Remembering the Ultimator (and more About Me)

Sometimes people ask if I spelled my name incorrectly as their first exposure and familiarity to the surname is the Team McLaren racing cars. The name of the Scottish clan MacLaren is known in Gaelic as "Clann mhic Labhrainn". The origins of the clan are shadowy and remain speculative. The MacLarens were a warlike clan and had their share of feuds with neighbouring families.

As I had mentioned in the "About me" section on the index page of this website, I was first exposed to Nerf blasters at the now defunct 3DO Company which was founded by Trip Hawkins some time after he left Electronic Arts, the company he founded. Up until 3DO, all the companies I had worked at required a suit and tie and that you operate within a thick atmosphere of corporate politics. Going from servicing Fortune 1000 companies to a total “t-shirt n’ jeans” environment was one of the biggest eye openers in my career.

During new employee orientation, Trip said to us, "There are three ways of running a company: a bureaucracy, a dictatorship or a culture.” It was his decision to run 3DO as a culture that fostered an environment in which people brought all their childhood toys and propped them up on their cubicles. Some of these toys were so “retro” that they’d make a killing selling them on eBay. But the employees had a trust and respect for one another’s property.

Then came the Nerf wars. I watched as grown men ran around with blue, black, yellow and orange colored rocket launchers that supposedly were discontinued due to the manufacturer receiving complaints from parent groups that these missiles would knock their kids clear into the next room (“Mommy, mommy, where did my little brother go?!”) which made us old kids make a mad dash to Toy’s R’ Us to pick up all existing stock.

The Ultimator was one of the classic Nerf guns of the 1990’s era. The most powerful, the most fearsome, the most awesome. So as you can see, it looks like it can take out a tank or a plane. The missiles were about 10-11 inches. You’d crank this little black lever on the top about 15 times, and then you aimed it at a co-worker. Crank-crank-crank… THOOM!!! And the other guy would go: ARRGHH!! You @#)(*!! You got me!! Crank-crank-crank… THOOM!!!

Those were the sounds at 3DO.