Hasbro set to release iPhone-compatible Lazer Tag blasters

Hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement regarding its zAPPed range of boardgame / app hybrids comes news of Hasbro's next innovative iOS-related project.

Some of you might remember a time when running around a barely lit room with a plastic gun and zapping your friends with lasers was considered the ideal Saturday afternoon.

Hasbro remembers, and is keen to jog our collective memory with its all-new range of Lazer Tag blasters. This time around, however, the guns will feature a special dock for your iPhone, unlocking a whole new range of interactive possibilities.

Once docked in the blaster, the iPhone will serve as a head-up display, showing battle stats and other useful information.

You'll need to download the free companion Lazer Tag app before you begin, but once you're hooked up, you'll be able use the iPhone's augmented reality capabilities to shoot increasingly powerful waves of virtual opponents.

When you're done with imaginary foes - and this is the cool bit - you can compete against up to 24 other blaster owners in a proper real-world game of Lazer Tag.

It gets better: your Apple handset HUD will display your weapon's laser beam, making daytime deathmatches that bit easier. The iPhone will also keep track of points, with decent performances earning you weapon upgrades and leaderboard glory.

Surprisingly, Hasbro is not the first to bring this novel iPhone application to market, with Kickstarter-funded project AppTag Laser Blaster promising a similar gun / phone combo.

For the Lazer Tag purists out there, however, Hasbro's two-blaster set will be available in August for $70.