I’m going to go out on a limb here and say….no, no one does. First off, let me at least say I’m glad that they’re trying something new here, but seriously….Battle Tag? Come on Ubi. I like the innovation but I don’t think this idea is it.
First announced at their E3 Conference (that was so hard to watch in all honesty), Battle Tag is essentially laser tag only you can buy a “starter pack” for 130 bucks for your PC. You also get these “ammo and health boxes” which if you put your gun up to them it’ll scan in more virtual ammo and health. Seriously. That’s it. That’s all it is. It’s basically up to you to make something out of this. Software on the computer tracks the information such as hits, kills, and deaths among other things.
Here’s the interesting bit though. The Canadian release is set for today, November 22, only at a place called Zellers (no idea, I’m not from Canada) and on Ubisoft’s website (well, of course). Texas will serve as a “test release” for the US, with a few specific Toys R Us stores in Houston and Austin which begin selling it last week. Test market….does that mean even Ubisoft isn’t sure about this?
On paper this may sound like a good idea, but in reality, who wants to spend 130 bucks on something that’s basically laser tag? Not only that, you’ll have to spend even more money on more guns and accessories for it so when it comes down to it, it can be pretty pricey. I can think of a few alternatives for most people including Laser Tag, Airsoft, Paintball, Nerf Guns and the all-powerful IMAGINATION. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I want this thing to fail. I have no problems with it whatsoever, I just don’t really see the point of it. Not sure about this one Ubi…
Obviously whoever wrote this article did not know anything about battle tag other than the cost. Terrible article. Battle tag is awesome, especially now that you can find a set of 2 for around $80-$100. There’s plenty of game modes included with the game, and you can customize the rules of almost all of them. Very fun game/toy. But Ubisoft marketed it like crap, so it did not do very well and I believe they discontinued it, which is a shame, because it really was better than all the other laser tag products. It was not without flaws of course, but they were few and pretty minor anyway.
Thanks for the information Dan. I have to agree with you on this one, Battle Tag was not handled well at all. The E3 reveal kind of confused more than it enlightened. You know that when the host of your press conference makes fun of the product, you’re doing something wrong. After that point though, I don’t remember hearing anything about it or seeing it in stores. It’s almost as if Ubisoft left this one to die. The biggest problem with this product however was the lack of information. As you said, it comes with a ton of game modes and the ability to customize all of them. Really making a push and letting people know may have helped push it on the sales end of things.
It’s too bad that it’s discontinued/left to die as I’m sure with the correct marketing scheme in place (any at all, really) and finding a way to really get the information out there, Battle Tag could have been a great alternative for people who wanted to set up a laser tag style system at their own place.
Battle Tag is INCREDIBLE!! there is nothing that comes close to this awesome game. whether you play it between cubicles to release stress at the office or have an amazing house wide game of battle tag or outdoor game! it has a long range and SOOOO many game options. The reloading ammunition and health point loaders are ingenious!! whoever wrote this article has NEVER played this great game. Great for kids AND adults!! Unfortunately not well marketed so killed by UBISOFT before it had a chance!!! Now so many are looking for it and can’t get it!!! Thanks to ignorant articles like this, UBISOFT listened and killed it.
Battle Tag is INCREDIBLE!! there is nothing that comes close to this awesome game. whether you play it between cubicles to release stress at the office or have an amazing house wide game of battle tag or outdoor game! it has a long range and SOOOO many game options. The reloading ammunition and health point loaders are ingenious!! whoever wrote this article has NEVER played this great game. Great for kids AND adults!! Unfortunately not well marketed so killed by UBISOFT before it had a chance!!! Now so many are looking for it and can’t get it!!! Thanks to ignorant articles like this, UBISOFT listened and killed it.
Appreciate your kind retort … unfortunately too little too late. if anyone knows where you can buy these, please let me know. I have several friends looking for them. Supposedly, according to support at Ubisoft, the remaining inventory was liquidated but nobody knows to where.
Also, possibly the technology is being sold to another company that has a more similar product line. Has anyone heard any details regarding this possibility?
I did some quick research and unfortunately I didn’t come across anything. I’ll keep my ears out though and provide an update if anything turns up
This game is plentiful now. I personally have about a dozen sets new in boxes, as well as about a dozen med kits. I love this game as do my kids. I am considering renting out the guns for birthday parties, but don’t know if they will hold up to the abuse that commercial equipment can handle. Most of the bad reviews I have seen are from parents who don’t have a clue when it comes to using a computer. If you can’t install a simple game you cannot use this, as it requires a PC for operation. My son and his friends are always begging for a game of battle tag, and that is great because it is way more exercise than they would get if they were playing regular video games. W e have used this several times now and have not had any issues. If you have seen the review by “angry joe” in which he could not get one gun to operate, you probably know that he failed to add the gun in the options menu. It sucks when reviewers have no clue. Very bad press for the company that supplied the product for review and unnecessary bad press at that. There is info online now that tells you how to increase the max players from eight to sixteen and beyond just by editing a single line in the programming. I haven’t tried this yet but will in the near future. battle tag rocks.
Darren, just read your post on battle tag. We bought two sets and my kids love it. But we’ve had problems with two vests not registering with the guns. They blink red and cannot be connected. We’ve replaced batteries and changed guns and realized it’s a problem with the vests. I’ve contacted ubisoft support website with no replies. Did ubisoft dump this product? I’ve heard rumors but no hard facts that they did. We have friends who also have battle tag and love it and they have no problems with they’re gear. Any suggestions on how to contact anybody regarding: repair or engineering support on the vests? We just bought these Xmas 2012.
Hey Brian,
I did some digging on this for you and while I believe I heard that Ubisoft stopped work on the project, I didn’t find any hard/concrete evidence that Ubisoft has indeed dropped the product.
With that said, it seems like there’s a tight knit Battle Tag group over at http://www.battletagforums.org/ providing tips, support, and communication for Battle Tag users. Not only that, the lead developer on the project is a member over there as well.
So maybe that’ll help with your situation. All the best of luck!
Brian, did you go into the options menu and add the guns? I had a similar issue and this worked. Also, one of the sets I purchased turned out to be a damaged return. Unfortunately was final sale as the stores that were carrying this product have all been liquidated and sold to target. I opened the box and there was a post it note on one of the guns that said” not working”. As it turns out, it was the vest that was damaged and not the gun. I opened the connector that plugs into the gun and one wire had come loose. Other than that, I have had no other problems. I recently sold a bunch of these to lasertag source.com. It’s a business that rents these things out and ships them to you. Mike, who own this business informed me that they spend a bunch of money modifying each vest to make it more durable before they are rented out. Not sure what the mod is though. They have also modified their software to allow 16 players.