Nerf’s Newest Blaster Comes with a Video Camera, So You Can Shoot While You Shoot
The only thing that could make a good old-fashioned Nerf battle even more intense? A built-in camera on your gun, for a firsthand view of your victims as you fire rubber-and-foam projectiles at them.
The classic toy company Nerf swung by the offices ahead of next week’s big Toy Fair convention here in New York to give us a peek at the Nerf N-Strike Elite Nerf Cam EC5-12 Blaster. That catchily titled toy is a new, motorized Nerf gun that adds a camera and built-in viewing screen to the traditional foam gun experience.
The gun is a prototype at the moment, with hand-painted details and a few bugs that still need to be worked out, but it’s a pretty good idea of what we’re in store for when the product arrives this fall. There’s a 1.77-inch color display that serves as the rear sight for the blaster. The screen displays video shot on a camera placed just above the gun’s barrel. A microphone, meanwhile, is located on the rear by the display, so you can narrate as you shoot.
There are still some issues with the mic picking up too much of the gun’s motor whir, but a Nerf representative said that should be hammered out by the time the gun launches.
There’s also an SD card slot built into the side of the blaster, so you can record the whites of their eyes either as video or a still and transfer it to your computer and then upload it to YouTube. Three buttons near the display let you navigate through what you’ve shot, and the Record button, located toward the front of the gun, lets you start shooting without pulling your hand away.
Otherwise the gun’s got all the hallmarks of the company’s Elite line, including a motor capable of launching darts up to 90 feet and a top rail for accessories like a detachable flashlight.
The grand total for all this firepower? $80, a price that includes a 4 GB SD card that can store up to three hours of video and a clip with 12 darts inside. The Nerf N-Strike Elite Nerf Cam EC5-12 Blaster is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2014.
Yahoo Tech is a brand new tech site from David Pogue and an all-star team of writers. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest.
