Good gaming mouse pads are, in a word, awesome. They can definitely increase a gamers overall mouse speed and give them the smooth, easy control of their mouse that every serious player is looking for.

If you are looking for a few reasons why getting a good mouse is important just consider the following questions:

• Do you want to have to pick up your mouse in the middle of a game to get it to a place on your mouse pad where you have enough space to perform the mouse movement that you need?
• Do you want your hand to hurt after a few hours of playing WoW, your favorite first person shooter, or your favorite real-time strategy game?
• Do you want to have a desk that looks totally lame because you have a mouse pad that says Microsoft on it?

If you answered no to all these questions then it is time that you went out and got a nice gaming mouse pad.

The reason that gaming mouse pads are such a big deal is that they really make a difference in your ability to play. Here a quick list of some of the main benefits of having a gaming mouse pad:

• Sound ergonomics. Carpel Tunnel is your enemy when playing video games competitively on the PC. This syndrome can cause pain the hands, forearms and shoulder. Pain is your enemy in the world of gaming because it will distract you from the task at hand - defeating your opponent. You may also want to be able to move your mouse hand when you grow old. All this can be achieved by using a good computer gaming mouse and a good gaming mouse pad.
  
• Smooth mouse movements. Gaming mouse pads are generally much larger then regular mouse pads. This extra bit of size is going to help you move your mouse over the entire screen with out having to pick your mouse up off the pad in order to move it to a part of the pad where you can continue your movement. This type of tracking is particularly important when a lot of scrolling or spinning needs to be done. First person shooting games seem particularly prone to this type of jump mousing and it can be avoided with an appropriately sized pad.
  
• Cool desktop experience. Many standard mouse pads just plain suck. They are ugly and don't look that good when compared with the cool pads that other gamers sport. If you want to get something that looks really cool then you have to get something that looks cool.
  

If you are looking for the ultimate in gaming experience then you need to buy a gaming mouse pad.