14 replies to this topic

[One Man Clan]

Has anyone seen this? Has there been a discussion about it?

http://www.kickstart...me?ref=category

Edited by One Man Clan, 26 May 2013 - 05:55 AM.

[BlackBoarderV]

We've known about it for a while, some of the newer Nerf blogs have been promoting it a lot.
I don't think there has been a discussion on here about it yet, but its ammunition type is interesting, Also the iPhone attachement has seemed to be influential on Hasbro, as photos of a Nerf branded and coloured have been popping up over the internet..


Holy Shit, Its OMC.

[Daniel Beaver]

This is the first I've heard of it.

For what it's worth, they have working prototypes, so they're not totally full of shit.The ammunition is very clever, they're little rubber rings that double as a power source (it's basically a type of rubber band gun). My imagination is dead, so I don't really "get" the video game aspect of it, but the blasters themselves look like something that would be of great interest to the NIC.

Edited by Daniel Beaver, 26 May 2013 - 08:55 AM.

[MyLastDart]

I have been following these guys since the start, and i'm pumped to see what they bring to the table. I interviewed them a while back and got the lowdown on what people really want to know.

http://youtu.be/av4m1fKSd0M

Their firing mechanism is really smart and practical -
Its more or less in perma semi-auto mode.
You can slam-fire non stop or use the trigger as a Long Shot (loser style).
Users CAN calibrate the blaster how they wish too.
It has a REAL recoil to it, and that is missing in many real trigger blasters.
Their AR (Altered Reality) mode is pretty awesome too, and incorporates Capture the Flag counters.

They have a Kickstarter campaign going, aiming for $50,000. They have so far $33,597 (67% of goal) - they have some 14 days left on the clock to raise some $16,500 till the campaign ends. They need the support of blaster fans looking for something new - you can get some awesome rewards too for pledging - check it out more here.

Edited by MyLastDart, 27 May 2013 - 06:53 AM.

[mikejonas]

the iPhone attachment has seemed to be influential on Hasbro, as photos of a Nerf branded and coloured have been popping up over the internet..

I'd dispute this because of the existence of LTAR and the current Nerf IOS app, not to mention Rebelle. I'd bet that Hasbro's been working on marrying smartphones and Nerf blasters for a long time. Tek Recon are claiming some intriguing features, but we'll have to wait and see how well it works in real life, and unless they've got some solid patents on some of those features, there's nothing that says Nerf's application won't be at least as good somewhere down the line.


I guess I'm just a little skeptical about Tek Recon overall. I'm doubtful about the blasters' accuracy. I'm worried about how well the smartphones are secured to the blaster--while Nerf's solution is a thick, all enveloping case (which is one of the reasons why they haven't tried to support Android phones in their myriad form factors, as opposed to four or five for Apple), Tek Recon uses a clamp system that appears just too flimsy for my taste and clearly leaves a lot of the device exposed. I believe someone also pointed out somewhere that while the ammo is recoverable, its size makes recovery difficult and some may lose some or choose not to recover the ammo (which is troublesome because it's not biodegradable). All minor issues, perhaps, but enough to make me wait and see until it's out in the wild and real reviews and reactions come in.

[Zorns Lemma]

This looks like a pretty good choice for indoor Nerf, since there appears to be low modding potential as the rings themselves are the power source (I guess you could stretch them further at the cost of even more accuracy). You also pretty much have to buy a whole kit and all move on to their platform, whereas currently we can mix-n-match N-Strikes and Sceptors.

Outdoor nerf is going to be plagued by 0 ammo recoverability and low accuracy with these low mass projectiles.

[Mully]

Outdoor nerf is going to be plagued by 0 ammo recoverability and low accuracy with these low mass projectiles.

The fact that their green also helps.
I'm very interested in seeing how these things work though.

Edited by Mully, 28 May 2013 - 04:56 PM.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Just dropped my $40, 11 days and $12k to go. I really like the concept, plus I wouldn't mind stimulating the general foam dart sports market.

[Jangular]

The fact that their green also helps.
I'm very interested in seeing how these things work though.

The green helps if you're on concrete or hardwood floors, but what if the place you're most likely to play is on grass? Green isn't going to help them stand out at all, and I have to think that finding any ammo after it's fallen into the grass will be near impossible. If they release orange or blue ammo packs to supplement the green, then that could certainly alleviate the problem of small ammo by letting you choose what color to go with depending on where you play.

As for the app being influential to nerf, I think that while they were likely already working to push their own app, this will just be more of a reason for them. It also might put some pressure on the nerf app to actually have a purpose, because there are some neat things on the tek recon app, like the CTF flag capturing.

[nerfern]

One of their most recent YouTube videos shows them using orange rounds. So I'm not sure if they decided to go with orange instead, or they'll be offering both.

Either way I can't wait to try these out (just the blasters, I'm not interested in the smartphone AR aspect). Hopefully they're as good as they sound and if so, people buy them; I think Nerf could use some competition.

[ShaNayNay]

It appears that they just achieved their goal. Seeing that it is not a single player game, and the rewards that offer two or more blasters are quick expensive, I think I'll hold off to see how this all turns out in the long run before giving them my money. If this becomes popular I'll probably bandwagon with it.

[Meaker VI]

I'll be watching this with interest - the ammunition looks like it could be produced cheaper than Nerf darts, and if it gets into that golden <$0.10 range, it'll be cheaper to buy than to build slugs. I don't like the limitations the ammo-as-powersource implies, it sounds/looks like a fancy rubber band gun, and using better ammo would just improve any blaster (launcher?) you put it in. I also don't like the lack of a ~$10 blaster, I can get cheap airsoft pistols/shotguns for $20-50 that would hit longer ranges and have more/cheaper ammo (granted, not everyone can do airsoft in their area, but why not make a not at all real looking airsoft gun instead?).

Not sure what to think about the app integration. It looks like the viewfinder filters would be fun to play with, but still useless. The best part I've read about (not seen) is the talk of a mini-map or motion sensor. The trouble there is that I've always viewed the motion detector in video games as a compensation for losing most of your senses - playing Nerf/Airsoft, you've often got some situational awareness that tells you if a player is around the corner or not that you can't get in a video game. Having it give team mates' positions (and assign teams) is good. I'd like to know more about their 'scannable targets' - if it's integrated into some kind of score-keeping/hit tracking system (like laser tag), that'd be pretty slick. Otherwise, I'm not sure how it differs from playing where you actually have to capture the flag.

Edited by Meaker VI, 04 June 2013 - 11:26 AM.

[azrael]

Ammo is about 20 cents per rubber band. So not that cheap. Comparable to Elite Darts.

[nerfern]

At Target in similar sized packs (30) the Elite Darts cost $10, which is 33 cents a dart. In the larger Elite Dart packs of 75 you can get them for $20 which is 27 cents a dart.

I went for the Command Pack, which for $60 gives me both the long and short gun along with 100 rounds. I might spend an extra $10 and have them include 3 of those exploding targets.

[Duke Wintermaul]

Product
We will be offering the following:

HammerHeads ($25 each)
Havoks ($40 each)
Battle Packs ($50 each)
Packs of 25 NRG ($5 each)
Exploding Targets ($10 for a pack of 3)
Tek Recon Flags ($10 for a pack of 2)
Hammer Head Replacement magazines with 25 NRG rounds ($15 each)
Havok Replacement Cartridges with 72 NRG rounds ($20 each)

Ordering: Send us an e-mail at tekreconcommand@gmail.com and let us know the following:

→Name
→KickStarter Backer Name (if applicable)
→Product(s) you’d like
→Shipping Information

Payment: We will send you an invoice via paypal once we receive your e-mail order. Once you pay that invoice we will send you a confirmation e-mail to let you know that we’ll be shipping your order once it’s ready!

Shipping: US & Canada: FREE! International KickStarter Backers: FREE shipping on NRG, Targets, Flags, Cartridges. $15 shipping for blasters. New International Backers: $15 shipping & handling for all products.

Tek Recon is all up in this online mail order.

The nrg rounds cost 20^22/25¢ per band.

With low modding potential, noninterchangeable blaster clips, and heavy focus on 'irl vidja game' these blasters were clearly not meant for the nic.

Good.

I look forward to the future of Tek Recon, and expect good things from them. Dropping $75 on a Havok, xtra clip, and 75 nrg's seems like something i want to do; just not yet.