Laser tag is my game. I do NOT know anything about video games. But this relates because it has to do with Photon. I recently acquired an oddity, a version of the Japanese Nintendo game Photon that someone had translated into English and adapted to make playable on a vintage classic NES. I know nothing about how this was accomplished from the technical side, but I do know it was sufficient motivation to get me searching my attic for the old Nintendo system I kept from back when we were kids (yes, our family's original 8-bit one from 1985....stop doing the math on that!). And then I was able to experience this game that was based on Photon and only ever released (to my knowledge) in Japan. I

Someday I hope to be able to say that I've visited every laser tag facility in New York (and right now I'm not too far off from being able to accomplish the that). However, there is one site I have been aware of for several years and yet somehow playing there seemed constantly out of reach...until this past weekend. I'm talking about the Lasertron arena located inside Rainbow Skateland in Lockport, NY. Part of why I have missed this location is distance. It's several hours away from me, so it's not like I'm passing by it often. So I've made efforts only on the sporadic occasions when I'm already nearby. Another reason is timing. I'll take the fault here, but it sure wasn't for lack of trying

This weekend I hit the road for St. Catharine's, ON Canada to play the latest from Laserforce, the new Gen 8 Infinity system, during the very first weekend it was open for the public to play at Parkway Lanes Sports and Entertainment. It was definitely worth the drive across the border to get to be the first from my site (obviously with the exclusion of Sanch and Beanz) to get to try this new gear for myself. I knew that the guys had just completed the installation of the system last week and I was appreciative that Tom, the owner of the facility, welcomed me to be among the first to play at this new arena. We entered the briefing/vesting area... ...and I got my first peek at the new Gen 8 pa

After getting to 200 laser tag arenas I thought it would be interesting to analyze exactly how many sites per system I had played along the way. What can I say, I had some free time on my hands. :) First I color coded each laser tag system that I have played. So far I have played 22 different laser tag systems (by which I really mean manufacturers...I did not break down upgraded software, versions or equipment lines any further than that) and here's how the numbers shake out. I'll recap it because I realize the image is blurry. Here are the systems/manufacturers and number of sites I have played as of today... Zone - 69 Laserforce - 28 Lasertron - 22 Laser Quest - 19 Laser Blast - 19 Lazer R

Over the weekend I had a chance to visit with nationally syndicated radio hosts Bob and Sheri when they paid a visit with their affiliate station in Hudson, NY. It was about a year ago that they had invited me to "talk tag" with them on the Oddcast, so it was nice to have an opportunity to meet in person and strike a tag pose. :) I appreciate that they have expressed such support for my efforts to tag in all 50 states and Sheri was nice enough to reference it in signing a nice message on my bag. It's amazing how far my journey has evolved since this interview, but now certainly seems like a good time to revisit it and share a link to that fun memory from last year with Bob and Sheri. https:/

I wanted to celebrate the milestone of playing my 200th laser tag arena with friends, so I decided to make it happen at Scene 75 Cleveland. My friends Jansen, Christine and Holly joined me. We walked into a pretty impressive facility that Jansen dubbed as "Chuck E. Cheese for adults." With a bar in the center, a huge arcade area, go karts, mini-golf, virtual reality and more we had plenty of options in front of us. We started with Food Truck Alley. Then we hit the laser tag arena. Game master Anthony led us into the briefing room. And then we suited up with the Gen 7 packs in the vesting room. Time to play some tag! We entered a very uniquely designed double-level arena themed around with an

A couple of days prior to storyboard artist Keith Tucker hosting a discussion on "The Art of Storyboarding" I was sitting across from him in a hotel in Westlake, Ohio. I was wearing my Laser Tag Kitten t-shirt and we were casually chatting. All of a sudden he notices the shirt, points to it and says "I worked on that show too." What?! Remarkably he is talking about the 1986 short lived animated series called Lazer Tag Academy that was a vehicle to promote "Lazer Tag", the Worlds of Wonder brand of home laser tag that competed with Photon's home version during the Christmas season of that year. The television series ran from September to December of 1986 and was created by Ruby-Spears product

I wanted to make a return visit to Arena 51 in Middleburg Heights before checking into my hotel for the night as I started my Cleveland trip last weekend. Arena 51 was a lot of fun when I last played there in a tournament, but more important at the moment was the fact that I had played there previously, so playing tonight would not screw up my count on my way to playing my 200th arena the next day. By a perfect stroke of luck this happened to be their AYCP unlimited night, so there was a really good group of members and public players already there when I arrived. This also meant I got to play some special format games with Cyber Blast that I would not typically get the opportunity to play

I recently stumbled upon something too perfect for words... (or purr-fect...sorry, couldn't resist!) The Laser Tag Kitten 2 artwork in this art print was designed by artist Hillary White who describes herself as "a fan/child of the ‘80s which is where I get a lot of my inspiration - I’m on Facebook, IG, and deviantart: @hillarywhiterabbit. " When asked her about this piece of art Ms. White offered some background: "Society6 noticed my ‘80s inclination and invited me to be in one of their Art Quarterly books, featuring retro art: https://society6.com/product/society6-art-quarterly--no31. So, that’s what inspired/prompted Laser Tag Kitten 2 - lasers, kittens, and cool shades are a combo that b