''Battle Tag'' is a

laser tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated w ...

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

hybrid game developed and published by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

. The game was revealed at

E3 2010 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 2010) was the 16th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 14, 2010, and ended on June 17, 2010, with 45,600 total attendees. Ther ...

at the Ubisoft press conference. The game was released on November 2010 in Texas and Canada.

Gameplay

''Battle Tag'' shares similarities with

. Players wear harnesses with sensors and shoot at other players with wired guns that are attached to their harnesses. As the game progresses, the players' scores are uploaded to their Windows-based PC which tallies the scores and declares the winner. The game contains a multiplayer leaderboard component so players can compete with others by high scores online. ''Battle Tag'' uses an Ubiconnect sensor, which allows the players to play in a range of 1,000 feet from the sensor. Matches are allowed to have a maximum of eight players at a time per ubiconnect device with a maximum of 5 ubiconnect devices or 40 players. Players can use plastic markers to create parameters and requirements for their games. The game will ship with two harnesses, two guns, and other accessories that add to the gameplay.

Development

The game was presented by the game's producer Gael Seydoux as a "real live

that you could play at home with all your friends." The game follows the trend of E3 2010 games to focus on more non-traditional aspects of gaming.

Reception

Gaming critics were mostly confused by the game's presentation at Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference. Models and game developers armed with harnesses and laser guns began playing the game and running around the auditorium during the press conference. The introduction of ''Battle Tag'' won

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

's "Biggest What the...?'" special achievement award from E3 2010. G4's Andrew Pfister thought that presentation of the game was poorly thought through. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s Keith Stuart stated, "I'm not sure I entirely understood what was going on".

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

's Ellie Gibson called it "

Laser Quest Laser Quest is a British indoor laser tag franchise founded in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1989. Its laser tag games use infrared (IR) hand-held units and vests. Laser Quest's oldest centre is located in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England ...

for your house."

Release/Pre-release

On 20 November, 2010, a limited test release of 15 Toys R US stores in Texas and all Zellers stores in Canada was announced.

References

{{Frédérick Raynal Games and sports introduced in 2010 Laser tag Ubisoft games