Day One – Great start to the conference with presentations from Jason Bock, the LaserTagGuy. It is great to see so many folks we met 2 years ago at our first conference. This year there is record attendance and we’re meeting people we have only chatted with from the Outdoor Laser Tag Operators group in our LinkedIn. Part of the fun is just rubbing shoulders with other folks who love this industry. More to report as we go along.
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‘No School’ Special Open Play
This Friday afternoon (Jan 20) Kombat has a special offer – 3 hours of unlimited gaming for $20. We’ll have loads of missions and unlimited gaming at the Kombat Indoor Arena from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. Feel free to bring a snack or some food and spend your afternoon on the battlefield. After all, you don’t have school.
Please preregister through Facebook or Open Play Registration.
Kombat Indoor Arena: Warehouse Laser Tag
Mobile Laser Kombat, llc opens it’s new 5,000 sq ft indoor arena (The Warehouse) in the Southpoint Mall in Saint Johns, MI. This unique brand of interactive battlefield experience is fun for the whole family. While the space is available for exclusive use during birthdays, groups, and parties, we will also offer Open Play games on various weekends for players to Pay-n-Play. Open Play (or Live Play) games will be 2 hour missions for just $20. To register for an Open Play event, just visit the main website or our Facebook page.
See you in Kombat.
Midnight Release of COD: MW3 @ GameStop
Want to get your fix of FREE battlefield gaming? Then come out to GameStop in St Johns or Owosso on Monday, November 7th where we will be partnering once again for an awesome Release Party for the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game. Gaming starts at 10pm and goes til the doors open.
Laser Tag Zombie Hunt
We’re having an awesome Zombie Hunt at Peacock Road Tree Farm (Bath, MI) for all middle school and high school students this Saturday, Nov 5th beginning at 5pm. Guided by an MP (for your safety), small groups will be permitted to enter the “infected zone” and shoot the zombies that have hid themselves in the trees. But be wary, these zombies shoot back.
There will also be hayrides, pig races, bon fire and much s’more. This event is sponsored by ::group Student Life (DeWitt, MI). Admission is $10. Get out and shoot some zombies.
As an added bonus, we’re giving you an extra hour that night. Already, so it’s Daylight Savings. Still – it’s like hunting zombies AND time travel. Crazy awesome!
Kombat Invades Uncle John’s
It’s that time of the year again when Uncle John’s Cider Mill (St Johns) gets a Kombat boost. Grab your friends and family and make your way up US 127 to the best place for Fall Festivities. They have huge pumpkins, delicious pies, amazing donuts, and of course cider that’s one of a kind. We always make a point of picking up some frosted raisin bread while we’re in. For adult customers, you can visit the UJ Wine Tasting for some tasty hard-cider, peary, or other fruit wines.
For just a few tokens, kids can enjoy inflatables, the apple fling, corn maze, wagon rides, and even Monster Truck rides during Kids Fest (Sept 24). Best of all – at least we think so – is some open battlefield gaming with outdoor laser tag. The field is huge, the air is cool, and the gaming is intense. We’ll be out at Uncle John’s Sept 24, Oct 8, and Oct 22. It’s Fall…get out and play.
Light Strike – a review of the newest home laser tag
Walking through Walmart today doing some school shopping with my kids, I came across a new laser tag set. From the company that brought us Paper Jamz last Christmas comes their home version of the ever popular battlefield game. I was immediately caught by the slick packaging with Halo-style graphics. I was also impressed by the large variety of weapons & accessories.
The Light Strike guns come in two varieties – either a Striker (basically a pistol), or an Assault Striker (effectively an assault rifle). There are also a variety of mountable accessories for the larger Assault Strikers. With a limited budget, I grabbed the Assault Striker G.A.R.-023 along with the ITS (Intelligent Targeting System) and headed home to play with my new toys.
Right out of the box, I was pretty impressed. The weapon is definitely a toy, a light-weight body that you definitely don’t want to sit on, but it has a comfortable fit and grip. The gun takes 4 AA batteries. It has a power switch on top of the case. You have to ‘activate’ the weapon with the “fingerprint scanner” which is just rather fun. On the face of the weapon you can adjust the volume and select rate of fire. To select a team, simply hold the button down and the LEDs near the barrel of the gun will change color. Then you can choose from one of 4 color teams. Now it’s time to choose your weapons firepower.
