Nerf®
ArenaBlast™: The Analysis |
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| Editorial by Andy Grau (The information in this article is mostly speculation and should not be treated as official information about Nerf ArenaBlast. This is an editorial, not a news article.) Recap In last week’s editorial, I explained the fundamental items which would appear in Nerf ArenaBlast and how I believe the weapons in ArenaBlast and Unreal will compare. If you haven’t read part one of the Nerf ArenaBlast analysis, please read it now. Last week, I came up with this handy little chart, which matches the upcoming Nerf ArenaBlast weapons with the current Unreal weapons: 1. Dispersion Pistol, Secret Shot II (The Unreal weapon is on the left, the potentially similar Nerf ArenaBlast weapon is on the right.) I also hinted that the (????) unknown number 9 weapon could potentially be (gasp!) the Expand-A-Blast. Scary, isn’t it? To explain this nice little chart in further detail, I’ll go through each weapon number, explaining the similarities in the weapons.
Can’t We All Just Get Along? 1. Dispersion Pistol, Secret Shot II This one’s pretty easy, both are basic weapons that fire one shot at a time. 2. Auto-Mag, Wildfire Okay, so this weapon hasn’t even been released yet (at the time of this writing), but I think it either will be a multi-shot weapon, or an automatic clip weapon (perhaps the first clip-using pistol?). The Auto-Mag is an automatic gun. 3. Stinger, Triple Strike These match up very well. The Stinger can fire shards either rapidly in a straight line, or as a shotgun blast. This is similar to how the Triple Strike can fire its arrows either one-at-a-time or all at once. 4. ASMD, Pulsator These two guns look so similar, it’s eerie. Take a look at their pictures at the top of this page. 5. Eightball, Ballzooka Ditto for these guns too. The only difference in these weapons' appearances is that the Eightball has six barrels, while the Ballzooka has five. 6. Flak Cannon, ScatterShot Well, the Flak Cannon scatters the flak it fires, and I would imagine that the ScatterShot would scatter the ammo it fires too. 7. GES BioRifle, (Whomper / MightyMo) I don’t know. Can any one tell me what the heck a "MightyMo" is? 8. Razorjack, (Whomper / MightyMo) Grrr . . . I don’t know what a "Whomper" is either. To be similar to the Razorjack, though, the weapon has to fire some sort of discs. Perhaps either the Whomper or MightyMo fire discs. 9. Rifle, ???? Can you say "Expand-A-Blast?" 10. Minigun, Hypershot Yes, indeed. The prefix "hyper" means "over" or "excessive." In this case, it probably relates to the speed of the weapon. The Minigun is designed to be one of the fastest guns in Unreal.
So that’s about it for the weapons. As I’ve said numerous times before, these are only _guesses_ and not any official statements.
Meanwhile, In the Toy Department . . . Yes, it’s true. The popularity of Nerf ArenaBlast will help boost sales of Nerf weapons, too. Just think about it - those who enjoy this game will want to own the real-life versions of the guns found in the game. What does this mean? Well, the Ballzooka has a very good chance of being re-released. Also, even though the weapons like the ScatterShot, Hypershot, Whomper, and MightyMo don’t exist in real life, they may be released in the coming years. Thus, don’t be surprised if Hasbro Interactive makes these "virtual" guns somewhat realistic, so they can be eventually turned into real guns. You see, Hasbro has an advantage over the makers of Unreal, as Hasbro can actually produce the weapons found in the game. This leads to a very nice thing - extra profit. Hasbro can also use the game to clear out inventories of poorly-selling guns (like the Pulsator and Expand-A-Blast) in order to make room for new guns.
Tools of the Trade In the Nerf ArenaBlast press release, Hasbro also indicted that a few other Unreal-type items would be making an appearance in Nerf ArenaBlast. Expect things like armor upgrades, extra ammo holders and even odd things (like Jump Boots) to make an appearance. Remember, although Hasbro Interactive will probably try to keep the elements in the game as down-to-earth as possible (for the weapons and such), they still want to keep the items which make Unreal appealing in the upcoming game.
I think this gives you a basic idea of which directions Hasbro Interactive can take Nerf ArenaBlast. The game is set up for a winter release, so be ready. This game is going to be very cool, indeed.
Please note: for editing purposes, proper copyright information is not displayed in editorials. Anything related to Nerf ArenaBlast (including the name "Nerf ArenaBlast") belongs to Hasbro Interactive. Nerf weapon names are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. "Unreal" and the Unreal weapon names are trademarks of GT Interactive. |
". . . [the] unknown number nine weapon could potentially be (gasp!) the Expand-A-Blast. Scary, isn't it?"
". . . don't be surprised if Hasbro Interactive makes these "virtual" guns somewhat realistic, so they can be eventually turned into real guns." |
