Lessons Learned at Click Click Soak

Hey Warriors!

We hope your weekend was great and full of foam and water fights! As you may have read, we had our Click Click SOAK water war in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Loads of fun all around and lots of soakage. This gave us a chance to test out the Switch Shot, Arctic Shock, Shot Wave and Flash Blast blasters from this season's releases. Special thanks to our contacts with NERF for the support on this war! Much was learned.

First off, we forgot the sunscreen! It was a long enough winter that most of us didn't even think about the need for protection from the Sun. We were out there for about 3 and a half hours, so the glowing globe did it's work. I'm still feeling it as I write this. Even the guys who did get sunscreen on forgot to re-apply it. Remember, you're probably going to need more sunblock when swimming or water fighting! LOL

At the same time, we learned that the Arctic Shock is a good name. That extra wide mouth on the Arctic Shock water clip really helped get as much ice as possible in to the game. There were quite of few moments of shock on the field :)

Then we come to the Flash Blast. Love the look of this blaster. It is advertised as a way to sneak in a good shot and that's what it works best as. When my wife arrived to the event, I pulled it from where it was tucked in the back of my pants and shot her in the lens of her glasses. Shenanigans were immediately declared! I kept it nearby as a backup for a lot of the war. I figure My Last Dart could appreciate the strategy! Check out the POV video with the Flash Blast above. The sneak attack part can be fun, but I think you may get more out of the 2.6 fluid ounces in the Electrostorm (see video at the top) than you do out of the 3.7 ounces in the Flash Blast. Urban Taggers also has a pretty good rant about this blaster.

In the near future, I'll have reviews worked out for the new water blasters. Look for them throughout this season. Also, check the blog in about a week to see who won the war! ~Chris

Zombie Outfitters: Any Need for Zombie-specific Marketing?

Recent rumors and news got me thinking: Do we really need to have zombie-specific merchandise? There are now at least three blaster companies reported to be involved with making zombie-hunting blasters. Let's take a look at the notable releases.

Toys R Us sells HvZ blasters -well, one HvZ blaster. They're really Air Zone blasters with a paint job. I was a bit annoyed by this. Air Zone is generally a miss for quality blasters. It's not like that should come as a surprise. So when Gnarwhal studios (the original HvZ folks from Goucher College) went with Geoffrey to do their official blaster line . . . it was sad. Doesn't seem they were so successful either. If you look at this as a way to support the original guys that started Humans vs. Zombies, I guess that might be something. But you'd think people who are trying to make a business would go with more quality.

Rumors with pic spam have started circulating about a "Zombiestrike" blaster. A user called yayaccav, posted pictures and then a video. The "Hammershot" has been attributed to NERF and has the logo on it. Doesn't look like a mod or hack. Actually, it looks like an alternate version of one of the new Rebelle blasters they are releasing (marketed to girls). The Baidu pics and video have since been removed. Some of my fellow NIC bloggers found a state-side video too, if you care to look.  Nothing has been confirmed. Please keep in mind that this is still unofficial. I would not recommend promising money for this blaster to any retailer or third party seller yet.

If this blaster is confirmed, this will be one of the coolest sidearms. Looks like it will operate much like a wild west six-shooter, or . . . five-shooter. Even if it is a NERF Rebelle repaint, I don't mind if they release it within the season as an alternated for those who don't necessarily want pink.

Zing Toys seems to recycle their famous Z-Curve bow with other branding like Air Huntress (a pink version) and now Zombie Slayerz. I don't necessarily take issue with that. Especially when they say they are working on a glowing version! A consistent and quality product that can hit 125 foot ranges can re-release as many copies as they want! Keep in mind that HvZ Goucher-style (original+) rules specify that a hit shouldn't hurt. Be careful using the bow, if the moderators allow it. I'd like to see a Hawkeye look-alike picking off zombies with a bow! That just sounds fun.

One of our contributors won the recent Zing Toys contest, so we'll be looking at this beast soon.

So out of these, it looks like NERF might be the first company coming out with a zombie-specific release -at least at the same time the blaster comes out in another color scheme. It seems to be more than an afterthought. Zing has a quality product now marketing for zombie-hunting too. My question is do we really need anything marketed specifically for an HvZ game? Are you going to be more inclined to but something because it is zombie branded? ~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

Zing Toys working on Glow-In-The-Dark bow?

Hey Warriors!

So in case you missed it, Zing Toys is doing a facebook giveaway. You can qualify until Friday.

When they posted it, I asked about the graphic. It looks like the bow is glow-in-the-dark by the way the graphic is designed. That isn't the case, but Zing gave a hint that it may be in the works!

What do you think about using a bow and arrows in an HvZ game? ~Chris

No Frito-Lay Support for Click Click Soak

Just an update since I mentioned it in the earlier article.

So, no support from Frito-Lay. I was hoping they'd actually look at it at least. Nope! Form letter:

"Hi Chris,

Thank you for contacting Frito-Lay. We are pleased to know that our company and snacks are of interest.

As you might expect, Frito-Lay receives a tremendous amount of product donation and sponsorship inquiries for many worthwhile causes. Although we would like to meet these requests, it is simply impossible for us to honor each one. Please be assured that we realize the tremendous benefit that groups such as yours represent, and we sincerely regret that we are unable to participate.

Thanks again for your interest in Frito-Lay.

Best regards,

[Redacted]
Frito-Lay Consumer Relations
[Redacted]"

 

It was worth a try!

 

Any ideas on other companies you'd like to see snacks provided by for an epic water fight!

Click Click SOAK - Our Own Super Soaker Block Party

A few days ago, we were turned down by the folks at houseparty.com to host a Super Soaker Block Party. It's not like it stopped us from hosting our own party -which happens on June 1st.

Got to say it kind of sucked being turned down to do the thing we, as a company, are built to do. Example: check out our pic spam blog of the new Super Soaker products on shelves! Not only that, but the application process was screwed up and House Party's tech support failed at life. I don't know that we'll be trying again in the future with that particular company. That's not because we were turned down -there are parameters that a company like that and the sponsors agree to. We may have just not fit the profile. It's because of their lack of support and their ineffective communication.

Our friends at NERF are awesome enough to support us in our own party and we'll have the bigger blasters around thanks to that. So warriors, expect our debut of NERF Super Soaker Reviews near June 1st. If you are in or near the Colorado Springs area, feel free to join us. We're be at a local park. Check the event out on facebook! What do you think would make a great Super Soaker party?

BTW, we also decided it was worth a shot to see if the Frito-Lay company would go ahead and support us too. They don't generally take requests for sponsorship. So, we'll see how that turns out.