APPTAG - New Laser Toy that works with APP

We don’t recommend point and shoot anything, real or virtual. But the idea that you could now have Call of Duty in the real world (with virtual play) made us pause.

This pitch came from a new company that will launch a new product called APPTAG. This new version of Laser Tag allows you to play via a download. Promoted as the “first real-world first-person shooter gun/game combo (it works with a free App so users can play immediately), will sell for $39.99 (single unit) and $74.99 (two-pack) starting in June (available online and in stores nationwide).”

The company sets their product apart:  “What makes AppTag different from other laser blasters is that it uses high frequency sound to communicate between the blaster and the mobile device.  This eliminates the need for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth – both of which are expensive to implement in toys, heavily consume batteries and are painful for kids to setup.”

Now here’s the best part according to the company: “Even better, AppTag also has an open SDK and its developer, Jon Atherton, expects some fantastic games from the development community in 2012!  NOTE:  the SDK is being made available for free to all App developers.  Imagine over 1,000 people all playing together across an entire city, or 10-20 friends battling it out in a park!  AppTag will allow for Real World First Person Shooter Games…it’s like Call of Duty in the real world!”

The company is raising funds on kickstarter. You can watch their video here.

Now if you think this is just some small start up, you should know that Laser Tag from Hasbro has also been upgraded this year with a new APP version. We weren’t allowed to take pictures at Toy Fair of the new version.

The APPTAG group has already received $31,120 – which exceeded their goal of $30,000.