This is a real commercial for a real piece of hardware. It’s for TrackingPoint, a company that makes laser-guided rifles.
The clip above is billed as a “3D Video game-style teaser”. You’d think the idea of sci-fi rifles turning real combat into a video game would be the craziest thing about it, but nope. For one, the timeline is a little confusing (shouldn’t the grown son of an Afghanistan vet be shooting at aliens from a flying car). And, secondly, hunting for food and keeping cougars away from livestock? What is this, 1850?
Going back to the guns though, from a purely technical point of view, it’s some fascinating tech. The more you see of it, the more you realise why they went with a video game-themed commercial.
The tech, which they call PGF (Precision Guided Firearm), works just like a video game sniper rifle, allowing the user to “tag” targets, after which a computer system calculates all the variables involved (wind speed, target movement, etc) and tells you whether your shot is going to hit or not.
At least it does in theory.
Even PGF’s info page reads like a game manual, right down to the icon system that looks like something you’d bring up with a d-pad.
[via Geekologie]
Comments
14 responses to “The Real Gun That Thinks It’s A Video Game Gun”
Because advertising real shooting like a video game is just what the gaming industry needs….
Bloody aim-assist
Next they will invent wall hacks
Cannot thank you enough for that.. its been a long day and that just tipped the scales the right way… ive been sitting here giggling for the last 2 minutes. GW mate
If you want a headshot you must run in the direction away from the target whilst jumping.
Not sure, but I think most video game-depicted sniper rifles do not work like that at all. The closest a system I can think of is VATS (which applies to all weapons) in the Fallout-games.
Sniper Elite v2 gives you a bullet drop icon in the scope, as does some of teh guns from ghost recon future soldier.
The war in Afghanistan has been going for over a decade, so this isn’t really beyond the realms of feasibility.
It’s more the scope than the gun itself. It has a tag button but other than that this can apply to any rifle.
Tag button?
Does that mean you can yell ‘BALI’ while touching the slide and they can’t shoot you?
exactly
I have not shot a gun for over ten years, I would love to give this thing a go. I don’t mind our gun laws but I wonder if there is some sort of “lets give this cool thing a try” out clause
Luke, if you look at history, there has been conflict of one sort of another in Afghanistan for the last 40 or so years, counting Soviet and other foreign involvement there. So if we assume his father was raised in the USSR or something like that, the timeline suddenly makes a lot more sense (though not the inclusion of a cougar… wtf TrackingPoint?)
I watched this video about TrackingPoint and I did not like it.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yu2EqO1qbrQ