THE EMPIRE
HADO, what is it?
HADO is touted as the next generation in esports, or as it likes to be called, Techno Sports, a mix of the physical and virtual. Most esports, okay probably all esports have a player or team sitting down in a chair, in front of a monitor using their fine motor skills and competing in a video game.
HADO has moved the players and the game to a court and requires you to use gross motor skills.
If you ever grew up watching cartoons or anime like Dragon Ball Z then I know you’ve tried to do the Kamehameha, or at least shoot some Ki blasts from your hands. HADO let’s you do just that, kind of.
In layman terms, HADO is an evolved, modernised version of dodgeball.
How does HADO work?
To be able to work HADO you need a smartphone capable of utilising the AR tech and a head mount to hold that phone in front of your eyes to display the energy balls and shields in the field of play. On your arm you have an armband sensor which will determine your action, charge an energy ball, throw it or create a shield and that’s all you need.
THE GAMEPLAY! GET TO THE GAMEPLAY!
Okay, okay, chill.
On your armband you have four attributes that you can customise, each attribute has 5 points making a total of 20. You are given a certain amount of points that you can put into those attributes. Use them wisely and strategically to suit your play style and take advantage of your enemies weaknesses. You can choose an offensive play style or be a defender and put up shields for your team.
There are two modes, player vs player, which seems to be the most popular and player vs enemy, this mode I know very little about and find little interest in. I’ve come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum.
So, PvP can be 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3, though all competitive games are a 3v3. We’ll get to that soon.
The objective of the game is to have the most points at the end of an 80 second match, if you draw it goes into overtime until a team scores another point. To score a point you throw your energy balls at your opponent, but make sure not to keep throwing as you have limited energy to use until you have to recharge. If you hit an opposing player with an energy ball, one of their 4 “petals” is removed, each player has these 4 petals and once you remove all 4 from a player, your team is awarded a point. Petals are then refreshed once all of them have been removed.
Competitive scene and popularity
You probably haven’t even heard of HADO until I posted this article. I hadn’t heard of HADO until I was shown a video of it only a couple of months ago. Admittedly I thought it looked a bit silly, though that was just the over dramatic video, after seeing it in person I did want to have a go.
If you attended Big Boys Toys this year, like we did, then you may have actually seen the HADO stand and tried it out. If you want to check HADO out or give them your support you can find them at their Twitter @hado_nz or on Facebook at HadoNZ.
It’s not so big with Western audiences, but it’s got a strong foothold in Asia. The competitive scene is so big they have actually held a World Championship tournament in Tokyo for the past few years, and the 2019 World Championship is just under a month away on the 15th of December! If you’re interested it’ll be streamed live on YouTube.
Here’s a video recapping the 2019 HADO Summer Cup.
Looks pretty funny when you’re not watching the screens though
– Hayden
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