Hot Hardware
"The OCZ NIA is a very unique input device and possibly the first true brain-computer interface to hit the retail market. The NIA provided superior trigger response time and the difference was quite noticeable and immediate. The NIA configuration software is packed with numerous features and options which render it quite powerful, but then again, the NIA is a complex device. The configuration utility is relatively well laid out. The NIA also won't instantly make you a better gamer, but with practice and careful profile setup, it can breathe new life into your favorite games and even give you a competitive edge. The NIA is an excellent product that delivers on all advertised features.”

The Tech Report
"By incorporating an electro-myogram, electro-encephalogram, and electro-oculogram into a small headband and a little black box with a USB connector, the company has developed a control system that can translate eye movements, facial muscle movements, and brain waves into game input. As a result, the NIA is a strange contraption that requires some very unusual participation from the user."

Overclock 3D
"The device is certainly a revelation as there is simply nothing else out there on the market that can compare..."

PC Gamer
"Astonishing isn't the word for it. Astonishing is what you'd call a chicken that can play the violin. This is something else. This is heaven. The more you use the system, the further it can tailor its algorithms to understand your intentions, and the more reliable it becomes. And yes, it works. And it does require a lot of training before you can be a serious contender in deathmatch. But I'm going to keep at it, because I've already killed scores of UT3 bots Predator-style, raining death down on their little poly heads with nothing more than a glance. Still, if I may paraphrase a famous quote, the truly remarkable thing about the NIA is not so much that it works as well as it does, but that it works at all."

Maximum PC

Hardware Info (Netherlands)
Video review of the nia at Hardware Info TV!

TechZine (Netherlands)
"The nia is a small device which you can connect via USB to your PC. The nia headband transfers signals such as brainwaves, muscle and eye movments into computer commands. You can customize those commands to whatever suits you best. Setting up the nia was a piece of cake and I could start gaming within minutes. I have been playing with the nia for a while now and it is still bizarre, it all seems very sciencefiction like. When I first played with the nia I had my doubts but after some training, installing new software updates, I started to really enjoy it. The nia definetly gives you a completely new gaming experience."

PC Format
“Trust us, you’ve never experienced anything like the NIA. In fact we’d wager that you’ve never come across anything even vaguely like it. Personally, I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’ve seen some odd things in my time. The difference here is that it can potentially give you the edge to make you a better gamer. And as the NIA can speed up response times, it means you’re more efficient at shooting before getting shot. We’re still grinning thinking about it, this is one of the most interesting developments for computers that we can think of – we’re impressed with what we have seen so far.”

Oyungezer Magazine (Turkey): Editor's Choice Award
"To command games without our hands, just with our thoughts... NIA isn’t supposed to fill in the space for a keyboard and mouse, it’s aim is to take your gaming experiences to the next level. The waves which are transfered to digital platform are transformed into commands for you to be able to command the games much more better than ever. NIA isn’t just simply reading our thoughts. It educates us to convert the unconscious responses to conscious ones and mimic these responses whenever we want. When we accomplish this the only thing left to do is to associate these responses in our head with the contols we use in the games and NIA does the rest for you.

NIA isn’t an equipment that you will forget once you connect it to the system. You have to spend time for it if you want to use it efficiently. While being patient, you learn not to push yourself, to relax and slowly improve your concentration abilities. Either ways NIA is one of the most revolutionary products that have been on the market." (Editor's Choice Award, August 2008)

PCGH Magazine (Germany)
"The nia is an alternative for professional gamers, if you for example just use the left mouse button with the nia you will see a huge advantage when it comes to reaction time: our first tries showed 170ms less with the nia compared to the mouse.The nia is a great product for 'geeks' but also professional gamers that want to improve their reaction time. We are sure that the nia will find a lot of fans out there. Play games with your brain – yes it really does work!”