The gun has four firing modes – laser strike (standard blast), stealth strike (a “silenced” blast that does little damage, but it’s good for sneaking), pulse strike (does more damage than the laser strike, but fires slower and uses more ammo), and sonic strike (the most powerful shot; fires very slow and uses a third of your ammo). The rail strike firing mode is something between pulse and sonic. The Assault Striker can also switch between single shot and semi-auto fire modes (with the pulse strike on single shot you can fire extremely fast). Running low on ammo? Simply press the large button on the bottom of the magazine and you get a new mag.
Battling is pretty easy – each player has three red health bars on the back of the gun. The range on these weapons is about 100 feet, but if you’re out of direct sunlight or in the dark, you’ll be able to boost that more. When playing, different modes do different amount of damage, and you’re warned when you have low life. Each gun has sensors on the front, so shooting at someone will also leave you vulnerable. Shooting the sides of the guns, where the LEDs show your team color, can also do damage depending on your range. Press the shield button and you’ll reduce enemy damage by 50% for 15 seconds. After that it will take 3 minutes to recharge. When you lose all three lights, your gun flashes and you can’t fire until you hold the shield and trigger to “respawn.” Each gun also comes with separate light-up plastic sensor that detects when it’s shot and changes color depending on the team. These sensors can be purchased separately and work great for games like Capture the Flag.
The ITS (Intelligent Targeting System)
This little black orb is a real game enhancer. After loading the 4 AA batteries, I flip the power switch and find that the ITS has 3 modes – bomb, sentinel, and medic. The unit plays as a stationary unit but a simple push of the large red button on the top and the unit begins to spin on its base. This is particular helpful in the bomb and sentinel modes. As a bomb, a team nights to shoot the ITS 4 times to claim the bomb, once more to activate it, and one final time to detonate. Upon detonation, the ITS releases its barrage of blasts causing damage to any opponents within its range of fire. Too cool.
On the negative side, there is no actual score keeping with the guns. You basically have to rely on the other player being honest. There is no counter for the respawn feature. So, similar to most previous models of laser tag including the Nerf LazerTag which you can reset with a quick flick of the switch or even the original Laser Tag with its chest sensor, players must have some agreed on rules. I was also really hoping that we might be able to use at least some of the targeting units for Laser Kombat. Unfortunately, with high-tech weapons, coding is not always compatible and such is the case with our equipment.
I have not purchased any of the accessories just yet (there are other reviews on those items) and I have no real interest in the vest. Unless your 8-10 years old, it most likely will not fit anyway. As a big fan of paintball and airsoft, I’m a fan of keeping game play simple. I think using just the weapons makes for a great battle.
In summary, the Light Strike system is a fun way to play some outdoor laser tag at home and since you can pick them up for about $40 (MSRP) each…why not? The evenings are cooling off. Grab your kids, the neighborhood kids, all your buddies…get out and play.
Get more details at lightstrike.com and be sure to check out their animated “choose your own adventure” video on YouTube.
Kombat with a //spyn
Time to do some Kombat a little closer to home. We’ll be at Mt Hope Church in Lansing tonight from 7-9pm at the //spyn event center. Come hang out and enjoy some gaming. Nothing helps blow off a little steam in the midweek or beat those winter blues like the total adrenaline blitz of some outdoor laser tag…played inside.
Kombat Sponsors Ladies’ V-ball Team
For the second year, Kombat is sponsoring one of the Women’s City League volleyball teams in St Johns. We wish the team a great season.
Laser tag tournament raises 450 for troop benefit Operation Gratitude
A war was on Wednesday night, but this one was held to benefit real warriors. Finch Fieldhouse hosted a laser tag tournament put on by Clarkston junior Kaity Jerolamon and four other students from RPL 430: Planning Recreation Programs and Events class.
via Laser tag tournament raises 450 for troop benefit Operation Gratitude.
