Frankly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for Nerf to decide to create an app for mobile devices (though they aren’t saying which). I hadn’t thought of what they’d create when they made one, but I have to say that allowing the fans to decide is a great idea. The three apps that they are having fans vote on are:

Nerf AR (Augmented Reality) Challenge – Use a virtual blaster on your phone to shoot targets in an augmented reality space!

Nerf Blaster I.D. – Use your mobile device’s camera to identify your enemy’s blasters and gain valuable intel on their rate of fire, capacity, and otehr vital information!

Nerf Mission Recorder – Record video of your Nerf Missions and add video and audio effects to create an epic Nerf Video!

Visit this page to cast your vote: http://apps.facebook.com/nerfbattleoftheapps

From what I’ve seen so far 2011 may be the year of Nerf.  The gem of the lot to date in my opinion is the newly designed Dart Tag series blasters.  This series is a marvel of reinvention, the built in clip design has gifted the lightning fast game of dart tag with the fastest reload time offered on modern blasters not in the Clip System.  My only problem with the series as a whole has to do with jams.  I have had some bad luck with what can only be described as double loading, where a second dart tries to load on top of the dart that is already in the chamber when the blaster is cocked.  This has only happened as a result of children or inexperienced Nerfers playing with my blasters but has had the ultimate end of ripping the dart apart.  That being said it’s time to get to the review, I bring to you the Dart Tag Quick 16.

I have one quick thing to say about the Quick 16.  Slam fire is awesome!  The N-Strike Raider CS-35 is possibly my favorite blaster and it has been quite saddening to have nothing quite as cool in the Dart Tag arsenal.  My prayers have been answered by this 16 round beast of a blaster.  The paint apps follow those seen on the Speed Load 6 which is expected and looks just as good.  Also as I had thought the redesigned trigger that I commented about in my last review is carrying along to the rest of the blasters in the series which makes me happy. (more…)

A second video for the vortex blasters has shown up, and this one’s a bit clearer than the previous, but still in the same ‘secret video’ style. This one shows the smaller blaster, as well as a comparison of the new blasters to the ‘Gear Up’ blasters set to come out just before the Vortex line. It also shows more of the Discs themselves. The discs are actually shaped like Frisbee, so they are actually able to generate lift, and therefore fly farther with less power. In the video we can actually see the disc hit a paper cup, and deliver a satisfying pop, knocking the cups off the ledge.

I have to say, I’m looking forward to them quite a bit more than after the first video. I’m also looking forward to the next video (which I assume will be next week).

If you’re anything like the staff here at AFoN you’ve been waiting very impatiently for the release of the newly redesigned Nerf Dart Tag blasters.  We are very happy to inform you that they’re finally here!  I bring to you the Nerf Dart Tag Speed Load 6.

It has been a while since we’ve seen anything new on the Dart Tag side of the Nerf coin, and it’s nice to see something fresh for 2011.  The Speed Load 6 is an interesting blaster, and is the first I’ve seen to offer the built in clip.  I have to say, the quick load build in clip is an amazing feature that offers dart tag players self contained dart storage and possibly the fastest reload time among similar blasters including clip system blasters from the N-Strike series.  An amazing feature that was discovered while testing this blaster, and something Nerf has not revealed about the blaster is that it has a Slam Fire feature (more…)

On the Nerf Nation Facebook page, they’ve posted a video of the new Nerf Vortex Blasters! While the video is edited to have the appearance of a ‘Secret’ video that we’re not supposed to see, we can tell what the Vortex line shoots: foam disks.

I have faith that Nerf will be able to turn a cheap 99 cent store disk shooter toy and make it in to something of quality and awesomeness! I believe that there may be more videos and pictures to come, which I will post here.

Check out the video for yourself!