Widgets Rocks!

Sometimes when I travel I have to show up at arenas at odd times just to be able to stay on track to visit as many sites as possible. This was the case when I got into Manhattan, KS and walked into Widgets Family Fun at 10:00 in the morning. Now, some sites are cool with accommodating me early in the day, but that doesn’t always translate into a decent game. However here when I requested to play against a couple of staff members they really brought a good game to get my heart rate up at the start of my day!

I vested up for a game of Helios against Alyssa and Caleb.

We entered their “Clockwork Quest” arena and something immediately struck me. Everything around me looked like it had the hallmarks of being Creative Works arena, and yet nothing looked familiar. The theme was distinctive and I could not recall ever seeing this particular arena aesthetic before. When we finished the game I discovered there was a reason for that.

But before I could worry about the walls I had a game of Zone to attend to. At first I suspected that neither employee was playing “for real” as is sometimes the case when employees play against a public player. But it wasn’t too long before that turned around. I think once it became apparent that I am legit and can hold my own that a lightswitch flipped and suddenly they were giving me a good game…much better than I usually expect at 10:00 in the morning!

The double level arena has a few really good positions for catching an opponent by surprise. It also has one feature that can definitely be exploited by a player who is paying attention…it is entirely possible to get from one end of the top level to the other between the first and third shots of a base deactivation. Meaning that if you are on top and quick enough when you hear the first “base under attack” it is totally possible for you to make it to the other side to comp that base attacker before the deactivation is completed. That is a useful piece of info to know…especially if they do end up hosting a tournament in the future. :)

When the game was done one staffer said to the other with surprise “you came in second?” So I relished knowing what the result must be. :) Then I turned my attention back to the aesthetic and took some photos. I guess I would describe this as part “inner workings of a clock tower” and part “air adventure”. There was a clock structure built in the center and the walls looked like you were looking out from the windows to see the view “outside” with air balloons floating by.

And the bases were housed in a hangar-like structure. It all worked well and had a vibe slightly like it was from another era.

When I asked about this being a CW design Stacy gave me the back story about the arena design, which she knew well since this is her family’s locally owned business. She told me that they purchased the dirigible (there’s a vocabulary word you didn’t see on the SATs!) airship directly from the Creative Works booth at IAAPA one year and that they were given complete carte blanche to create a custom theme to build around it that would work throughout the entire entertainment center. Mission accomplished! The custom design certainly did make an impression as it got me asking questions.

I was glad to be able to chart with Stacy a bit and I appreciated being able to take home a t-shirt and lanyard for my tag swag collection. I hope to have a chance to return to Widgets again. In the meantime, see you at IAAPA!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Perception is NOT Always Reality

My boss has a favorite saying…”perception is reality”. Well, not entirely so in the case of my second stop in Omaha.

I had a list of places I had planned to visit, but as I mentioned previously there was a significant flight delay that threw my schedule way off track. So I had to make some decisions about which sites to visit and which to cut from my list. My first one was a no brainer to keep and for my second one I selected a site which had impressed me with their website.

The website for Family Fun Center XL promotes their Black Ops Laser Tag and games with “awesome new themes” like Wizarding Laser Tag, Rebel Squad Laser Tag and a list of “intermediate game modes” and also “advanced game modes” with games I’m familiar with such as Shadows, Highlander, Gladiator and SM5. As this is a Laserforce site I was anticipating a more advanced level of competition.

I arrived on a Friday evening. I was a bit concerned by the lack of cars in the parking lot as the place genuinely looked like it might be closed. When I walked in I looked around and did not see any other people besides the girl who came up to the counter. I told her I would like to play some laser tag and she asked if I wanted to play against her. I said that would be fine (what else was I to do at this point) and she said that two people isn’t fun, so she went to find some others. She rounded up a family group and we all got ready for a game of laser tag.

I passed an area with membership kiosks and I asked about using my card, but it didn’t appear to work, so I entered without signing in…just let the record show that I tried.

The employee suited up with us and we went in for a nice, light game. I had imagined that I would be playing some of the advanced game formats with a chance to pit my skills against other level six players, but instead this is the group of “space marines” I challenged instead.

Formidable looking competition, right? ;)

So I went in just to have fun. The arena was only a single level (I gather from their website that their previous arena must have been larger) with some airbrushed neon accents and some paintball imagery on the walls.

Pretty early on in the game I could tell that the “game master” was out to win, so I did enjoy giving her a run, while making an effort not to be a try-hard to the family group. I easily won this game with a score that would have been a pretty decent boost to my average if I had been able to sign in with my card. But remember, I couldn’t. And yet at the end of the game the employee said “your card must have worked after all because look at the screen, you got trophies.” I told her that, no, my card did not work and those were not trophies on the screen, they were bases. I pointed out that I had gotten both bases and asked why she hadn’t. I kid you not, this was her response…

“We have bases?”

