Light gun
Encyclopedia
A light gun is a pointing device
Pointing device
A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...

 for computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s and a control device
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...

 for arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 and video games
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

.

Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target(s) emit light rather than the gun. The first device of this type, the light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...

, was used on the MIT Whirlwind computer.

The light gun and its ancestor, the light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...

, are now rarely used as pointing devices due largely to the popularity of the mouse and changes in monitor display technology—conventional light guns only work with CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...

 monitors.

Early history

The first light guns appeared in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensing vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

s. It was not long before the technology began appearing in arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 shooting games, beginning with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite
Seeburg Ray-O-Lite
The Seeburg Ray-O-Lite was the first light gun game. It was made in January 1936 by Seeburg. Gameplay involved shooting a flying duck which would then drop when hit.-External links:*...

 in 1936. These early light gun games, like modern laser tag
Laser tag
Laser tag is a team or individual sport or recreational activity where players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device. Infrared-sensitive targets are commonly worn by each player and are sometimes integrated within the arena in...

, used small targets (usually moving) onto which a light-sensing tube was mounted; the player used a gun (usually a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

) that emitted a beam of light when the trigger was pulled. If the beam struck the target, a "hit" was scored.

These games evolved throughout subsequent decades, culminating in Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

's Periscope, the company's first successful game released in 1966, which required the player to target cardboard ships. Periscope was an early electro-mechanical game, and the first arcade game to cost a quarter
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...

 per play. Sega's 1969 game Missile featured electronic sound and a moving film strip to represent the targets on a projection screen, and their 1972 game Killer Shark featured a mounted light gun that shot at targets whose movement and reactions were displayed using back
Rear projection effect
Rear projection is part of many in-camera effects cinematic techniquesin film production for combining foreground performances with pre-filmed backgrounds. It was widely used for many years in driving scenes, or to show other forms of "distant" background motion...

 image projection
Image projector
An image projector is an optical device that projects an image onto a surface, commonly a projection screen.Most projectors creates an image by shining a light through a small transparent image, but some newer types of projectors can project the image directly, by using lasers...

 onto a screen. Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

 released the Beam Gun in 1970 and the Laser Clay Shooting System
Laser Clay Shooting System
The Laser Clay Shooting System was a light gun shooting simulation game created by Nintendo in 1973. The game consisted of an overhead projector which displayed moving targets behind a background; players would fire at the targets with a rifle, in which a mechanism of reflections would determine...

 in 1973, followed in 1974 by the arcade game Wild Gunman
Wild Gunman
is a light gun shooter game created by Nintendo.-Early version:The original version of Wild Gunman was one of Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade games created by Gunpei Yokoi and released in 1974. It consisted of a light gun connected to a 16mm projection screen...

, which used video projection to display the target on the screen. In 1975, Sega released the early co-operative light gun shooters Balloon Gun and Bullet Mark.

Use in video games

The video game light gun is typically modeled on a ballistic
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...

 weapon (usually a pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...

) and is used for targeting objects on a video screen. With force feedback, the light gun can also simulate the recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...

 of the weapon.

Light guns are very popular in arcade games, but had not caught on as well in the home video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

 market until after the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 (NES), Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....

 (SMS), Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 (SNES) systems and Atari XEGS. Nevertheless, many home 'Pong' systems of the 70s included a pistol or gun for shooting simple targets on screen.

Traditional light guns cannot be used on the newer LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

 and plasma screens
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...

, and have problems with projection screen
Projection screen
A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed, as in a movie theater; painted on the wall; or semi-permanent or mobile, as in a conference room...

s.

The following are famous example of light guns:
  • Magnavox Odyssey
    Magnavox Odyssey
    The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years....

