NES Zapper

NES Zapper in original gray

The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan,^[1] is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on February 18, 1984 (1984-02-18) and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985.^[1][2] The Famicom version of the Zapper, made for the game Wild Gunman, resembled a revolver-style handgun,^[1] but the North American version resembled a futuristic science fiction ray gun with a colour scheme matching the NES. Early versions of the Zapper were a dark gray, but its color was later changed to orange,^[3] as was now required for all "toy guns" under U.S. Federal Regulations.^[4] Although originally included in some configurations of the NES, the Zapper was available for purchase separately.^[5]

The Zapper allows players to aim at the television monitor and shoot various objects such as ducks, clay pigeons, targets, cowboys, or criminals, or other objects.

History and usage

The re-released NES Zapper in orange

The Japanese counterpart to the Zapper, known as the Family Computer Beam Gun, featured a realistic revolver design.

The Zapper was first released in 1985 with the launch of the NES in North America. It came bundled with the NES console, the Robotic Operating Buddy and two games—Duck Hunt and Gyromite.^[6]

The Zapper is used on supported NES games such as Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman. To hit targets on the screen, players point the device by lining up the front and rear sights with the desired target and pulling the trigger. The Zapper could also be used on the title screens of games to move the cursor—done by pointing the device away from the screen and pulling the trigger—or starting the game (pointing at the screen and pulling the trigger).^[7]

When the trigger on the Zapper is pressed, the game causes the entire screen to become black for one frame. Then, on the next frame, the target area is drawn in all white as the rest of the screen remains black. The Zapper detects this change from low light to bright light, as well as at which screen position the change was detected. This is how the game knows which target has been hit.^[8][9][10] After all target areas have been illuminated, the game returns to drawing graphics as usual. The whole process is almost imperceptible to the human eye, although one can notice a slight "flashing" of the image.

For more technical details, see Light gun.

The Games

Games compatible with the NES Zapper:

• The Adventures of Bayou Billy (requires gun and controller)
• Baby Boomer (unlicensed) (gun optional)
• Barker Bill's Trick Shooting
• Chiller (unlicensed) (gun optional)
• Duck Hunt
• Freedom Force
• Gotcha! The Sport!
• Gumshoe
• Gun-Nac
• Hogan's Alley
• Laser Invasion
• The Lone Ranger (gun optional)
• Mechanized Attack
• Operation Wolf (gun optional)
• Shooting Range (requires gun and controller)
• To The Earth
• Track & Field II (Gun compatible)
• Wild Gunman

See also

• Super Scope

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, John (2003), High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2 ed.), McGraw-Hill Professional, p. 379, ISBN 978-0-07223-172-4 
2. ^ Burnham, Van (2001), Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age, 1971–1984, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 375, ISBN 0-262-52420-1 
3. ^ Diskin, Patrick (August 2004), Nintendo Entertainment System Documentation, p. 32, http://nesdev.parodius.com/NESDoc.pdf 
4. ^ Electronic Code of Federal Regulations:
5. ^ Kohler, Chris (2005), Retro Gaming Hacks, O'Reilly Publishing, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-59600-917-5, "...the Zapper light gun was included with most NES packages." 
6. ^ Kent, Steven (2001) [2001], "The Seeds of Competition", The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond- The Story That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World (First ed.), Roseville, California: Prima Publishing, p. 305, ISBN 0-7615-3643-4, "The Nintendo Action Set, which included everything in the Control Deck packaging plus the "Zapper" light gun and the game Duck Hunt, sold for US$149, as did the Master System and gun set, which included the "Light Phaser" and the game Safari Hunt." 
7. ^ NES Zapper Instruction Manual, Nintendo, 1985, US-2 
8. ^ The Straight Dope: In Nintendo's "Duck Hunt," how does the TV know when you've hit a duck?, 11 May 2001, http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2304/in-nintendos-duck-hunt-how-does-the-tv-know-when-youve-hit-a-duck 
9. ^ HowStuffWorks: "How does the light gun for a video game work?", 1 April 2000, http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question273.htm 
10. ^ US 4813682, Okada, Satoru, "Video target control and sensing circuit for photosensitive gun", issued 21 March 1989 

External links

• Converting the NES Zapper into a Snapper (sniper-rifle) - featured on G4's Attack of the Show!
• How does the light gun for a video game work? at HowStuffWorks
• List of NES games supported by the Zapper from MobyGames