Holiday Gift Guide 2013: Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set

Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set

Hasbro

Retail: $19.99

ASIN: B00ARQW0N2

Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 13.3 x 11 inches

Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up

Batteries 3 AAA batteries required.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Product Description:

Take on anyone, anywhere in the Cyber Hoop arena! The hoop connects wirelessly to your mobile device (sold separately) so you can challenge your friends through the app! Prove your dominance in quick play, head-to-head play, dunk contests and more. Watch your most amazing plays again with the automatically created highlight reel, which has commentary and slow-motion replay! You can even share your video highlights and stats with others! There are 5 ways to play and room for up to 4 players, so get your virtual dunk on and dominate with the Cyber Hoop!

Challenge your friends to a virtual dunk contest or other ways to play with the Cyber Hoop! Compete with your friends in real time, even when you're not in the same room! Choose from 5 ways to play for up to 4 players! App records your game or dunk and automatically tracks your stats! Creates a highlight reel with slow-motion replay, commentary and the ability to share it with others! Hoop wirelessly connects to your mobile device! App works with iPhone 4/4S/5, iPod touch 4th or 5th generation or iPad 2/3/4. iPhone 4/4S/5, iPod touch 4th or 5th generation or iPad 2/3/4 required (not included).

Billy's Review:

As kids get older it is harder and harder to find a great Christmas gift for them. I wanted to include at least one kid's item in my Holiday Gift Guide. After some brain storming and internet hopping, I finally came up with a great item to review - the Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set, which Hasbro nicely sent me a product sample to review.

The Nerf brand has been entertaining kids since the late '60s with water guns, foam sports balls, Nerf Blasters and other amazing toys. I have fond memories of owning a Nerf Hoop Set when I was a kid. The small backboard and hoop would slip over the top of a door and you could shoot the small foam basketball at the hoop or run in for slam dunk. I spent countless hours with a few childhood friends playing indoor basketball.

Times have definitely changed, so Hasbro has updated the basketball hoop set with the Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set! Besides the standard backboard, hoop and ball, the set comes with a wireless connectivity, ball, iPhone stand and instructions. Yep, you can now connect your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to the basketball hoop.

What makes this hoop set unique is that it comes with a small box that requires 3 x 1.5V AAA alkaline batteries (not included) which is snapped into the cardboard backboard and will hold the hoop into place. There is also a basket arm that is attached to it. Just like the old versions, there is a door bracket that can be attached to the backboard, which will then slip over the top of a door. There is a free Cyber Hoop App you download to your mobile device. Then there is an on/off app switch on the Cyber Hoop, which the hoop will communicate with the app. It will keep score of your game, plus it can use the camera on your mobile device to record your best moves. If you don't want to use the app, there is a stand alone mode, where all the sound effects are intact.

The Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set is a major improvement compared to the one I had as a kid. Mine was just a simple cardboard backboard, hoop, net and a foam ball. The new version still has a cardboard backboard and net, but everything else has been enhanced. I love the basket arm that keeps counts of the baskets made. Plus, the sound effects sound like a 'live' game on television. I'm not a big fan of apps, but I think it is a neat idea to have one on the hoop, so anybody can record their best moves. At just under $20, the Nerf N-Sports Cyber Hoop Set would make a great gift for anybody 8 years & up and it can even make a thoughtful gift for a college student or an adult who loves basketball.