Light Strike: More on the ITS

More videos sent to us from Joel of the Light Strike ITS motorised target. First vids here are the ITS in Sentry mode.

And here's one which I think is Bomb mode:

And finally a video of the ITS in Medic mode.

As I said, I haven't seen these in Australia yet but I'll make it my mission to see if I can pick one up on my US trip. From these vids anyway, I think it'll definitely add another layer of playability to the Light Strike like. Thanks again Joel for the vids!

Light Strike: ITS

One of our readers has picked up the Light Strike I.T.S- it's an advanced motorised target that offers a bootload of advanced features like remote bomb, medic mode and sentry targets. I've yet to personally see them in Australia so I can't comment other than what I've read, but we've also been sent a few videos so hopefully that should help fill in the gaps. Thanks a ton Joel!

Light Strike: Dual Wielding.. it's possible! (sort of)

We've been puzzling over the idea of dual wielding Light Strike blasters for a few days now; and after some advice from some smart cookies in the know and lots of trial and error, I think we've got it covered.

Firstly, you need to understand that if you're using your Light Strike tagger by itself without the vest, the inbuilt sensors record your health status. If however you pair the blaster with a target vest, the health sensor ability is 'transferred' to the vest and the blaster no longer manages that aspect. If you're firing at your opponent wearing a paired target vest, there's no point aiming at their gun; sure it'll register that you are hitting it with lights and sounds, but your opponent's health will not change at all. 

Recap- shoot gun if there's no vest, don't shoot gun if there IS a paired vest. Shoot the vest.

So....to dual wield...

Light Strike: A pistol you say?

After our pretty lengthy review on the Light Strike system, you'd think you now know everything there is to know about these new laser tag blasters from Wow Wee. Well there's just a little bit more; we picked up a pistol today (the yellow SP 144 that basically matches my fav rifle) and we've now learnt just that little bit more about the new laser tag system on the block... :)

Light Strike: All about the weapons + attachments

We've punched out a few quick demo videos of the weapon customisation of the assault strikers, both with the inbuilt weapons and the attachments. You'll see some of the weapons are pretty damn powerful and it definitely now makes sense to use the shields when you're going up against an opponent with a one shot one kill attachment... Vids after the jump.

Light Strike: The full review.

Light Strike is Wow Wee’s much anticipated new home/backyard laser tag system that we have been fortunate to get our hands on after months of speculating and waiting. Home laser tag has always been rather lacking in Australia, even during the glory days of the 80s so it’s been exciting times for us to hear the Light Strike line would not only make it to our shores, but in a timely manner.

After a while weekend on the job, we've finally gotten around to writing our review; it IS as comprehensive as we believe the system deserves, and realise we're not just reviewing a new single toy blaster but actually a whole new system of game play. Needless to say, this is a very loooong post so apologies if you've got slow net connections:(

We also envisage this post to evolve and change as we play more rather than starting new blog posts, so if you do see it bumped to the top again, you'll understand why. I've got more videos to upload and actual range tests so watch this space:)

Anyway.. get comfy because without further delay, here's our review. With so much functionality, a decent variety of launch products to buy and possible customisation, there’s a lot going for Wow Wee’s laser tag line.. on “paper” at least..

Light Strike: Weapon of choice?

An interesting move by WowWee's Light Strike laser tag line was to release three different "Assault Strikers" that featured the same functionality but distinctly different designs (as well as a unique voice feedback for each blaster- choose between 80's robot voice, admiral ackbar, or female cafeteria manager;P..). I assume these designs will be tied into the upcoming "Light Strike Arena" show, but given the blasters do the same thing, from a consumer point of view it's going to be all down to personal choice. For me, the yellow SR-143 is my "Striker" of choice. What's yours? (or what will be yours?)

Light Strike: GAR-023 + more initial thoughts

The GAR 023. Brown + Orange..

We had a bit more of a play with the Light Strike assault blasters in the office today, adding a new 'GAR-023' Assault Striker to the mix (the 3rd design along with the yellow SR-143 and the red DCR-012). This one is probably going to be the favourite for most players- it has that Stampede look about it, it's quite comfortable to hold and the reload switch is in the most acessible intuitive position compared to the other two. It is a kind of cherry/brown coloured plastic with orange accents which isn't exactly pretty, but of course the nature of how the blasters are made makes repaints a lil fiddly. More after the jump.

Light Strike: Our initial response

I only just got back from the girl's family birthday dinner so I haven't had a WHOLE lot of time to really give these new Light Strike blasters a proper run, but I thought I'd 1) upload a quick pic spam and 2) offer my initial reactions to this new system and at least put to rest some speculation on them.

On the whole, I like them, and I believe they're worth investing in more time and money to get more but whether they're BETTER than our beloved Phoenix LTX's? Well we're just gonna have to see over the weekend.  Initial thoughts after the jump.

Light Strike: We finally got some:)

Even the boss said he wanted a set...

After months of waiting, my local Target has finally brought out the much anticipated Light Strike laser tag taggers..which gives me a happy. The big Target sale is actually next week and these will be cheaper, so i did end up paying more for my impatience, but I got two assault rifles and a target vest for testing. Accompanied by the attachments I picked up last week, and I am thinking we're in for some interesting fun over the next few days while we rigerously test the hell out of them:) 

Initial responses (we tried culling the batteries out of the optical mice on our desks, but we couldn't find a screw driver!!) from just appearances alone are that they do look somewhat tacky.. but not nearly as bad as I thought from the photos I'd seen. The printed detail on the side of the blasters is on a shiny plastic, so the fear of sweaty hands wearing through the paper is at least not going to be a problem.

Every feature on the taggers uses touch sensitive tabs rather than physical buttons and dials, which is sorta cool but not at the same time. The different designs definitely feel different in hand and will be up to user personal preference- so far I'm prefering the orange SR-143 over the red DCR 012 and have still yet to try the GAR 023.

They're very light weight and actually quite well built, if not somewhat.. flat. Looking forward to getting home tonight, I can tell you! (though it's the girl's family birthday dinner tonight.. might not be wise to rush her to come home!!)

Watch this space over the next few days.

Light Strike: Demo of the System

Other than all the hopping around Pakour style.. it does still look pretty good:)

Light Strike: Demo on the vest

Here's a video regarding the up coming Light Strike vests and how it adds to the system's playability. I like how you don't NEED the vest.. but it makes it more fun, and it's more than just extra targets to make you fodder for your opponents:) 

Light Strike: it's here! Well.. sort of. Attachments pics

 A stroll down my local Target had a dude stocking the shelves with the new Light Strike gear, ready for the upcoming toy sale for the 22nd. No blasters it seems which I thought was kinda dumb, although they HAVE been spotted in other Targets around the country (one of our readers even picked up a set- his initial responses here) but what's good to see is it sounds like the FULL kit is being released; the rifles AND pistols including all variants, all attachments and the vests and targets. To be honest I'll probably take a hit and purchase a few blasters at full price the moment they're available just so I can review them for you all, but otherwise it's worth waiting for a few weeks and getting them for cheaper...

This isn't like Nerf folks, sales are gonna be your friend if Light Strike is your bliss. If you think about it this way- a pistol rifle full price will be 79, each attachment goes for around 19 (so chances are you'll probably want at LEAST one, but probably all four), a vest (which is more than just more targets to shoot but a shield as well) is full price at 39.. Then you have batteries as well, you probably will want to pick up pistols too, and extra targets to set up a home arena experience. Realistically speaking, just for a ONE player kit, you're budgeting around 200 bucks.. Now you need a second set for when friends come around. And if you want real fun.. you'll want a team.. also not assuming you're a collector and need all three variants..

WowWee may be thinking they're pretty damn clever coming up with so much kit, but the big question is going to be whether our home market is really ripe to pay those sorts of prices for that kind of kit.  (you can get change from a hundred for two Longshots and a box of darts)


Anyway, enough about the costs! That's why I have a day job! More attachments pics after the jump.

