New Tek Recon Blaster?

So, Tek Recon says they'll unveil a new blaster just ahead of the Toy Fair in New York. Some are still loving on them hardcore, which is just fine if you love the product. Last years failures are in the past at this point and we'll see how Tech4Kids comes out in 2014. I am hoping that this new product will be the gateway to more fans. They have a great concept to build from!

The announcement is set to come up on the Tek Recon facebook page at 9am Friday morning. I expect that'll be Eastern time since they are lined up for the Toy Fair, but they don't specify.

Foam From Above will be at the Toy Fair and is lining up his ducks to bring us some great coverage. I personally can't wait to see his thoughts on all the new gear we're hearing about!

Tek Recon Responds to Our Un-boxing

Hey Warriors!

We held off on this article for a bit to get some more perspective on the blaster and to watch Tek Recon's developing responses. We did the unboxing a couple of weeks back and found a few things we didn't like, but other things that grew on us. Can't wait to get the Kickstarter rewards so that we can give these blasters the tests they deserve!

Glad we waited because Tek Recon has thrown up a play-by-play response to the un-boxing. They popped up 5 organized comments to our points on to the video on Youtube. We're going to break it down.

"Part 1
As always TEK RECON Command is listening and learning from all of the feedback provide by the TRibe.
Please trust that we are working very hard to address all comments. While we are very proud of our overall performance of the product, we are committed to ongoing improvement and hearing back from the TRibe on challenges they have experienced, and even better yet suggestions on what our users believe can make the experience even better for all the fans for a truly great play experience."

From the close attention they are paying and the passion that has been demonstrated in their videos, it's easy to believe them. Sounds like they are here to stay. I think they do want to put a great product out there and Click Click BAMF is totally willing to keep trying these blasters out. We have a Battle Pack on the way from their kickstarter campaign and will get some good skirmishing going when those arrive! 

"Part 2

In regards to the amount of ammo included, we are surprised to hear that some in the community are unhappy about this. We over-designed the clips with a maximum capacity so that you the user could determine how much ammo you want to load into it.The Hammer Head & Havok include more rounds than any other at their respective prices.We have also made additional rounds affordable so that you can easily maximize the full capacity of the cartridges to whatever level you decide is right for you."

I am surprised that they are surprised. They've been pimping how great their ammo capacity is going to be. When you open the app and choose a profile with a Hammer Head blaster, it automatically assumes that you are loading 25 rounds. Why would the user decide to load a lower amount of ammo on a regular basis other than being short on ammo? I am sure there are some reasons, but I doubt that they'd be common enough to call giving you, the user, less than a full compliment of ammo a good thing! Would I want to buy more of their affordable ammo on top of this full compliment I expect? Yes, please!

"Part 3
As far as performance, we are very proud of our rapid fire and that is why we call it out right on front of package. We encourage users to get used to the firing mechanisms either using the trigger or the pump as having 2 unique ways to fire the blaster takes some practice to get use to how best to optimize this."

You could read this as "our blaster is complicated to use" or "you aren't doing it right". Interesting, . . . we didn't call them out on any problems with firing. Seems pretty straight-forward. You can dial up the intensity to fire farther, but that also makes the thing a little harder to fire. As alluded to in one of their videos, you are essentially negotiating between rate of fire and distance with this dial. We are still testing this feature out.

"The reason for the powder on the NRG Rounds is to ensure smooth loading and firing and as one of our fans pointed out that latex gloves have a similar coating on them."

The powder notation makes sense. I think it's rather effective, in fact. After firing the native rounds several times, I haven't notice a problem in loading the things. And yes, the magazine feels great when you seat it into the blaster.

"Part 4
The TEK RECON APP has received some great feedback and we are constantly thriving to improve the experience. The jumpiness you experienced could be for a variety of reasons that we are investigating , but obviously older devices may not be as smooth and all other applications should be closed. An update for iOS and a new Android version of the app within the next couple weeks based on feedback demonstrating our ongoing commitment to continually improve the play experience."

I'm glad their app has received some great feedback! For me, the jumpiness continues. I have an iPhone 4 which is noted as a compatible phone on their kickstarter FAQ, so it needs to work. If they need to retrograde the app for users like me, that's fine. I figure the update they promise will work it out.

"Part 5
The Smartphone mount is designed that, when properly used, will prevent smart devices from falling out. We would suggest that in the video it was not depressed fully to create a tight grip on the device and we are happy to show how that is possible. As such, we are creating a video that will demonstrate how to properly insert a device, and how to ensure that the activator is properly aligned to work as it is intended."

LOL. "You're too stupid to press down on the top." Not quite how they meant it, but  . . . yeah . . .

I'll look forward to seeing their video. Especially for their info on how to get their activator to work. You should see all of the stupid people who work with me at a news station (including the engineers) that can't get this to work right either.

Tek Recon hit a bad note with selling their blasters before supplying their backers, considering that their pitch was to use our money to get these things on the shelves in the first place. Props to Laser Gnomes on sticking to their guns. To be honest, I don't have too big of a problem with Tek Recon being distributed to retail stores at the same time their office was getting the rewards products to ship out to backers. Yes, I agree it lacked class, but it's something that just happens when working with retailers and distributors. You can't hold off launching the product to suck up to people on social media. If the product is good, the demand will remain regardless. 

The biggest problem I have is their original video on kickstarter. If you watch the launch of their campaign, Tek Recon comes off as having two fully developed blasters that they are showing off. They indicate the need for crowd-funding to get this developed product to the shelves. Graeme Bisset says they've been in development for two years. I am glad that they are continuing to develop and evolve, but I don't believe the product now is what I feel was advertised as ready for stores in the original video. Good thing or bad? I refuse to pass judgement yet! ~Chris

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

Answers From Tek Recon: NRG Rounds and Apps

Well, Sunday morning and the kickstarter is sitting at just over 15 percent of goal with 28 to 29 days left. We're already getting some answers from the PR folks at Tek Recon. They were cool enough to answer most of our questions on a weekend. I will post the answers in italics. Refer back to our previous article for more background on the concerns.

Right off the bat, there is a reason behind some of the perceived damage to the NRG rounds: The footage in the video is from much earlier prototype and NRG Rounds that were pre-product. The production NRG Round hold up much better and will last a long time.

They assure us that the actual product is ready to rock! 

Once you see the production NRG Rounds you will feel very confident that they are designed   and manufactured to endure multiple use at any setting on our blasters. The product functionality is exceptional.

As you know, we asked about price for the replacement rounds too. Price will range by retailer, but there will be multiple packs ranging from $7.99 and up depending on quantity. Now on to the app questions. The app is apparently not going to track hits. You can see how that might be difficult to track what physically hits in an app. No the app is meant for GPS Team Play and to track your opponents. Really excited to see how GPS tracking will work in the heads up display.

For the question I posed about other developers working on power-ups and such, they'll get back to us on that one.

Going to try to get our eyes on that app as soon as possible. In the mean time, we'll watch out for other updates. BTW, did you see the official pics released of Tek Recon's two current blasters? ~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