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The First Live Action Gaming Console Emerges from Advancements in Laser Tag Technology

By News

Laser Tag Pro to Release the BRX in 2016

Milwaukee, WI – January 11, 2016 – The future of live combat gaming has arrived. Laser Tag Pro, a Milwaukee-based laser tag design and manufacturing company, has developed what many are calling the first ever live-action gaming console. The BRX is a premium laser tag that pairs to your smartphone via bluetooth and is designed to bring your favorite FPS games to life. With the popularity of this genre and rising demand for experiential entertainment, the BRX is a much needed upgrade to the live action gaming scene.

The BRX is a full-sized, bolt-action laser tag rifle with rumble feedback and an impressive range of over 600 feet in full sunlight. It is updatable over USB, has amazing sound quality, and comes equipped with customizable games. The unit itself is more powerful than any consumer laser tag product of the past and even surpasses the technology found in a majority of commercial laser tag systems.

“Being a commercial laser tag manufacturer we understand the intricacies of outdoor combat. This project comes from a tremendous amount of R&D, 6+ years actually. Oh, and of course countless hours of playing video games,” laughs Aaron Fischer, CEO and Founder of Laser Tag Pro.”

Callsign Mobile Application

Laser Tag Pro is currently developing an app, CallSign, which will allow you to download new games from its digital store, similar to how today’s video game consoles distribute content. Each game you purchase is said to offer a unique experience for your BRX with its own set of graphics, sounds, and gameplay elements. During games, your phone’s LCD becomes a heads-up-display that shows health, armor, ammunition, status effects, notifications, and real time scoring. With the phone’s camera, special QR codes can be scanned allowing players to respawn, grab power weapons, capture flags, and plant explosives. A lobby system is also in development for players to create and host games for other players in the community.

Laser Tag Pro is also working on a variety of integrated accessories that add distinctive player abilities, battlefield customization, and depth to the game. The new wireless headset is one that is already complete and will ship with the BRX unit. It’s equipped with sensors that receive damage illuminating ultrabright LEDs that are highly visible at greater distances. Besides taking damage, the wireless headset can also give damage. “Our headsets are an important piece of the system and unlike anything else on the market.” says Fischer. “They unlock new game mechanics like splash damage, pass through effects, and abilities that were never possible before. They even detect what direction you were shot from.” Beyond that Fischer states,”this is just the beginning’” and that his team has a “plethora of prototype accessories” which involve everything from a laser bow and grenades, to specialty melee weapons. One of the unique melee weapons is in actual lightsaber with the ability to attack players, use special powers, and even deflect enemies bullets. Fischer says, “By adding accessories we have created the most complete live action gaming system that ever existed! This is the first platform where guns, grenades, and melee weapons all interact together in a very intuitive way. It’s really exciting, and we believe people will love it!”

Fischer believes they have found a sweet spot that blends technology and real world gaming in a way that makes sense. He notes,

“Companies are investing billions of dollars in VR technology to make people feel like they are really in the game. Why not start with the real world and use technology to bring those games to life?”

Laser Tag Pro is expecting deliveries of the BRX to begin in June 2016 which means it could be in your hands as early as this summer. Don’t miss your opportunity to be one of the first owners of the BRX. Go to LaserTagPro.com/the-brx now to see the equipment or place your pre-order. Visit Facebook.com/OutdoorLaserTag or Twitter.com/LaserTagPro to keep up with product release information and the most up to date news.

Best Laser Tag Guns on the Market?

By News

Since the unveiling of the Battle Rifle in December of 2012, our followers have watched Laser Tag Pro push the industry forward through the evolution of its products. In just a few short years, the Battle Rifle Pro has been tested throughout the world and continuously improved all along the way. We’ve enhanced our gear with upgrades like more powerful processors, Wi-Fi technology, larger speaker, improved battery life, and wireless Bluetooth head-sensor technology (getting away from those pesky wired headsets).

The Battle Rifle Pro has without a doubt become a top choice for people starting a laser tag business. Although our equipment provides a premium laser tag experience, we are never satisfied. Staying true to our mission of driving innovation, the Battle Rifle Pro and XL models have received yet another upgrade! This is our most ambitious overhaul ever and we believe the Battle Rifle Pro has become the BEST LASER TAG GUN on the market! That is what we think anyways….so let’s take a look at the changes so you can decide.

Best Laser Tag Gun?

First off, the Battle Rifle Pro received a brand new main-PCB layout. This newly designed motherboard is an improved hardware-platform making great new features possible. One of the first changes we made was to the sound quality. The Battle Rifle comes equipped with an SD card module and better audio processing abilities. How does this improve audio, you ask? The SD card expands the storage capacity of the gun and allows us to go from 60 to 800+ sound effects! Moreover, most units in the industry including older versions of our Battle Rifle could only play a single sound effect at a time. With improved audio processing, we are now able to do audio mixing and have the ability to play multiple sound effects, simultaneously. A simple example is while firing your weapon and receiving a hit. Both sounds can play without cancelling each other out.

We even took the audio one step further by adding a better amplifier pushing sound through a larger, more powerful speaker. This makes for the most immersive audio experience yet. The sound quality is awesome! If you want to see the difference, stop by our booth at IAAPA this year and hear for yourself.