     Shooting Gallery  the first gun for a home console was in fact a big rifle, which looked very lifelike and even needed to be "cocked" after each shot
  • Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

    's NES Zapper
    NES Zapper
    The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...

     for the NES, arguably the most popular example of the light gun
  • XG-1
    XG-1
    The XG-1 is the light gun that came bundled with the Atari XEGS that was released in 1987. The XEGS, which stands for "XE Game System", was an Atari 65XE computer reworked cosmetically to give the appearance of a game console. The light gun was bundled to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment...

     for Atari XE-GS
  • Action Max
    Action Max
    Action Max is a console using VHS tapes for games. It was created in 1987 by Worlds of Wonder.The system required its owner to also have a VCR, as the console did not have a way to play tapes itself. Using a light gun players would shoot at the screen. The gaming was strictly point-based and...

    , a console that used VHS tapes for games, solely controlled by a light gun
  • Light Phaser for Sega Master System
  • Super Scope
    Super Scope
    The Super Scope, or Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is the official Super Nintendo light gun. It was released in the European and North American markets, with a limited release in Japan due to a lack of consumer demand...

     for SNES, shaped like a bazooka
  • Menacer
    Menacer
    The Menacer is a lightgun created by Sega for the Mega Drive video game console in 1992, as a response to the Super Scope by Nintendo.The Menacer is made up of three sections which can be disassembled...

     for Sega Mega Drive
  • Peacekeeper Revolver
    Peacekeeper Revolver
    The Peacekeeper Revolver is the only light gun released for the Phillips Cd-i video game console. It was released in 1994, and was bundled with Mad Dog McCree, retailing for $60...

     for Philips CDi (due to design, this can still be used with LCD displays)
  • Sega Lock-On
    Sega Lock-On
    Originally known at VR-SHOOTER, the Sega Lock-On was a little known laser tag game developed by Sega and originally released in 1992. There were three versions of this system made, unofficially called Mark I, Mark II and Voice Command Lock-On. The Mark I and Mark II versions operated the same and...

    , a stand-alone laser tag system
  • Namco
    Namco
    is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

    's GunCon
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

    , GunCon
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

     2 and GunCon
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

     3, first to read the video signal in the accessory (rather than internally in the console) and said to be highly accurate; used for PlayStation
    PlayStation
    The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...

    , PlayStation 2
    PlayStation 2
    The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

     and PlayStation 3
    PlayStation 3
    The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

  • Dreamcast light guns
    Dreamcast light guns
    The Dreamcast video game console had several light guns between the years of 2000 and 2003.The light gun will work with a CRT TV or a CRT VGA monitor in 640x480 mode.-Dreamcast Gun:...

     for Dreamcast
  • The XT-7 from Captain Power, an interactive television show
  • Magnum Light Phaser
    Magnum Light Phaser
    The Magnum Light Phaser is a light gun created in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum computer. A version was also released for the Commodore 64/128. It was Amstrad's last peripheral for the video game console. The Magnum Light Phaser in many ways resembles the Light Phaser, the Sega Master System light gun,...

     for Spectrum / Commodore 64
    Commodore 64
    The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

     / Amstrad CPC
    Amstrad CPC
    The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

  • Stack Light Rifle
    Stack Light Rifle
    The Stack Light Rifle is a light gun that was manufactured by Stack Computer Services and created for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and the Commodore VIC-20. It was released in 1983. The rifle is bundled with three games on tape, High Noon, Shooting Gallery and Grouse Shoot for the Spectrum...

     for Spectrum and Commodore 64
    Commodore 64
    The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

     / VIC-20


There are also light guns for Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 and several other console and arcade systems. Recent light gun video games include Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Time Crisis 4
Time Crisis 4
Time Crisis 4 is the fourth installment in Namco's Time Crisis series. The game introduces new features to the cover-based light gun shooter gameplay engine of its predecessors alongside a new story and roster of characters...

, Virtua Cop 3
Virtua Cop 3
Virtua Cop 3 is the third game from Sega's Virtua Cop franchise.-Background:Virtua Cop 3 is only available in arcades. The game is available in standard and deluxe cabinet formats...

, and The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill is a first-person rail shooter video game developed by Headstrong Games and published by Sega. It is the fifth game developed in the The House of the Dead series, a prequel to the original House of the Dead chronologically and the first in the series to be released...

.

