Crossfire wins Best New Toy at UK fair

One of the things they do annually at the UK Toy Fair is to award the Best New Toys of the year. In the words of the fair organizers: "The Toy Fair Best New Toy Awards are voted for by a panel of independent toy retailers as the 2014 Toy Fair products with the most potential to make a mark on retail throughout the year and beyond." The Toy Fair there is put on by the British Toy and Hobby Association.

The NERF Zombie Strike Crossfire is one of 39 toys to win the honors. I would suppose that it's due to the iconic reenactments that it will enable kids to do. After all, crossbows were a favorite for many now-teenagers as they cut their teeth on COD: Black Ops and perhaps are watching Walking Dead.

From the initial tests we've done, this won't be the best performing blaster of 2014. However, as they note above, this award is about making a mark on retail throughout the year. The Crossfire is a likely blaster to do that for the general population.

Can you think of any other new or newly announced blasters you would have awarded Best New Toy to?

Tek Recon Power-Ups: Foam/Rubber Drone Attack?

At last check, the Tek Recon kickstarter was funded up to around 27% - make that 28% and still has 25 days to go!

Tek Recon got back to us today regarding that hanging question about their apps. Doesn't sound like they are expecting contributors right now, but we did learn more about the power ups! Foam/rubber drone attack anyone? Not really, but on the screen! LOL!

Q: They talked about power-ups in the video. Will those be something you can program and print for scanning or that they want you to buy? Will they allow other developers to design and contribute scannable QR codes et cetera?

"A:POWERUPS WILL BE INCLUDED WITHIN OUR "ARMORY".  HERE YOU CAN SELECT WHICH BLASTER YOU'RE USING (WHICH ALTERS THE AMMO COUNTER), SCOPE, BLASTER SOUND EFFECT FOR FIRING, AND POWERUP.  YOU CAN USE 1 POWERUP PER GAME AND THERE WILL BE MANY POWERUPS AVAILABLE!  HERE'S Are A FEW…..BUT I CAN'T REVEAL THEM ALL :)

–Invisibility: Turn this on and you won’t show up on radar for 45 seconds

–Drone Attack: While an opponent shows up on radar, if you enable this powerup and click on their blip before it disappears it sends a drone attack and removes them from the game.  Click too late and the drone misses.

–Wire Tap: Enable this powerup and open up communication with the opposing team.  Can talk to them and hear their messages for 1 minute.

                   -Disable Flag: disables anyone from scanning your flag for 20 seconds"

A few people have already been asking if I think this will mimic COD: Black Ops perks. I don't think you'll be seeing things like "flak jacket" and "hardened" manifest in the game. "Ghost" (or Invisibility) is doable because you could just be taken off the HUD -in this case for 45 seconds.

Here is some of the earlier information we learned about the app. Be sure to visit the Tek Recon kickstarter to learn more and to contribute!

• Create your own Profile by selecting a Username and Avatar. 
• Armory to control and create game loadouts, including your blaster, scope, sound effect, and in-game powerups. 
• Familiar multiplayer game modes including Isolation (every man for himself), Team Supremacy (team battle), and Capture the Flag (with flags you scan when captured). 
• Radar which reveals teammates, as well as opponents.
• In game features such as live chat, on screen ammo counter, simple swipe vision modes (Classic, Night Vision, Heat Seeker, X Ray), quick tap zoom + many more. 

A couple of more new tidbits on the way today! Check in later. ~Chris