was a very good indicator that the product would be good even before I’d taken it out of the packaging.

The back of the piece of paper that the mouse mat came stuck to shows NOVA’s current range of mouse mats with lists of specs under each one, the winner 3 is highlighted. Under this are some technical specifications written in words, and six different languages, specifically for the winner 3. Just to show off NOVA have decided to put all the awards they have won with this range of mats on as well, useful if you didn’t already know what you are getting is a quality product.

This packaging was very good as the Nova arrived to me with no damage whatsoever and showed off the product in a suitable fashion.

The Nova Winner 3

One of the first things you notice after peeling this product satisfyingly off its paper

backing is that it’s a very good looking pad which certainly boasts “Gamer”. With its slick shape and rounded edges the Winner 3 certainly is onto a winner with its looks.

Aside from the shape the main surface is sparkly; presumably this is Nova’s micro mirror technology. This looks very nice on the Winner 3, being neither garish nor girly.

Testing

With a simple placement of the mat on my desk the product was installed and ready to go – as expected – the first thing i noticed was that the mat doesn’t move an inch. Throughout the test the mat never moved once without me wanting it to.

This is credited by Nova to the micro cellular foam layer on the bottom of the pad. This was incredibly useful in my favourite first person shooters, Half Life 2, as it meant that my efforts to kill a lone head crab whilst I was on the verge of death were not thwarted by a slippery mouse mat.

The precision offered by the tiny mirrors placed throughout the mat’s inner layer proved invaluable in helping to kill the Combine as well. If you’ve ever played Half-Life 2 you’ll know that very near the end your gravity gun will be upgraded and as a result you can pick up the combine and kill them in any manner of ways. Whilst this sounds fun it is also damn near impossible, elite enemy forces start running at you from every direction with varying degrees of number and firepower. If you’ve ever needed precision and speed in a game now is the time. The mouse mat offered total precision every time a new horde of combine came towards me, in a part of the game where I would usually die many times from picking up the wrong thing I didn’t die at all. I can credit this all to the Nova’s ability to offer precision.

One of our favourite tests here at Tech Reviews is a mouse pads ability to be rolled up so that it can be taken to a LAN party. The Winner 3 performs very well here. As its underside is so sticky there is no need for anything to keep it rolled up, it merely sticks to itself and off you go. When unrolling it, the pad retains some of its curves, however – again due to its stickiness – the mat simply sticks to whatever surface it’s on and won’t roll up again.

Conclusion

In a world where successors are usually worse than their predecessors (Star Wars Episode 1, Half Life 2 Episode 2, Gordon Brown) I can safely say that there is hope in the form of this mouse pad. Not one thing went wrong at any time and its ability to provide ultimate killing power means that this product gets a massive thumbs up from me. Retailing at around £13.50 this product is also great value for money.

Pros

• Brilliant Precision
• Stylish Looks
• Good Size
• Nice Price Tag

Cons

• None