Class 1 Laser Certification Means Better Range

If the beefy new audio isn’t enough to get you excited then our new FDA Class 1 laser-certification is certain to catch your interest. This is a big deal. It took months of hard work and thousands of dollars to get this certification. Our units have moved away from the commonly used infrared-LED emitters. LED emitters decrease in performance over time and lack the ability reach longer ranges in full sunlight. Many companies make claims about the range of their units, but the real test is not on the INDOOR tradeshow-floor. The important question is how do they perform in full sunlight…at the worst time of day…with no clouds in the sky? This is the way to determine the true range of a product, and this is how we preformed our tests.  Zach, our Chief Engineer has dedicated the last 6 years of his life to laser tag with an emphasis in outdoor combat. His work on the Class 1 certification project has given the Battle Rifle a consistent range of over 2 football fields in the worst of conditions. The laser’s range encompasses any reasonable shot distance that might be needed when playing outdoor laser tag. Even so, keep in mind that at dusk the laser’s range doubles, and at night…well it gets pretty ridiculous!  With this kind of shot-range and clear visibility from the ultra-bright LED headsets, the Battle Rifle Pro and XL have become the perfect solution for any environment.

Adjustable Spread?

But wait….there’s more! As you might know, when a laser tag gun is shot the beam begins to spread as it gets further away from the emitter. This can be a problem for longer shots as the hit radius becomes very large. The advantage of using an actual laser is that it maintains greater control over this spread, keeping a tighter beam. In fact, an IR LED emitter allows for a hit radius that can be 4x larger in its spread than a Class 1 emitter system. It’s kind of like launching a minivan at someone…not very tactical. Due to the science behind it, a real laser will simply have a more consistent and playable hit radius than its inferior IR LED counterpart.

The new Battle Rifle Pro and XL guns come equipped with an adjustable barrel click-tube. What does this mean for people who do close quarter/indoor combat? You can adjust the focal length of your equipment to change the spread of your shot. Think of how you would change the beam of an adjustable flashlight, this is similar to the control you will now have over your Battle Rifle with the click-tube. Using a special tool that comes with your equipment, you will be able quickly adjust the spread to best meet your needs. Want a more hardcore tactical game that requires supreme accuracy? Simply adjust the tube. Have a small group of kids and you want to ease up on the aiming? Adjust the tube. Combining the already available software settings for range with the click-tube offers precise control over your armory. With all we have done control the shot range, you might ask, “What else have you done for close combat?” A brand new feature we’ve added is an actual melee attack…that’s right… melee, unlocked by our new head sensor design! This is yet another way Laser Tag Pro is thinking outside the box.

Upgrading Your Firmware

Our current customers know one of the great features of the Battle Rifle is upgrading its firmware via the firmware cable.  The ability to update your software is a big reason people choose us over the competition. Because this is such an important feature of our equipment, we decided to improve the process. Updating previous generation equipment used a separate, flash-loader program. While this process worked quiet well, we decided to remove the RJ45 module and replace it with standard micro-USB boot loader hardware, similar to what you might find on your cell phone. Updating your firmware is now easier than ever before. Connect to your computer by simply holding down the reload button while powering up your unit. A folder opens up just like a USB thumb drive allowing you to drag and drop the latest firmware file onto your gun. It’s fast, easy, and simple to perform.

Big Battery Improvements

Another significant change was to the battery. When using more powerful technologies like Wi-Fi, lasers, fancy lighting effects, and larger speakers you increase the need for power. To handle this we doubled the size of the rechargeable battery. Not only did we increase the size but we made it an independent, removable pack similar to what you might see on a cordless power tool. No need for a screw driver to swap out your batteries. Now you can use the same key that powers your gun to quickly change out the battery. Furthermore, we’ve added a charging circuit to the battery pack housing so you can charge the batteries directly, even if they are removed from the gun! For those that are looking for more life out of the same battery, we’ve added a power-saving mode to the software which optimizes power consumption. When you are in the middle of running an event, the last thing you want to worry about is dead batteries. With our new powering solution you will find yourself with limitless battery potential.

Bluetooth, LEDs, and Powered Scopes

Are you dazzled? Just a few more notable changes for you,

  • We’ve added an auxiliary Bluetooth module. While the primary Bluetooth is used to connect to the wireless head-sensors, the second module opens up the ability for pairing to a smartphone, vest, or other accessories.
  • Ever forget to turn off your scopes at closing time? The days of buying expensive coin-cell batteries are over because now you can tap directly into the gun battery to power your scopes. We’ve added an external power jack so when you turn on the guns, your scopes power right up. Not only will this save you money on non-rechargeable batteries, it will eliminate the need to manage the power status of your scopes altogether saving you time. Be sure to ask about our scopes, we developed a custom solution that is compatible with the Battle Rifle hardware.
  • The Health LED Bars also saw an upgrade with 12 addressable LEDs. We can now add more color choices and special lighting effects beyond visible health indications.

The Best Laser Tag Gun on the Market?

The Battle Rifle Pro and XL, we believe, has become the best laser tag system money can buy. These new and improved features, our EDGE Game Engine, all the way to our new wireless head-sensors have created an incredibly robust system for businesses, at the right price. Whether indoor or outdoor, Laser Tag Pro has you covered. Call us today or check us out in November at IAAPA to see for yourself. While we can call it the best gun money can buy, we want to know what you think.