In 2007
2007 in video gaming
-Events:*March 14: Microsoft announces Games for Windows - Live, a version of Xbox Live for the Windows platform. The service launched on May 8.*March 27: Microsoft announces the new "Xbox 360 Elite" stock-keeping unit . The revision comes with a bigger hard drive and the ability to output HDMI...

, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

 released the Wii Zapper
Wii Zapper
The Wii Zapper is a gun shell peripheral for the Wii Remote. The name is a reference to the NES Zapper light gun for the Nintendo Entertainment System...

 for the Nintendo Wii. A peripheral which is actually a plastic shell that houses both the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

 and nunchuk for gun-style video games. While it does not contain any traditional light gun technology, the peripheral makes use of the Wii Remote's built-in infrared tracking system to shoot targets that correspond on-screen. Its name is a reference to the classic NES Zapper
NES Zapper
The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...

 for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

.

Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

's GunCon 3
GunCon
The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

 also uses an infrared optical sensor system similar to the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

.

Design

The "light gun" is named because it uses light as its method of detecting where on screen the user is targeting. The name leads one to believe that the gun itself emits a beam of light, but in fact most light guns actually receive light through a photodiode
Photodiode
A photodiode is a type of photodetector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation.The common, traditional solar cell used to generateelectric solar power is a large area photodiode....

 in the gun barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....

.

There are two versions of this technique that are commonly used, but the concept is the same: when the trigger of the gun is pulled, the screen is blanked out to black, and the diode
Diode
In electronics, a diode is a type of two-terminal electronic component with a nonlinear current–voltage characteristic. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals...

 begins reception. All or part of the screen is painted white in a way that allows the computer to judge where the gun is pointing, based on when the diode detects light. The user of the light gun notices little or nothing, because the period in which the screen is blank is usually only a fraction of a second (see persistence of vision
Persistence of vision
Persistence of vision is the phenomenon of the eye by which an afterimage is thought to persist for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second on the retina....

).

Sequential targets

The first detection method, used by the Zapper, involves drawing each target sequentially in white light after the screen blacks out. The computer knows that if the diode detects light as it is drawing a square (or after the screen refreshes) then, that is the target at which the gun is pointed. Essentially, the diode tells the computer whether or not the player hit something, and for n objects, the sequence of the drawing of the targets tell the computer which target the player hit after 1 + ceil(log2(n)) refreshes (one refresh to determine if any target at all was hit and ceil(log2(n)) to do a binary search for the object that was hit).

An interesting side effect of this is that on poorly designed games, often a player can point the gun at a light bulb
Incandescent light bulb
The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...

, pull the trigger and hit the first target every time. Better games account for this either by detecting if all targets appear to match or by displaying a black screen and verifying that no targets match.

Cathode ray timing

The second method, used by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

's Super Scope
Super Scope
The Super Scope, or Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is the official Super Nintendo light gun. It was released in the European and North American markets, with a limited release in Japan due to a lack of consumer demand...

 and computer light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...

s, is more elaborate and more accurate.

The trick to this method lies in the nature of the cathode ray tube
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...

 inside the video monitor (CRTs were the only affordable TV monitors in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when this method was popularized). The screen is drawn by a scanning electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...

 beam that travels across the screen starting at the top until it hits the end, and then moves down to update the next line. This is done repeatedly until the entire screen is drawn, and appears instantaneous to the human eye as it is done very quickly.

When the player pulls the trigger, the computer (often assisted by the display circuitry) times how long it takes the electron beam to excite the phosphor
Phosphor
A phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...

 at the location at which the gun is pointed. The light gun sends a signal after sensing the sudden small change in brightness of a point on the screen when the electron gun refreshes that spot. The computer then calculates the targeted position based on the monitor's horizontal refresh rate (the fixed amount of time it takes the beam to get from the left to right side of the screen). Either the computer provides a time base for the horizontal refresh rate through the controller's connector (as in the Super Scope), or the gun reads the composite video signal through a T-connector on the A/V cable (as in the GunCon 2
GunCon
The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

). Once the computer knows where the gun is pointed, it can tell through collision detection if it coincides with the target or not.