Without her having that key piece of information I guess there was really zero chance that I was going to be playing anything advanced this night. So I decided it was time to call it a night and head to my hotel…but not until I took a pic with the giant video game out in front of the center.

So sometimes perception is NOT exactly the reality, but hey, I still got to play some tag, so chalk that up to being better than not playing at all.

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Projection Walls in Nebraska

It was probably more than a year ago that I first stumbled upon a video promoting projection walls at The Mark in Omaha, Nebraska. I decided that when I finally got to visit this part of the midwest that this site would be a MUST just to check out these walls.

The Mark is a big entertainment site of the lanes, games and bar/grill variety. After having my flight delayed six hours, my first stop upon arriving was to grab some food at the bar.

But after re-energizing myself with some delicious three cheese mac and cheese I was ready to see what this was all about. I introduced myself to one of the managers, John, and I think my interest took him by surprise because he did not realize that the walls in the arena were anything all that unusual. Well, this is what all the hype is about.

When the lights are down like they would be during a game a casual player might not realize that the walls around each base are actually painted white.

So what, right? Well, the reason this is so unique is that the image that you see is actually projected onto the walls from above. Watch the progression from bright lights (with flash) to dark…

What’s even more unique is what these walls have the potential to do. Check this out.

http://markomaha.com/laser-tag/

Now, as it turns out tagging the base at this site did not trigger any interesting projections, but just to know that it has that potential is still pretty cool. Instead this is what it looked like when I deactivated the base at The Mark…

Grant and Julia from the game area were great and kind enough to do a walkthrough with me prior to my throwing on a Helios vest and getting into a game. I played with a couple of groups and had a really great time exploring the maze in between those two bases. It’s a double level arena with a pharoah’s tomb theme, interior walls painted to look like stone and a few of the additional enhancements you might expect to find.

I must say I enjoyed the shocked reactions of the other players when they realized my score was the one on top each game. I love taking a group by surprise and they came out talking about how I “must be a professional.” LOL…if only. But at the very least I have a rather prolific list of arenas and states and this checked off my 46^th state and the first stop on another pretty amazing adventure. Thanks to The Mark for the hospitality!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

49 States Tagged, One More To Go

I recently took another tag trip that had some amazing highlights that I can't wait to share. I visited with my friends Miranda and Elaine in Kansas where we played at the only Laser Maxx Laser Trooper site in all of North America. I saw projection walls up close in Nebraska. I played A LOT of tactical in South Dakota and I finished up with one of the most interesting games of Delta Strike in North Dakota, bringing the total of states where I have played laser tag up to 49.

 

I have not yet had the time to properly go through all the photos and document the experiences of this most recent trip, but I have had time to reflect on how remarkable the entire journey has been. To be sitting here looking at how many places I have been fortunate enough to visit is really both a humbling and amazing feeling. I'm thinking back on so many memories and some tremendous experiences along the way. I have big plans for when I play in my 50th state, Texas. And yet as close as I am to completing this one goal I still have quite a few things that I'm looking forward to later this year and beyond. But for right now I just feel so grateful that I was able to travel this far and so fortunate to have met many wonderful players, teammates and friends each step of the way. Thank you to all of you who have been part of this journey!

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

New Tag Swag

I was at my local laser tag arena over the weekend and I noticed something new behind the counter. New t-shirts and hoodies for sale or, as I affectionately call them, "tag swag".

 

This was exciting for two reasons. First, I just love new merch. "Take my money" I said to Beanz before checking out the sizes and styles of the shirts he brought out. Second, I think that cool promotional items should be a MUST for any site looking to brand itself as a destination.

 

Offering t-shirts for sale is smart business. You are essentially getting customers to pay you so that they can wear your name and logo as free advertising for your site. Who knows where that shirt will be seen? I often wear my tag shirts while visiting other laser tag locations and a lot of times I get people asking about them. But even just sporting your site's logo on a keychain or water bottle might put your business name in front of a new potential customer...or at least raise some curiosity. In any case, I see no down side to it, even if you only break even on the merchandise sales.

 

Every time I travel to a new tag site I ask if they have any t-shirts or logo merchandise  for sale. It's nice to have a souvenir of a good experience, whether it's from a trip I've taken or from a local spot just down the road. However, if I had to guesstimate how many of the places I've been to have had tag swag available I'd imagine that it's way less than half of them. So, to the sites that offer something like this for their customers I say "good going, let me wear your shirt". And to the others I would strongly encourage you talk with a local print shop or look for one of the many businesses out there that create custom merchandise, either in bulk or on demand. I know the "tag swag" page on my website hasn't been updated in awhile, but I promise to work on that soon. And if I've ended up with some swag from your tag location then you will get an extra bit of free advertising as a result. :) Good all the way around!

