Another "Whoops" for Lazer Tag

I've mentioned it a bit before with the "Apple Attacks" post when the iPhone 5 was unveiled.  It's been a little while to let the crazed fans around Apple settle down a bit, but I thought I'd project a bit of a lesson that should be learned... and should've been learned before by Hasbro's marketing folks.

In 2008 when the Tiger Electronics (owned by Hasbro) Lazer Tag Phoenix LTX came out, one of the promotions for it was a "TV Game" that could plug into your blaster and let you use it as a light gun on your tv. While a nifty idea, the TV Game attachment was largely a flop since it was designed to work with older style TVs in an age where flat screen LCDs were really starting to dominate the market.  The LTX's launch wasn't nearly as successful as it should've been, largely due to the timing of it's introduction into the market.  It was more expensive than it's compettitors and the TV Game was outdated the second it was released.

And yet, it seems like the folks at Hasbro thought they could still catch on to a growing trend: mobile devices.  Utilizing the next system, the Lazer Tag Augmented Reality (LTAR) system, to get ahead of the curve, they developed a Lazer Tag App to be used with the iPod Touch and iPhone as a heads up display for interactive gaming.  Less than a few months out from the LTAR's release in August of 2012, Apple released their iPhone 5 design, which was larger than the standardized size of the iPhone and iPod Touch that the cradle on the LTAR was designed to use.  Already, the technology the LTAR was designed to use has been outdated.  The marketing all over the box for the LTAR promotes it's use to be integrated with an iOS device and there's only one mention in fine print on the side of the box that states the blaster can be used on it's own.  Marketing has been completely focused on promoting the iDevice, which I fear might lead to another Lazer Tag flop.