Sabtu, 02 Oktober 2010


History



A paintball player crouching behind cover
In 1976, Hayes Noel, a stock trader, Bob Gurnsey, and author Charles Gaines were discussing Gaines' recent trip to Africa and his experiences hunting buffalo. Inspired in part by Richard Connell's short story The Most Dangerous Game, they created a game where they would stalk and hunt each other; recreating the same adrenaline rush that came with animal hunting.[6] In 1981 in New Hampshire, the group used a "Nel-spot 007" pistol (normally used by farmers and ranchers for marking trees and livestock) to fire balls of paint. Twelve people participated in this first game, which was a "capture the flag" scenario between two teams. The winner captured all flags without firing a shot.[7]
As national interest in the game steadily built, Bob Gurnsey formed the National Survival Game company, and entered a contract with Nelson Paint Company to be the sole distributor of their paintball equipment.[8] Thereafter, they licensed to franchises in other states the right to sell their guns, paint, and goggles. As a result of their monopoly on equipment, they turned a profit in only six months.[8]
The first games of paintball made use of Nelspot pistols, which were the only guns available at the time.[when?] They used 12-gram CO2 cartridges, held only ten rounds, and had to be tilted to roll the ball into the chamber and then recocked after each shot. Dedicated paintball masks had not yet been created, so players wore shop glasses that left the rest of their faces exposed. The first paintballs were oil-based and thus not water soluble; "turpentine parties" were common after a day of play.[9] Games often lasted for hours as players stalked each other, and since each player had only a limited number of rounds, shooting was rare.[10]
Between 1981 and 1983, rival manufacturers such as PMI began to create competing products, and it was during those years that the game took off.[11] Paintball technology gradually developed as manufacturers added a front-mounted pump in order to make recocking easier, then replaced the 12-gram cartridges with larger air tanks, commonly referred to as "constant air".[12] These innovations were followed by gravity feed hoppers and 45-degree elbows to facilitate loading from the hopper.[12] In 1984, paintball was established in other countries outside the United States; with Skirmish Paintball setting up fields in Australia and England.[13][14]

Paintball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paintball

A Paintball player
First played June 27, 1981, Henniker, New Hampshire
Characteristics
Contact No physical contact between players (contact can result in penalties)
Team members Varies depending on game format and level of play (recreational or professional)
Categorization Extreme; indoor or outdoor
Equipment Paintballs, paintball marker, CO2, compressed air/HPA (High Pressure Air), mask, hopper
Paintball is a game,[1][2][3] first played in 1981 in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by hitting them with capsules containing paint (referred to as paintballs) propelled from a device called a paintball marker. While oil-based paint was originally used, paintballs are actually made of a special non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble mineral-oil. The game is regularly played at a sporting level with organized competition involving worldwide leagues, tournaments, professional teams, and players.[4][5] Paintball technology is also used by armies to supplement military training, riot response, and non lethal suppression of dangerous suspects.
Games are played on indoor or outdoor fields of varying sizes. A game field is scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for strategic play. Rules for playing paintball vary, but can include capture the flag, elimination, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours, or even days in scenario play.
The legality of paintball varies among countries and regions. In most areas where regulated play is offered, players are required to wear protective masks, and game rules are strictly enforced.