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The First Game of Paintball
The first game of paintball was played in New Hampshire. It took place because of a question, “who had better survival skills-a hunter or a person with street knowledge”. A sporting goods store owner drafted the rules. Each player was given a cattle marker, goggles, a compass, and a map of the play area. To win, you must retrieve a flag from each of the four stations. This started the growing industry of National paintball as a sport. It was originally known as the National Survival Game. -
The Second Game of Paintball
The second game of paintball took place. This game was open to the public which caused the sport to nearly triple in size. The game took place in Alabama. This is huge for the sport because it’s when it really started to grow, and more people became interested. -
First Commercial Paintball Field
The world’s first commercial paintball field was opened by Bob Gumsey in New Hampshire. He was also the person who wrote the game rules for the original game. The National Survival Game signed a contract with the Nelson Paint Company. The Nelson Paint Company was the sole provider of equipment. As a result of all the money they made on equipment, they turned a profit in 6 months. This is when things started to take off, and people were able to get gear specifically for the game. -
First National Tournament
The first National Tournament was held during this year. It was held in New Hampshire, and it was international championship. Two of the eight teams were from Canada. They awarded $3000 to the winning team, and $1000 to the runner ups. This created a larger industry for the sport, and started to get more people involved. -
The Autococker
Bud Orr introduced the Autococker, which was an add on kit for the pump gun with the sniper and sniper 2. The autococker became available as a complete gun in 1992. This was a big deal because it started the evolution of better guns being created for paintball players. -
World's Largest Paintball Game
Team Internet was formed as their players prepared for the World Record Game. It was known as the largest paintball game in the world. This really changed the industry because people started forming teams, and professional leagues. As people started forming leagues the interest for paintball became larger and larger, and led us to what we have today. -
World Wide
Paintball playing fields, tournaments, and stores are found in Canada, The U.S, Australia, England, Scotland, Denmark, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Africa, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Venezuela, Israel, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. This was huge because it shows the growth that had happened in the 15 years the game had been around. There was a huge growth before this, and the industry just continued to grow after this happened. -
Updates in Technology
In paintball there is something referred to as a hopper. Which was established in the late 1990’s. This allows more paintballs to be held at once. Circuit boards and solenoids were created to control the firing cycle. A biodegradable, washable paint was also developed. This changed the game of paintball because it made the game easier to play, as well as more competitive. -
Smart Parts
Smart Parts drastically reduced the size and air usage on their tournament marker (The shocker). Creating the backlash from paintball players. Smart Parts was applying for new patents and threatened lawsuits against several companies who had used something Smart Parts patented. This changes the game of paintball because it started the uproar of things changing when it comes to guns, and how much money this industry was actually worth. -
New Gun Advances
The .50 caliber paintball gun is coming. Richmond Italia combined with Smart Parts are getting into the game with a handgun. This led to a different kind of shooting for paintball gunners, and it also created a whole new line of accessories that increased revenue for companies that produced paintball equipment. -