Theo Valich: Is OCZ’s NIA the most important thing in IT industry?
“I would rate NIA even higher than multi-touch interfaces. At the end, I cannot say that I am done with Neural Impulse Actuator. This device is just fascinating. OCZ is positioning this device in the gaming segment, next to its line of gaming mice and keyboards. If I have to judge this device as a gaming controller alone, it can offer unique gaming experience, but it will take some time to adjust. But if you look into this device as an 'enabler' or 3D worlds to elderly and disabled people, that’s a whole another ballgame. There is tremendous number of people that were physically stopped from enjoying 3D worlds through their respective disability."

“NIA enables those people to start playing games and improve their life. And that is something that is not just commendable, but is truly inspiring. OCZ did a brilliant job with this one, and I hope that the company will continue to develop this concept into the future. I can only say that you should try it. If you find 100 or so bucks in your budget, don’t think about $90 mouse, or a $100 'gaming' keyboard. This might give you a whole lot more than those peripherals.”

CHIP Magazine (Russia)
"You can use NIA in virtually all areas of work with computers - from games to the myriad other programs. In sports games, such as race, NIA can replace both the steering wheel and gearshift box, and the degree of immersion in the game will be no less than using a specialized manipulators. The device is unique, and any similar or substitute NIA earlier was not met. NIA - is a new step in the development of computer manipulator, a step difficult, but significant. But what will this technology forward, and if at all, we have yet to learn. NIA is a significant step forward in the field of computer manipulators."

Tech Radar
“We have a shining vision of the gaming future: We've finally got our hands on a retail unit of a device that brings us a little closer to this gaming utopia, OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator. Even the simplistic Pong mini game, designed for practice, is enormously amusing simply because it requires no manual control whatsoever. Once it is all configured and you're shooting people with a mere raised eyebrow, it's undoubtedly a uniquely exhilarating experience. There's a noticeable and impressive drop in reaction times, particularly when it comes to firing in a fast-paced first person shooter. There's enormous potential here, and certainly a great degree of player interest in the ultimate goal of mind-controlled games."

OCZ nia review on YouTube
Trubritar Reviews the OCZ nia on YouTube

G4 TV
Watch as nia creator, OCZ's Dr. Michael Schuette, challenges the host of G4 TV to a "Neural Showdown". Who will prevail?

Legit Reviews
"I can fully see how each player's experiences may be different. While I was not able to hone my NIA signals in the last few weeks, I can see how a dedicated player could very well learn what mental buttons to push to use the NIA in a beneficial way. Simply cutting down the reaction time of moving forwards and backwards could mean 1st or 2nd place in a match. Overall, kudos to OCZ for offering a product that gives everyone a glimpse of what is possible in future gaming. OCZ has opened the door to extra-sensory gaming and will always be known as the first company to release such a product to the mainstream market."

Hardware Secrets
"It’s hard to explain the whole experience. It’s really bizarre to shoot your virtual gun by making faces at the screen or guiding your gunslinger by either relaxing your thoughts or getting 'angry'. How about to dodge an incoming missile by looking to the side? You really feel in the game – the immersion is way bigger than the conventional keyboard and mouse experience. An observation is in order: OCZ states that the NIA doesn’t replace the keyboard and mouse, but in fact it adds to the game play enjoyment. Of course OCZ deserves kudos for developing the NIA. That is no small scientific and engineering feat. It’s a great and revolutionary product that will amass some die-hard fans. It feels like if one day we will truly control a videogame with our minds, the device will be heralded by its maiden achievement with due respect."

X-bit Labs
"...Once this state is achieved, you realize that the NIA is not so far from reading your thoughts. It doesn’t read them, actually. But you do get the feeling that it does! This feeling can’t be described – you have to feel it yourself. The NIA is far different from any automatism you can achieve with a keyboard, mouse or any other advanced input device. The OCZ NIA is surely a highly exciting device. It is indeed a new type of computer input devices and it really works. I don’t regret any second of my time I spent to test the NIA."