Many guns of this type (including the Super Scope) ignore red light, as red phosphors have a much slower rate of decay than green or blue phosphors. As a result, some (but not all) games brighten the entire screen somewhat when the trigger is pulled in order to get a more reliable fix on the position.

Display timing is useless with plasma, LCD, and DLP, which refresh all pixels at the same time.

Combined method

Some light guns designed for sequential targeting are not timed precisely enough to get an (X, Y) reading against the video signal, but they can use a combination of the two methods. First the screen is brightened and the response time is measured as in cathode ray timing, but the computer measures only which scanline was hit and not which horizontal pixel was hit. This does not need nearly as fast a timer that pure cathode ray timing uses, on the order of 15 kHz for Y vs. 5 MHz for (X, Y) on a standard resolution display. Then using sequential targets, the game cycles among those targets on the line.

Infrared emitters

A new method was developed to compensate for display technologies other than CRT. It relies on one or several infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

 light emitters placed near the screen, and one IR sensor on the muzzle of the gun. When the trigger is pressed, the gun sends the intensity of the IR beam it detects. Since this intensity depends upon both distance and relative angle to the screen, angle sensors are located in the gun. This way a trigonometric equation system is solved, and the muzzle's 3D position relative to the screen is calculated. Then, by projecting the muzzle on the screen with the measured angles the impact point is determined. An early example of this technology (though not using IR) can be seen in the NES Power Glove Accessory
Power Glove
The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the first peripheral interface controller to recreate human hand movements on a television or computer screen in real time. The Power Glove was not popular and was criticized for its imprecise and difficult-to-use...

, which used three ultrasonic sensors serving the same function as the IR emitters used in some lightguns.

A simpler variant is commonly used in arcades, where there are no angle detectors but 4 IR sensors. However, this can prove inaccurate when shooting from certain distances and angles, since the calculation of angles and 3D position has a larger margin of error.

Other variants include 3 or more emitters with different infrared wavelengths and the same number of sensors. With this method and proper calibration three or more relative angles are obtained, thus not needing angle detectors to position the gun.

Sometimes, the sensors are placed around the screen and the emitter on the gun, but calculations are similar.

The Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

 uses an infrared video camera in the handheld controller, rather than a simple sensor.

This family of methods are used for the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...

, GunCon 3
GunCon
The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

, and modern arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 light gun games.

Image capture

When the user pulls the trigger the screen is replaced for a split-second with a seemingly random display of black and white pixels, or groups of pixels (blocks). The light gun contains a fine-resolution but low pixel count digital camera with a very narrow field of view. With just a handful of the encrypted random dot image pixels captured, the gun converts the small image into a binary array which allows the computer to locate the exact position the gun was pointed at and is compatible with any screen of any size. The size of the screen and distance to shooter is entered into the gun driver software to determine the dimensions of the random blocks/pixels to best allow rendering on the light gun CCD.

Multiplayer

A game that uses more than one gun reads both triggers continuously and then, when one player pulls a gun's trigger, the game reads that gun until it knows which object was hit.

Positional guns

Positional guns are fairly common in video arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...

s. A positional gun is a gun mounted to the cabinet
Arcade cabinet
A video game arcade cabinet, also known as a video arcade machine or video coin-op, is the housing within which a video arcade game's hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the JAMMA wiring standard...

 on a swivel that allows the player to aim the gun. These are often confused with light guns but work quite differently. These guns may not be removed from the cabinet like the optical counterparts, which are tethered and stored in a mounted holster. They are typically more expensive initially but easier to maintain and repair. Games that use positional guns include Silent Scope
Silent Scope
Silent Scope is an arcade game that puts the player in the shoes of a sniper during a series of terrorist incidents. Unlike most first person shooters, the gun for this game is mounted to the machine, requiring players to physically alter their position to shoot...

, the arcade version of Resident Evil Survivor, Space Gun
Space Gun (video game)
is a first-person, shoot 'em up arcade game released by Taito in 1990. It was later distributed for various home games consoles in 1992, and in 2005, it was included as part of the compilation Taito Legends on the PlayStation 2, PC and Xbox...

