Greg Hastings

Greg Hastings, commonly known as Greg "Red" Hastings, is an American professional paintball player, equipment designer and video game personality. He is best known for founding Redz Comfort Gear, developing the R7 Paintball Gear brand and collaborating on the Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball video game series.[1][2][3]

Hastings competed with several professional tournament teams, including Ground Zero and Sacramento XSV. He subsequently became involved in recreational and scenario paintball events and the development of video games based on the sport.[1][4][5]

Early paintball career

Hastings was introduced to paintball in 1987 during a visit to Rhode Island with a friend, Lou Tomasso.[2]

After joining the United States Navy in 1988, he began playing regularly at Borderland Paintball in Southern California, where he used a PMI-1 pump-action marker.

Hastings continued playing while serving in the Navy, including during periods stationed in Connecticut.

Following his military service, he attended a tryout for the Free Agents, a Delaware-based 10-player woodland tournament team.

He subsequently competed with several teams in the north-eastern United States before entering professional tournament paintball.[1]

Professional tournament career

During the 1990s and 2000s, Hastings competed with several American professional teams.

His published career history identifies affiliations with the Secret Agents, Turbulence, Bob Long's Ironmen, Ground Zero Gold, Ground Zero International, Redz Factory, Brimstone Smoke and Sacramento XSV, among others.[1]

Ground Zero

Hastings competed with Ground Zero Gold, part of the New York-based Ground Zero tournament organisation.

He was listed on the team's published National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) professional roster in 2001, alongside Steve Cusano, Carmen Borgia, Tim Furlong, Julio Rivera, Joe Latronico, Chris DiPalmo, Alex Lundqvist, Pete Utschig and Scott Santos.[4]

The Ground Zero organisation fielded multiple professional and amateur squads during the period, competing in national and international tournaments.

Sacramento XSV

Hastings subsequently joined Sacramento XSV, also known as Excessive.

He appeared on the team's published roster for the Smart Parts Paintball World Championships held in May 2006.

The roster listed him wearing jersey number 07, alongside players including Nicky Cuba, Jon Richardson, Thomas Taylor, Neil Eberle, Rusty Glaze and Scott Kemp.[5]

Hastings was also listed among XSV's players for the 2006 NPPL Orange County Commander's Cup.[6]

Later competition

Hastings continued participating in tournament paintball following his involvement with XSV.

At the 2007 PSP World Cup, he competed in the Masters division with EGO Maniacs, a team that also included Ed Poorman, Steve Rabackoff and Ron Kilbourne.

EGO Maniacs won the division, defeating the Wild Bunch 5–1 in the final.[7]

Hastings subsequently participated in recreational, scenario and classic-format paintball events.

His biographical profile published by Inception Designs documents his participation in the 2018 Iron City Classic with Ground Zero.[1]

Paintball equipment industry

Redz Comfort Gear

Hastings founded Redz Comfort Gear during the 1990s.

The company became associated with the Redz Comfort Pack, an ammunition harness combining a supportive waist belt with equipment for carrying paintball pods.

According to Hastings' biographical account, he developed the original concept while working as a private investigator following his military service.[1]

The design was intended to improve the comfort and stability of carrying multiple paintball pods during tournament competition.

Redz expanded through tournament sponsorships, promotional activities and equipment sales.

At the 1999 Skyball tournament in Toronto, Hastings offered sponsorship arrangements to successful teams in exchange for promotional photographs and advertising exposure.

Contemporary reporting by WARPIG credited these activities with helping establish Redz as a recognised equipment brand.[3]

Hastings subsequently sold his interest in Redz.

R7 Paintball Gear

Following his departure from Redz, Hastings established R7 Paintball Gear, also known as R7 USA.

The name incorporated his nickname, "Red", and his tournament jersey number, 7.[3]

By August 2005, the company was producing the R7 Modular Pack System, an interchangeable ammunition harness consisting of a padded waist belt and detachable pod-carrying sections.

The product was reviewed by Bill Mills for WARPIG in August 2005.[3]

R7 subsequently developed other paintball accessories, including camera mounting equipment.

In April 2012, the company announced a partnership with Replay XD to develop paintball-specific action camera mounting systems.[8]

Paintball video games

Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball

Hastings became associated with the video game industry through his collaboration with Activision Value Publishing and developer WXP.

In September 2004, Activision announced Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball for the original Microsoft Xbox.

The game incorporated professional tournament players, licensed equipment, actual playing fields and competitive paintball formats.

Hastings contributed to its development and promotion, alongside other professional players.[9]

The game was released in North America on 16 November 2004.

Following its commercial reception, Activision developed Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D, released in October 2005.

The follow-up introduced additional gameplay features, including a field editor, breakout planning and expanded multiplayer options.[10]

Greg Hastings Paintball 2

Hastings continued his involvement in the series through Greg Hastings Paintball 2, developed by Super X Studios and published by Majesco Entertainment.

The game was released for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in September 2010, with a PlayStation 3 version following in 2011.

It introduced additional competition formats, including tournament woodsball, alongside traditional speedball and recreational paintball.[11]

Hastings participated in its development and promotional activities, including the 2010 Tour of Duty campaign, which involved appearances at paintball events.[12]

Fields of Battle

Hastings subsequently collaborated with Super X Studios on Greg Hastings Paintball Presents: Fields of Battle, a paintball game developed for mobile devices.

The game was released for iOS in 2013, followed by Android availability later that year.

It was subsequently made available for other platforms, including Windows computers.[13]

A sequel, Fields of Battle 2, was released for iOS and Android on 11 November 2022.[14]

Scenario paintball and promotion

Alongside his tournament career and equipment businesses, Hastings became involved in the promotion of recreational and scenario paintball.

He participated in large-scale scenario games and made appearances at paintball facilities and events.

His activities included the Tour of Duty, which combined paintball appearances with promotion of his video games and equipment brands.[1][12]

Hastings has also maintained commercial relationships with equipment manufacturers, including Inception Designs, which published a biographical account of his career and involvement in classic mechanical paintball.[1]

References

External links