Do you find that your video games aren't realistic enough? Wish your laser tag gun had some recoil? Or that you could go and shoot the crap out of people—but don't have a gun license, or actual blood lust? You are going to love iCombat, a new version of laser tag that saw its American debut last year in Queens. According to promoters it is "Like Call of Duty and Battlefield, but for real!" According to detractors it "increases aggression and it desensitizes [kids] to killing." Yay?
How is iCombat different from regular old laser tag? Military-grade, baby! Initially developed for law enforcement training by a company called irTactical the game replaces traditional laser guns with more realistic-looking models—some of which include compressed air to simulate recoil. Players dress the military part and the whole thing is set in an 8,000-square-foot "level" where players battle while moving through sites including a bank, a restaurant, a clothing store, a toy store, a video store, a supermarket, a bridge and more. Apparently nobody told the creators that Netflix killed the video store. Anywho, here's a peek at the NYC set-up:
The game costs $36-42 per person to play for 1.5-2 hours, depending on the day, and honestly sounds like kind of a fun time for adults who otherwise might be spending their weekend at a LAN party. But what has some people nervous is that the game seems to be actively targeting kids to play. Indoor Extreme Sports, for instance, offers schools, camps and non-profits $29 per person discount tickets. And if you throw your birthday party there, for $40 per person you get pizza, chips and soda—"just bring a cake and candles" they say. Also be under 18, because the deal isn't available for grownups.
Though we'd like to get all 'oh-ma-gawd, think of the children!" on this one we're finding it hard (parents? you don't have to let your kids play). Luckily there are talking heads for that job! Sal Lifrieri, "who served as director of security and intelligence for OEM under former Mayor Giuliani," has not one but two big problems with the game. First off, kids are going to want to take what they learn playing it to the next level ("They're going to want to take it to the next progression, to that dangerous next step") and even second, they are learning things! "There are still secrets in tactics and techniques that law enforcement is currently utilizing. The thing that scares me the most is that we are going to lose those secrets," Lifrieri told NBC of the game.
Man, we hope we are still alive to see how the haters react when Holodeck technology finally arrives. That's coming soon, right?