Pocket Lint: Light Strike from WowWee: Laser Quest returns

Pocket Lint have a nice post today on the upcoming Lightstrike laser tag system; granted it's mostly rehash intel based around a PR release that you'll probably already know, BUT the post has some nice photos and does finally reveal the idea behind the design variants:

"The concept is simple. Three races represented by six guns with bolt on accessories to keep kids wanting to come back for more."


Light Strike from WowWee Laser Quest returns via Pocket Lint

YouTube: Light Strike Official ad

I'm liking it. I especially love the association advertising has with toy blasters and Parkour:)

Marketing 101: what's in a name..

"Light Strikes"? WowWee's official page

"Light Strikers" Target toy sale catalogue early lay by

One thing that has been bothering my marketing bone since Light Strike was announced is the inconsistencies shown with the actual brand NAME. The importance of branding is to establish recognition with your audience so consistency with something as fundamental as a product name should be pretty rudimentary.

I personally have been referring to the line as 'Light Strike" which seemed pretty official from the logo and press releases, but since then I've also seen the brand referred to as "Lightstrike", "Light Strikers" and "Lightstrikes" and not just in the blog world; this sort of inconsistency has been on official catalogues, price lists and even on the official Wow Wee page.  Seems like sloppy marketing. Guess it could have been worse. "Light Stroke" perhaps?:P

Light Strike official website. More intel awaits!

Oooh.. customise my blaster.. 

WowWee have finally launched the official website for their upcoming Light Strike laser tag system. The site looks good but is unfortunately at this stage full of broken links (when I checked there was no actual videos to link to or full listing of products available) and a few typos (One of the blasters is called a "DCR D23" but occasionally changes to "DCP D23" when you're customising the rifles on the cool flash demo thingy) but no doubt that'll be rectified in the following days. We've done a quick summary of intel from the site- more after the jump.

*note- videos seem to be up now, and content looks more or less complete!

Light Strike: A 'blink and you'll miss it' video feature

Target's upcoming mid year toy sale will be the last of the big retailers to do their rendition of "Australia's biggest toy sale". On the whole, it's similar to the other sales as far as Nerf and Max Force is concerned other than the variances in price, but the thing we're most interested in is they seem to (at least for the time being) have the exclusive rights to the new WowWee Light Strike laser tag line.

So far we've seen the dorky official promo vid, and we've seen various promo pics, but this "sneak preview"  from the Target VIP mail out shows just that little bit more; have to admit the blasters DO look better than I thought admittedly. As always I'm not particularly impressed by the 'enthusiasm' from the video hosts- nor do I really understand why Light Strike should interact at all with the world of Light Sprite fairies.. but hey.. any intel is.. intel:) 0:56 is where it all happens.. or watch the whole thing and feel suitably..dumber for it:)

Light Strike: it's coming..

We had a look at the latest Target catalogue for their upcoming toy sale at the end of July and we're pretty excited about one thing; the release of Wow Wee's laser tag line Light Strike in Australia. Although the prices are a tad on the exi side, they're not really any surprise to us and it's good that the attachments are also coming out too that were showcased in the promo material.

Since the first press releases and promo vids, we've had mixed feelings about Light Strike- on one hand we're hell keen on them, mainly because it's good to finally see higher end home laser tag finally making it back to our toy store shelves (the Hasbro/Tiger Electronics Lazer Tag Team Ops and Phoenix LTX's officially never made it to Australia and Laser Challenge just never made it off the ground) but on the other hand the jury's still out on whether this new system will be any good compared to our trusty (imported) LTX's.

Light Strike boasts many features that they claim are "firsts" (some of them aren't entirely accurate, such as health meters) and they've definitely put in a lot of work in their design as far as functionality is concerned, so we're looking forward to picking up a few in a few weeks time and really giving them a solid workout.

As Nirvana says: "when the light's out, it's less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us" :P

WowWee Light Strike: More images from TIA Toy Fair 2011 via A Day in My NYC

Surprised these didn't get more coverage at TIA Toy Fair 2011 this year. Maybe people were turned off the WowWee Paper Jams Justin Bieber key-tar. Ahh well. My suspicions and hopes are true though- they WILL be releasing different shells of the Light Strike Strikers! Ahh joy:)

Inside the WowWee Showcase via A Day in My NYC