Bluefire's writeup: Vortex Series vid 3

Our man Bluefire has been doing some very detailed analysis of the Nerf Vortex vids; he's outdone himself again with a latest critique on Nerf's 3rd Vortex vid. Full details after the jump:)

At 0:03 and a bit past, we see Vortex's insignia/name in front of a techy-looking green background. However, looking closer at that background, we see that the circle is a larger version of the circle in the insignia (which has before been believed to represent Vortex's disk ammunition). However, it has a few additions - a pair of smaller circles to the front of the disk. I'm sure there has already been plenty of speculation about this system, as it is the obvious choice, but this may be an indicator of horizontally arranged flywheels being used to propel the disks. And perhaps in the Proton (being smaller), a more compact rack-and-pinon system will replace the flywheels.

At about 0:09, there is no visible evidence of slots below the barrel of the Proton (which, in theory, would be present if there were extra disks held there.) Nevertheless, they may be behind a sliding cover of sorts, as, unlike with darts, it would be harder to amass enough friction to keep the disks in place. We also see that the slide return lever is smaller than expected in relation to trigger size (hopefully that won't give any problems to users with larger hands...)

From 0:14 onward, we get our first view of the barrel of the Vigilon - not so much a barrel as a slot in its imposing edifice. If this is the counterpart to the Barricade (as Pinky suggested), this no-nonsense visage matches the Barricade's rough but effective visage perfectly. Though something akin to a power switch can be seen on top, the Nitron has a similar switch which is the "disk release" - the equivalent to N-Strike's jam doors. It also has another switch on the side, and, although the Nitron does not possess one, the manual Praxis does. This, along with the suspicious spaces around the upper rear of the gun (slide, maybe?), causes me to wonder whether the Vigilon is not semi-automatic at all.

At 0:21, while the Praxis' proportions are not as long and lank as they were in the first video, they certainly look nicer here than in those mutilated pictures we received a short while ago. The omnipresent thumb-switch is shown (which would probably be the magazine eject here), as well as the more mysterious slider on the side. I wonder again what the firing mechanism will be. Listening to the firing of the Praxis in the first video, and the firing of the Proton in the second, I hear a strange, grating "thunk" upon firing, somewhere between the sound made when two pieces of Velcro are violently ripped apart and the sound made when a cork is pulled out of a bottle. Certainly, it is nothing like the obnoxious, prolonged buzz of flywheels, nor the familiar twang of a spring plunger, nor even the hollow "whoosh" of an air-system blaster.

Again, I wonder whether a pair of rack gears, one on each side of the disk and moving forward at slightly different speeds, would produce the necessary propulsion and spin to produce the spectacular results seen (as well as that most peculiar sound...) Also, the probable size of the Praxis without the stock puts it at about the size of an Alpha Trooper or a Recon with barrel, or perhaps a bit smaller. To have such range in such a compact package should be... intriguing.

Finally, to the flagship Nitron. At EXACTLY 0:25, we get a glimpse of the inside of the mysterious "Centerfire Tech Electronic Scope". The separate illuminated reticle theory presented in the next-to-last post seems to be supported by the faint appearance of crossing lines inside the scope. Since there are none in the image given in the instruction manual, and the gun is at a slight angle to us, we can assume that each of the three concentric shapes seen in the instruction manual are printed on separate sheets of plastic (which would also better facilitate individual illumination and the tracking effect).

A slight bluish tinge is seen inside the scope at 0:26, though I have no idea what to make of that (it may just be a trick of the light). I find the Nitron's proportions a bit odd - not only of the stock to the body and barrel, but of the main grip to the foregrip. These strange relationships create a distinctly lumpy look, not helped by the huge 20-disc magazine and the supposed flywheel pods behind the barrel. If Vortex possesses progressive styling, then it must have been lavished on the other three. Hopefully, its power will make up for its lack of style.

The last image does not show us much, as it is merely a portrait of the collection. What I do find interesting, however, is the difference in the sizes of the magazines of the Praxis and Nitron. The Praxis' magazine seems to be about half as long as the Nitron's 20-disk one, so I'd guess at a capacity of around eight to ten disks. While it took N-Strike around a year and a half to develop a clip size other than six (the 35-drum), here we see both the six-clip's and 18-clip's counterparts in the first generation! (No chance of a drum, though, I'd think.... an ammo box, maybe? ;)