 

And speaking of the website (as I do maintain this blog in two locations)...

 

A friend recently brought it to my attention that when he did a Google search for the words 'laser tag blog' (without quotations) he discovered that my blog currently comes up on Google in the top 5 listings (and maybe higher now that I've just used "Google" three times in a sentence). I was so pleasantly shocked to learn this! I've also recently been learning that I have some international readers and have received several correspondences from overseas. This is so incredibly humbling because I started writing this just to document my own little adventures and I am so heartened that it has found an audience. I appreciate it every time I hear from someone who has found something of value in this blog and takes the time to let me know.

 

So since I do maintain this blog in two locations you might be reading this on my full website at www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com under the heading of Tiv Talks Tag or you might be finding it where it originally started at tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com. If you are on the website, THANK YOU and hope you are enjoying all the extra content I have put together there including interviews, tour of the Laser Tag Museum, photos of laser tag collectibles and more. If you are reading it on the blogspot page, THANK YOU for helping to get the blog to that level of visibility online. I feel so fortunate that you have taken the time to read this and I hope you continue to follow my laser tag adventures. There's lots more still to come! :)

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Helios Pro in Hawaii

Aloha! I am just back from an amazing vacation to Hawaii that included so many remarkable highlights (a luau, a helicopter tour of the island, cruising with the dolphins and snorkeling with the ocean life...I actually held an octopus!), but the catalyst for planning the trip that included all of this fun was my desire to play tag at the one and only laser tag arena in the state, Tiki's Family Fun Center in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu.

 

 

This was absolutely my biggest tag trip to date with the most complicated travel arrangements. It's about 13 hours to fly to Hawaii. Until now I had never needed to enlist the help of a travel agent, but I give a big shout out to Danielle at Liberty Travel for coordinating a great hotel within walking distance to Waikiki beach and only about three miles away from the arena. Some people think that Alaska must be the most difficult state to get to, but personally I found planning for Hawaii to be an even greater undertaking. Now, this trip was over six months in the making and so I had of course contacted the arena before booking the flight because I wanted to be certain they would be open during my visit. I confirmed my plans with manager Romalyn who was very helpful and met me upon arrival.

 

Even before I got there I had decided to purchase a membership for this site (both to take home the card and to enjoy the unlimited tag that the membership afforded me for the night).

 

Then Romalyn took us on a tour of the arena between games to see their facility. First passing through the briefing room...

 

And then a walk through the arena, which is a little under 3000 square feet with a red base in the far left corner and the blue base in the closer right corner as you enter.

 

They have an Aztec theme and I understand they have undergone a renovation since becoming a Zone site. Previously this arena was called Rascal's and at that time they were a Laserforce location, but I was told the center was purchased by the new ownership a couple of years ago, became Tiki's and converted to Helios Pro.

 

 

There was a nice flow to the arena and it was easy to pick out a couple of choice locations with good sight lines. The experienced players understood the value a good base defense and were the most fun to play against, although throughout the night it was a mixed bag of players. In spite of fighting the jet lag and the six hour time difference (which had really tired me out) we enjoyed playing several games with some of the members and the public players.

 

However, the best part was the surprise of running into Michael and members of the Hawaiian team that I had played against at Battle For The Fort 4 the last time I was in Indiana. I really should have connected the dots prior to the trip...obviously with one arena in the entire state this MUST be the place where the Hawaiian team practices. However, I had not thought about that until we made re-introductions in the arena and realized that we had already played against each other at that tournament. What's great about laser tag is that it facilitates friendships all over the country (and even the world) and I am pleasantly surprised very often to run into people I already know while traveling in other states. Here I am hanging with Michael, Dave and Chris (aka Obi, Hito and Master Yoda).

 

 

We spent half the night just talking tag and sharing stories. They taught me a couple of words in Hawaiian (my little gecko in Hawaiian is called mo'o and the octopus I held earlier in the day is called a tako) and this made the experience even nicer. I hope we cross paths again at another tournament soon! :)

 

So that was my experience playing laser tag in Hawaii, my 45th state. This tag adventure has taken me to so many remarkable places for amazing adventures. And since I've mentioned "tako" a couple of times let me share with you a pic of the octopus and other ocean life we encountered in the Pacific...

 

 

And a few spectacular views taken from the helicopter...

 

 

Aloha Hawaii!

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com