Tek Recon Update

Great news for the folks at Tek Recon; They've jumped to 38% funded on kickstarter. Looks like they've found one of their 5,000 dollar backers.

Wondering about the firing mechanism in the Tek Recon blasters? Tek Recon now has a third video update out to show you what's up. Remember to check out their kickstarter page!



The folks at Tek Recon also got back to us on a couple of our additional questions:

Q: Tek Recon. What made them choose that name? Is it meant to sound military -like Force Recon? 

A:WE LOVE THE IDEA OF "RECON" AS IN RECONNAISSANCE WHICH IS VERY NECESSARY WHEN PLAYING WITH FRIENDS (ESPECIALLY WITH CAPTURE THE FLAG).  ALLOWING BLASTERS SMARTPHONE ENHANCEMENTS WITH "TECH" FEATURES MAKES THE RECONNAISSANCE THAT MUCH BETTER AND MORE "VIDEO GAME-LIKE".  ITS ALL ABOUT THE GAMEPLAY.  FUN RECONNAISSANCE THAT WE ALL LOVE, IN REAL LIFE WITH VIDEO GAME-LIKE ENHANCEMENT.

Q:-Some readers/viewers are asking me about the company location. The kickstarter reads as from Canada. The shipping costs more anywhere outside the US. One particular viewer was excited about the design team being in his country, but curious about the shipping issue. Is this just due to where manufacturing will happen etc?

A:WE'RE A CANADIAN COMPANY WITH A US OFFICE.  WE'RE SHIPPING MOSTLY FROM THE US HOWEVER WE WILL HAVE SOME STOCK IN CANADA THAT WE CAN SHIP OUT (FOR THE COMMAND PACK FOR EXAMPLE).

Warriors, as promised, I am working on a new review for next week. A sudden business trip is throwing a kink in things. I'll try to do it from the road. Thanks for reading! ~Chris

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

A Real World Video Game? Tek Recon

This past week brought the launch of an innovative kickstarter listing. Tek Recon has launched a 31-day bid to get $50,000 in crowd-funding from users of the famed kickstarter website. As I write this, they have 30 days left and are just over $6,100 on their way -a little over 12 percent.

President and CEO Brad Pederson says that this move is their most ambitious in company history. That makes sense, considering that it's time to put these things on the shelves.


"Two years ago we set out on a mission to bring video games, online connectivity and social interactive play together through innovation and great product design", says Pederson. "The outcome, TEK RECON has come to life and created a phenomenal play experience that has exceeded our expectations.”

I, for one, am very excited to see where this effort goes. Will this be that successful way that so many health professionals have been looking for to get kids off the couch? Campaigns have worked mildly recently, but there is not a massive appeal for those who would rather play Black Ops. Some folks will still not be happy because the game will still involve computer screens in the form of smart phones and other devices.

Is this the next step in gaming? Google glasses came out recently. I dreamed of a foam blaster or airsoft game where you could use those glasses for objectives and power-ups. Perhaps this is the step just ahead of that. A geek can dream!

At this time, the app is free that they offer to integrate a real-world blaster with online gaming. If they keep the prices for Hammerhead and Havok blasters at 25 and 40 dollars after the kickstarter promotion, I won't accuse them of overcharging to make the app "free" either. The app is exciting because of their promise of the use of GPS and the heads-up display. If you can set objectives for the app to help you track, perhaps it can include both game objectives and physical activity goals?

There are a lot of positive notes for this launch. Ultimately, I am all for it and will back the project too assuming I have the funds. Yet there are several questions left to answer as we move forward.

If you take a look at the video on kickstarter, there seems to be damage occurring to the NRG rounds as they build their "kinetic stretch energy" to fire. If you look closely at this shot in the video, particles of  . .  something are falling from the blaster after the round launches. Tek Recon says on kickstarter that the rounds are reusable, does that hold true and for how long? Also, how much will the refills actually cost? Keep in mind, this shot is from a demo of the long range setting. They've indicated that you can modify the range with a setting. Perhaps sacrificing distance will preserve your ammo?

Back to the app questions: Is this app meant to track if you get hits? I (and other journalists I showed the video to) skeptical of the usefulness of the app for tracking hits. I personally came away with the impression that it could be meant to function that way from the cup shooting demo in the video. Perhaps it was a misconception. Either way I am geeking out to give it a try!

I am also super-curious about further app development. 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 QR codes et cetera?

Obviously these questions should be asked to them and we will direct them there! Are there any other questions you are thinking of while we are asking? You can check out their kickstarter campaign for yourself here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/graemebissett/tek-recon-the-first-real-life-video-game

Until then, warriors . . . Game on! ~Chris