, Revolution X
Revolution X
Revolution X is a arcade rail shooter game developed and published by Midway, featuring the rock band Aerosmith. The game features gameplay similar to Midway's earlier Terminator 2: Judgment Day...

, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (arcade game)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the name of an arcade game released by WMS Industries in 1991. The game is loosely based on the film of the same name...

. The console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

 ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...

 used light guns.

A positional gun is essentially an analog
Analog stick
An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller; input is based on the position of this protrusion in relation...

 joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...

 that records the position of the gun to determine where the player is aiming on the screen. The gun must be calibrated, which usually happens after powering up. Early examples of a positional gun include Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

's Sea Devil in 1972, Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....

's Attack in 1976 and Cross Fire in 1977, and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

's Battle Shark in 1978. Some games, however, have mounted optical guns, such as Exidy's Crossbow
Crossbow (video game)
Crossbow is a video arcade game released by Exidy in 1983. It was later published by Absolute Entertainment for the Commodore 64, DOS and by Atari for the 2600, 7800 and XE Game System starting in 1987.-Description:...

.

Light gun models

  • Beam Gun - Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

     - 1970
  • Shooting Gallery (game accessory) - Magnavox Odyssey
    Magnavox Odyssey
    The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years....

     - 1972
  • Laser Clay Shooting System
    Laser Clay Shooting System
    The Laser Clay Shooting System was a light gun shooting simulation game created by Nintendo in 1973. The game consisted of an overhead projector which displayed moving targets behind a background; players would fire at the targets with a rifle, in which a mechanism of reflections would determine...

     - Nintendo - 1973
  • Wild Gunman
    Wild Gunman
    is a light gun shooter game created by Nintendo.-Early version:The original version of Wild Gunman was one of Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade games created by Gunpei Yokoi and released in 1974. It consisted of a light gun connected to a 16mm projection screen...

     - Nintendo - 1974
  • Wonder Wizard - GHP (company) - 1976
  • ColorSport VIII
    Colorsport VIII
    The Colorsport VIII is an early, monochromatic television video game system made available to consumers in 1978. It features eight different sport games including a gunshooting game.-External links:***...

     - Granada (company) - 1976
  • GD-1380 - Heathkit
    Heathkit
    Heathkits were products of the Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Michigan. Their products included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and...

     - 1976
  • TV-Sports 801 - Lloyds - 1976
  • Sportsman, Tournament 150, 200, 2000, 2501 - Unisonic - 1976/1976/1977/1977
  • Telstar Ranger, Telstar Arcade, Telstar Marksman - Coleco
    Coleco
    Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...

     - 1977/1977/1978
  • TV Fun Sportsrama
    APF TV Fun
    The APF TV Fun is a series of early Pong clone consoles manufactured by APF Electronics Inc. and built in Japan starting in 1976. The systems were among the first built on the General Instruments 'Pong on a chip', the AY-3-8500, that allowed many manufacturers to compete against the Atari home...

     - APF Electronics - 1977
  • Visio Matic 101 - CIT Alcatel - 1977
  • Model 1199 - Interstate (company) - 1977
  • Markint 6 - Markint - 1977
  • N20 (light gun) - Philips
    Philips
    Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

     - 1977
  • Visiomat 11 - Pizon-Bross - 1977
  • TV Scoreboard
    Tv Scoreboard
    The TV Scoreboard is a Pong-like game console manufactured from 1976 through the early '80s and made by Tandy. Distribution was handled exclusively by Radio Shack. The machines were constructed in Hong Kong. The TV Scoreboard consisted of a left and right player, with dials or paddles on the...

     - Radio Shack
    Radio shack
    Radio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment.-History:In the early days of radio, equipment was experimental and home-built. The first radio transmitters used a noisy spark to generate radio waves and were often housed in a garage or shed. When radio was first...

     - 1977
  • Home T.V. Game - Santron - 1977
  • TV game - Sennheiser
    Sennheiser
    Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG is a private German audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of both consumer and high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephony accessories, and avionics headsets for consumer, professional, and business...

