"Free Stuff" from Hasbro: The story of UT's disappearance

Soo.. guys. Hi. Were back.. briefly.

We've been offline for the month after some "interesting" developments have transpired and I just wanted to keep you all in the loop of what's been happening to me, and essentially Urban Taggers in general. I guess a few of you have been wondering where I've been.  Non-Nerf things have kept me quite busy and to be honest, all has not been good in the world of Nerf and I'm seriously rethinking my fondness for Nerf given recent interactions with Hasbro and their lawyers.

So what went down to force this? Read on for the update.

Review: Ubisoft Battle Tag- Smells like laser tag..

 

The tale of Ubisoft's Battle Tag has to be one of the strangest/dumbest stories to accompany any blaster release since I've been blogging about toy blasters. Launched to a very confused audience initially at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2010, initially released in a few stores mainly in Canada but as far as the US goes only in Texas; then a rather quiet full release that died in the butt within months to the point Ubisoft seemed to stop supporting it and even removed the official forum to discuss the line.

It's a real shame because to be honest, it's bloody brilliant. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Battle Tag is the Kurt Cobain of the laser tag world; young, brilliant but troubled, so much to offer and well before its time before it was taken away prematurely. And straight off the bat I'll say it's THIS close to toppling the Phoenix LTX's as my fav. home laser tag system. WHOAH! Gather round younglings and read on as I tell you why...:)

AppTag: It's confirmed!

Back in Feb we featured the info on the upcoming "App Tag"- a laser tag system that works using smart phones (both iOS and Android). At the time it was looking to be released in June, subject to funding from Kickstarter.com, so we're pleased to learn funding amounts were more than reached and it's therefore going to be a reality! Looking forward to seeing how they work in the next few months...

AppTag Functioning Prototype 1 from Jon Atherton on Vimeo.

Random: Nerf? Yes we can

A quick browse thru the US Nerf site from our man Jason has this interesting new product.. ok I'm sure it's a product mistake and no doubt is gonna be rectified by the time this post goes up.. but come on, you have to admit it's kinda funny:)

Barack Obama 1000pc Commemorative Puzzle via Nerf.com

Pinpoint sight promo (Singapore)

Images courtesy of XCON/Nerf SG Forums

 The Nerf Pinpoint Sight would have to be one of the most sought after attachments; it looks absolutely trick and actually does a pretty decent job. (for the record it, along with the AT and Spectre's fold out stock is my personal kit out out choice) Unfortunately it's been unavailable for quite some time other than the occasional appearance on eBay for RIDICULOUS amounts of coin, so I was pleasantly surprised to browse the Nerf SG forums to the see this promo available for a FREE PINPOINT SIGHT with the purchase of 40 dollars or more of the new Light Up series.

Images courtesy of XCON/Nerf SG Forums

 So far I haven't seen any sighting of this promo in Australia, so it may be a Singapore exclusive unless someone else out there can confirm otherwise?

Images courtesy of XCON/Nerf SG Forums

And from our friends at  SGNerf  an image of Nerf point of sale material with the promo ad:

Pinpoint sight worth $12.90? eBay sellers of the world cringe:P

One can hope it suggests the Pinpoint sight will be floating around a lil longer... :D

Rumours: Another look at the N-Strike Elite Hailfire

Sent to us today, another look at the proposed Nerf N-Strike Elite Hailfire. Rather epic looking, eh! Thanks Jon for the link.

Rumours: Nerf Vortex Nitron with shield

In what looks like a Super Soaker throwback, we got sent this rather interesting image of a Nerf Vortex Nitron with a shield instead of the scope. The photo of the box art is also a different dude, so I'm curious to know if this is either a new updated version (which makes no sense cos the Nitron scope was one of the big selling points of the blaster) or a pre release concept version? Looking into it, but don't know a whole lot- that's the joy of anonymous tips!:D