It's not every day a PC gaming hardware company has to tell us not to use its products for hurting people or committing arson. Still, here we are today: Razer just announced its first-ever glass gaming mouse pad designed to give the smoothest mouse glides with zero resistance, and it comes with just that kind of warning.
The Razer Atlas is a tempered glass gaming mouse mat. It's a pretty sizable pad at 17.72" x 15.75" with a 5mm thickness. There's no RGB, shockingly, but it's got a nice premium look and feel to it.
A hard mouse surface like glass is typically good for PC gamers whose playstyle leans toward quick movements for twitch shooters because there's less resistance than cloth and even hard plastics. Since it's glass, the surface will always remain consistently smooth (assuming it's clean), whereas cloth or plastic mats can wear and tear over time.
I really like glass gaming mouse pads though my issue is they always tend to be a little loud when you frantically start swiping away. Razer claims that the Atlas is "specially treated to allow for mouse swipes that are quieter mouse movements than average glass mats," which we will look out for when we get one in for testing.
Glass mouse pads tend to smudge pretty easily, so you must ensure you have a microfiber cloth ready to remove any gamer funk accumulated during playtime. They also don't come cheap, with the Razer Atlas costing around $99.
As I mentioned earlier, the Razer Atlas also comes with bizarre caution warnings on how not to use it on its product page. I'm fairly certain it's a joke, but what if it isn't?
According to Razer's illustration, you shouldn't use the glass gaming mat for starting fires as if it were magnifying glass aimed at the sun. Second, the Razer Atlas shouldn't be used to block the sun's harsh ultraviolet rays, which I'm assuming is to keep from setting yourself on fire. Finally, and perhaps most important, Razer would like you to not clobber anyone over the head with the Atlas glass gaming mat.
Considering how thick and hard tempered glass is, you could seriously damage someone's noggin.
The Razer Atlas is available now in black for $99, though you can also preorder the mouse pad in white, which ships next week on March 24, for non-head-bashing and non-fire-setting purposes. But honestly, who's going to stop you? I'm not your dad.
