The game of paintball is played by millions of men and women of all ages and lifestyles. Whether homemakers or high school students, professional athletes or retirees, everyone who plays has one thing in common: an adventurous spirit and love of competition.
Players use a marker/gun to tag other players by shooting them with the capsules called “paintballs”, which contain non-toxic water-soluble dye and feature a gelatin outer shell. The tagged players are eliminated from the game. The particular goals of the games may vary, but are typically centered around territory control or event-specific objectives such as capturing the flag.
Rules governing hit validity vary from field to field but generally a player is considered hit if the paintball breaks and leaves a solid mark the size of a US quarter or larger on their clothing or equipment. Some fields and tournaments don’t count hits on guns or pod packs, for example. Many also exclude significant splatter from the hit category.
The year 1989 sees the introduction of two products that are destined to change the face of the sport. The first is WDP’s Hyperball, a small paintball field using ribbed, large diameter irrigation pipes as bunkers to promote fast aggressive play and make the sport more spectator friendly. Later in the year, Sat Cong Village (later SC Village) introduces the first arena-based “concept field” that utilizes brightly painted pallets and wood structures as artificial bunkers and features bleacher seating. The new field design leads to a rapid shift in the style of paintball played at that level. The year also sees the debut of the first Viewloader paintball hopper, increasing the capacity of players’ weapons to allow more shots per minute and to eliminate the need for frequent reloading.