There was a Fusion of cool elements going on over at the Laserforce booth at IAAPA this year and I was looking forward to seeing exactly what they were bringing to the party. Look ma, no vest! The Fusion vestless phaser was the new product that Laserforce had to share, with plenty of excitement on the heels of being named a brass ring finalist for this new phaser debut. Rohan Kelly, Director of Laserforce Australia, shared that the name Fusion comes from all the features of G

I have visited the Gel Blaster Nexus booth every year since they debuted their product at IAAPA in 2023 and this year I had a chance to see how much progress they have made in that short time with the release of their new Gen 2 system. In actuality, I had already experienced a real world game with the Gen 2 gear just prior to my trip to Florida at one of the very earliest locations where it was installed in advance of the show, so I went in with a few first-hand questions tha

It’s not often that I find myself in the company of two brothers who have been part of the laser tag industry since nearly the very beginning, but I was delighted have a moment with both Jim and Steve Kessler when I visited the LASERTRON booth during IAAPA. As I am from upstate New York, I am no stranger to their longstanding company laser tag centers in Buffalo and Rochester, but I always appreciate a chance to catch up with Jim and learn about his thoughts on the future of

It sure “sounds” like something new is happening with Helios 3 over at the Zone booth this year! I mean that literally, as the sounds of the pack are a bit different now that Zone has incorporated a new AI self-help feature along with some cool new audio themes as part of the Helios 3 system. This is a clever way of helping a player along during the game with nudges about what they must do to complete the game objectives. The pack can let you know if you are near a base, if y

Getting to visit with the team at iCOMBAT is always a treat, and even more so because I also got to try something new at their IAAPA booth this year! Having gotten a sneak peek, I was particularly interested in checking out the Destiny phaser, an upcoming new project that they have taken on for one of their European clients. This essentially has the inner technology of the Valkyrie encased in a newly designed exterior shell that gives it a space-age look that could merge nice

ZTAG is a unique kind of game that includes some laser tag elements, but with less focus on “laser” and far more emphasis on “tag”. I prefer to think of this as “proximity tag” because the game is played by wearing one of these wrist sensors and getting it into close proximity to another, whether that involves being close to a teammate or an opponent. Founder Quan Gan helped me put on my wrist sensor, explaining to me how this is a unique alternative to traditional laser tag

It was so nice to see some familiar faces once again when I visited the IAAPA booth for Netronic to see what they had to share at this year’s expo. Every time we talk Natalia, the head of sales for Netronic, shows me something new about the gear, whether it has to do with the phaser or the accessories that they offer for enhancing the game. This year she and James, a laser tag operator, were ready to show me some features of the F1 Falcon tagger. James gave me a durability de

The team from Elite Laser Tag Equipment have been working hard on their newest laser tag game components and I was excited to see how much they have accomplished when I visited their booth at IAAPA. Owners Edward and Dana Gainer have been developing their new Battle Towers and it’s exciting to see the progress on this accessory, now ready to fully implement into a variety of their game formats. They took the time to share some insights with me about their gear and their thoug

I always enjoy catching up with Lazer Runner President Paul Savard when I visit IAAPA and this year he had something new to share. While we usually discuss the laser tag equipment itself, this year the enthusiasm was directed towards showcasing these cool arena wall pieces that the company is developing to offer a new atmosphere for playing the game. Shannon Carriere told me all about it as we talked about what they were most excited to share at the show. And she gave me a de

Delta Strike is bringing their new, vestless phaser product to the market with the Genesis Mobile and I was delighted to get a first look at it during this year’s IAAPA trade show. This system allows for a game to be played with phasers only or in conjunction with the Delta Strike packs. The phasers are similar in shape to the standard Genesis phaser with a sensor on the top, as well as on the sides. Mitchell Robertson, the Marketing and Sales Coordinator for Delta Strike Int