Two In One…But Not How You Might Expect

Mar 24
2 min read

My visit to Pins N Pockets in Lake Elsinore, CA turned out to be the second time that same day where my curiosity was piqued by seeing two systems represented side by side.

This is an example of why branding matters, but so does overall terminology and product understanding.

When I went up to the counter I asked to purchase a game of laser tag. To the young staff member working the counter and marshaling the games that meant to him that I wanted to play Laserforce (which I did). However, it was offered side by side with Gel Blaster Nexus and if they were running laser tag with that system as well I wanted to play that too. That’s where we get into the confusion around both nomenclature and product knowledge. This young man was unaware that GBN can be played with gellets (classic Gel Blaster) or without (laser tag) using the Nexus system. Also, I did check the GBN map to make certain they were a Nexus arena and not a GB digital arena, which would have rendered this discussion moot.

The fact that he was unaware of this information coupled with the fact that they apparently do not run that GBN feature there made the exchange we had a bit frustrating for us both. While I understand exactly where the confusion comes from, to him he offered only two flavors of ice cream, so I could pick Laserforce as chocolate or

GB Nexus as vanilla, but he didn’t know why I was asking if I could get those flavors in a swirl… this analogy makes me want a soft serve cone now!

This poor kid looked like a deer in headlights by the time I was done purchasing a game of laser tag (yes, that meant Laserforce). I take the time to explain the confusion because this is not the first time (it is in fact the third) where I have come across an arena running GBN and some other laser tag system in the same business. It’s the second time I’ve seen them being run in the very same arena. So this may be something to be aware of going forward. Ultimately it boils down to the operator’s choice to run whatever games they want, but I would certainly suggest more information for the staff could more easily alleviate any future confusion.