     - 1977
  • 105 - Sportron - 1977
  • 501 - Starex - 1977
  • Mark V-C - Unimex - 1977
  • XK 600B - Ingersoll (company) - 1978
  • Jeu TV TVG-6 - Klevox - 1978
  • OC 5000 Occitane - (SOE)- 1978
  • Videosport - Prinztronic - 1978
  • Color TV game
    Color TV Game
    is a series of home dedicated consoles created by Nintendo. There were five different consoles in the series, all developed and released in Japan.-History:...

     - Sands 1978
  • Telescore - SEB (company) - 1978
  • Sports Centre, Colour TV game 3600 MK III - Granada (company) - 1979
  • Color Multi-Spiel - Universum - 1979
  • NES Zapper
    NES Zapper
    The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...

     - Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

     - 1984
  • Light Phaser - Sega
    Sega
    , usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

     - 1986
  • XG-1
    XG-1
    The XG-1 is the light gun that came bundled with the Atari XEGS that was released in 1987. The XEGS, which stands for "XE Game System", was an Atari 65XE computer reworked cosmetically to give the appearance of a game console. The light gun was bundled to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment...

     - Atari
    Atari
    Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

     (XEGS
    Atari XEGS
    The Atari XE Video Game System is a video game console released by Atari Corporation in 1987. Based on the Atari 65XE computer, the XEGS is compatible with the existing Atari 8-bit computer software library. Additionally, it is able to operate as a stand alone console or full computer with the...

    ) - 1987
  • Action Max
    Action Max
    Action Max is a console using VHS tapes for games. It was created in 1987 by Worlds of Wonder.The system required its owner to also have a VCR, as the console did not have a way to play tapes itself. Using a light gun players would shoot at the screen. The gaming was strictly point-based and...

     - Worlds of Wonder
    Worlds of Wonder (toy company)
    Worlds of Wonder or WoW was a 1980s American toy company, founded by former Atari employees, including Don Kingsborough and Mark Robert Goldberg.Their products included:* Teddy Ruxpin, a story telling bear, in 1985...

     - 1987
  • Laserscope
    Laserscope
    The Konami LaserScope is a head-mounted light gun used with and licensed for the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Konami originally released the peripheral in 1990, in Japan for the Famicom under the name Gun Sight...

     - Konami
    Konami
    is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...

     - 1990
  • Super Scope
    Super Scope
    The Super Scope, or Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is the official Super Nintendo light gun. It was released in the European and North American markets, with a limited release in Japan due to a lack of consumer demand...

     - Nintendo - 1992
  • Menacer
    Menacer
    The Menacer is a lightgun created by Sega for the Mega Drive video game console in 1992, as a response to the Super Scope by Nintendo.The Menacer is made up of three sections which can be disassembled...

     - Sega - 1994
  • Peacekeeper Revolver
    Peacekeeper Revolver
    The Peacekeeper Revolver is the only light gun released for the Phillips Cd-i video game console. It was released in 1994, and was bundled with Mad Dog McCree, retailing for $60...

     - Phillips CD-i - 1994
  • GunCon
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

     - Namco
    Namco
    is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

     - 1997
  • Dreamcast Light Guns
    Dreamcast light guns
    The Dreamcast video game console had several light guns between the years of 2000 and 2003.The light gun will work with a CRT TV or a CRT VGA monitor in 640x480 mode.-Dreamcast Gun:...

     - Sega
    Sega
    , usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

     - 2000-2003
  • GunCon 2
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

     - Namco
    Namco
    is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

     - 2001
  • Topgun (light gun) - EMS (company) - 2005
  • Topgun II - EMS (company) - 2007
  • GunCon 3
    GunCon
    The Guncon , known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.-Background:...

     - Namco
    Namco
    is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

     - 2007
  • Nerf N-Strike
    Nerf N-Strike
    Nerf N-Strike is a video game developed by EA Salt Lake and published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS and Wii. The game is a rail shooter and focuses on the NERF line of toy dart blasters. It has an optional unique blaster for gameplay called the Nerf Switch Shot EX-3, that can either be...

     - Nerf
    Nerf
    Nerf is a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. The acronym NERF stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, but there are also several different types of Nerf toys, such as balls for sports like football,...

    - 2008
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK