Laser tag has come a long way

closeHey, just so you know ... this post is now about 14 years and 3 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

Today we had my daughter’s birthday party (with three other birthday kids from her class) at the Xtreme Fun Center for laser tag and video games. Wow, laser tag is awesome!

My sister and I owned a pair of Worlds of Wonder Lazer Tag pistols and sensors when we were kids and used to run around in the yard and play. Around that same time, a Photon arena opened up in a nearby Cleveland suburb and I remember my dad taking us to play once or twice. Both games were cool, and a lot of fun, but the WoW stuff was cheap plastic, with limited range, and playing Photon required wearing bulky and heavy equipment (and it was expensive). In the years since I’ve honed my “combat” skills on first-person shooters like Doom and Quake, and I’ve played paintball a few times (which is a different kind of rush with real pain involved).

But before today it had probably been over 20 years since I’d stepped into a laser tag arena. The tech and equipment is amazing. This center had the latest iteration of the gear, which consisted of a simple, relatively light-weight vest with illuminated sensors on the chest, back, and shoulders, and a two-handed rifle connected via an elastic cable (so you can’t accidentally drop it). A heat sensor in the barrel of the gun won’t allow it to fire one-handed to prevent you from shooting blind around corners or over your head. When you get “hit” the affected sensor vibrates so you can tell where the shot came from and then you “go dark” for about 5 seconds before you can shoot again. The most amazing part, to me, was that you can see the laser beams! I was floored when the first game started and I could see these green laser lines flashing across the arena. Combine that with the glowing colored targets on everyone’s vests and guns and it was a surreal Doom + TRON-like experience. Super cool. If you watch the video below closely, you can see a few of the beams flash by (I was recording with my digital camera, so the quality is not that great).

 

We got a bunch of free passes as a “thank you” from the center for having our birthday party there, so we will definitely be going back for some quality family time in the arena. 😀

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *