| Lazer Tag | |
|---|---|
Promotional photo of Don Kingsborough, one of the founders of Worlds of Wonder, playing Lazer Tag. |
|
| Type | Weapon |
| Inventor | Worlds of Wonder |
| Company |
|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1985– |
Lazer Tag is a brand name for the infrared pursuit game generically known as "laser tag," "lasertag," or "lazertag."[1][2]
The brand name was created by the toy company Worlds Of Wonder in 1986, appearing at approximately the same time as the home version of the Photon brand.[3]
The Lazer Tag brand name was acquired by Shoot The Moon Products[4] of Pleasanton, CA after Worlds Of Wonder ceased operation in late 1990. Since then, the brand name has been licensed to Tiger Electronics from 1996–1998 and to Hasbro from 2004–present under the Nerf banner.[5][6]
Like Photon, Worlds of Wonder's Lazer Tag brand also inspired a TV series. The animated series Lazer Tag Academy was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, with one season airing on NBC from 1987-1988. Three Choose Your Own Adventure-style books were released based on the game as well. A boy is briefly shown playing Lazer Tag in the 1988 film Married to the Mob.
The latest Lazer Tag product as of 2010 is the Two-Player Battle System, featuring the Phoenix LTX. The blaster features mechanical recoil, a built in vibration system and a physical ambidextrous clip release/reload. It has the same range and accuracy in broad daylight as the older Laser Tag Team Ops (LTTO) system - which sets it apart from other consumer grade systems in the market. A detachable virtual green laser scope is packaged with the unit to facilitate aiming.[7]
A Lazer Tag video game was released in the late 1980s for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64[4].