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A light gun is a
pointing device A pointing device is a human interface device that allows a user to input spatial (i.e., continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. CAD systems and graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow the user to control and provide data to ...
for
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
s and a control device for arcade and
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
, typically shaped to resemble a
pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...
.


Early history

The first light guns were produced in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensing
vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...
s. In 1936, the technology was introduced in arcade shooting games, beginning with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite. These games evolved throughout subsequent decades, culminating in
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
's ''
Periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
'', released in 1966 as the company's first successful game, which requires the player to target cardboard ships. ''Periscope'' is an early electro-mechanical game, and the first arcade game to cost one quarter per play. Sega's 1969 game ''Missile'' features electronic sound and a moving film strip to represent the targets on a projection screen, and its 1972 game ''Killer Shark'' features a mounted light gun with targets whose movement and reactions are displayed using back image projection onto a screen.
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
released the Beam Gun in 1970 and the Laser Clay Shooting System in 1973, followed in 1974 by the arcade game '' Wild Gunman'', which uses film projection to display the target on the screen. In 1975, Sega released the early
co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
light gun shooters ''Balloon Gun'' and ''Bullet Mark''.


Sequential targets

The first detection method, used by the NES 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 In computer science, binary search, also known as half-interval search, logarithmic search, or binary chop, is a search algorithm that finds the position of a target value within a sorted array. Binary search compares the target value to the ...
for the object that was hit). A side effect of this is that in some games, a player can point the gun at a light bulb or other bright light source, pull the trigger, and cause the system to falsely detect a hit on the first target every time. Some 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.


Infrared emitters

The Wii Remote uses an infrared video camera in the handheld controller, rather than a simple sensor. Wesley Yin-Poole stated that the Wii Remote was not as accurate as a traditional light gun. GunCon 3 is an infrared gun.


Rectangular positioning

Rectangular positioning is similar to image capture, except it disregards any on-screen details and only determines the rectangular outline of the game screen. By determining the size and distortion of the rectangle outline of the screen, it is possible to calculate where exactly the light gun is pointing. This method was introduced by the Sinden Lightgun.


Positional gun

The positional gun is common in
video arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such a ...
s, as a non-optical alternative to a light gun. The positional gun is permanently mounted on a swivel on the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
, as an analog joystick for aiming crosshairs onscreen. This is typically more expensive initially but easier to maintain and repair. Positional gun games include '' Silent Scope'', the arcade version of '' Resident Evil Survivor 2'', '' Space Gun'', '' Revolution X'', and '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. Console conversions may use light guns. A positional gun is essentially an analog
joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, 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. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
that records the position of the gun to determine the player's aim on the screen. The gun must be calibrated, which usually happens after powering up. Early examples of a positional gun include
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
's '' Sea Devil'' in 1972,
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...
's '' Attack'' in 1976, and '' Cross Fire'' in 1977, and
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
's '' Battle Shark'' in 1978.


Models

*Oscilloscope Light Gun –
Braun Braun is a common surname, originating from the German word for the color brown. The name is the 22nd most common family name in Germany. Many German emigrants to the United States also changed their name to ''Brown'' (''see Brown (surname)''). ...
– 1947 *Beam Gun –
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
– 1970 *
Shooting Gallery Shooting gallery may refer to: Firearms and amusements *Shooting gallery (carnival game), a facility for shooting live firearms or for shooting recreational guns within amusement parks, arcades, carnivals, or fairgrounds * Shooting range, is a ...
Magnavox Odyssey – 1972 * Laser Clay Shooting System – Nintendo – 1973 *'' Qwak!'' –
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, Ca ...
– 1974 * Wonder Wizard – General Home Products – 1976 *ColorSport VIII –
Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...
– 1976 *GD-1380 – Heathkit – 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 Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consol ...
– 1977/1977/1978 * TV Fun Sportsrama – APF Electronics – 1977 *TV Master 6 – Binatone – 1977? *Visio Matic 101 – CIT Alcatel – 1977 *Model 1199 – Interstate – 1977 *Markint 6 – Markint – 1977 *N20 –
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
– 1977 *Visiomat 11 – Pizon-Bross – 1977 *
TV Scoreboard The TV Scoreboard (sometimes called RadioShack TV Scoreboard) is a Pong-like dedicated home video game console manufactured in Hong Kong from 1976 through the early '80s and made by Tandy. Distribution was handled exclusively by RadioShack. Th ...
RadioShack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
– 1977 *Home T.V. Game – Santron – 1977 *
TV game A handheld TV game or plug and play game is an integrated home video game console and game controller, usually battery powered, which connects directly to a television. The game software is built directly into the unit, which is typically desig ...
Sennheiser – 1977 *105 – Sportron – 1977 *501 – Starex – 1977 *Mark V-C – Unimex – 1977 *XK 600B – Ingersoll – 1978 *Jeu TV TVG-6 – Klevox – 1978 *OC 5000 Occitane – Société Occitane d'Electronique – 1978 *Videosport – Prinztronic – 1978 *Color TV game – Sands 1978 *Telescore –
Groupe SEB Groupe SEB (''Société d'Emboutissage de Bourgogne'') is a large French consortium that produces small appliances, and it is the world's largest manufacturer of cookware. Notable brand names associated with Groupe SEB include All-Clad, IMUSA ...
– 1978 *Sports Centre, Colour TV game 3600 MK III – Granada plc – 1979 *Color Multi-Spiel – Universum – 1979 * NES Zapper
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
– 1984 *'' Wild Gunman'' –
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
– 1984 * Light Phaser
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
– 1986 * Magnum Light Phaser -
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
- 1987 * XG-1
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, Ca ...
( XEGS) – 1987 * Action MaxWorlds of Wonder – 1987 *"Plus-X" Terminator Laser -
ASCII ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because ...
- 1989 * LaserScope
Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...
– 1990 *
Super Scope The Super Scope, known as the Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is a first party light gun peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The successor to the NES Zapper, the Super Scope was released in North America and the ...
– Nintendo – 1992 * Menacer – Sega – 1994 *
Gamegun The Gamegun (styled GAMEGUN on its packaging) is the only light gun released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer video game console. It was released in 1994 by American Laser Games, developers of full motion video-based shooter games. The Gamegun ...
- 3DO Interactive Multiplayer *
Peacekeeper Revolver The Peacekeeper Revolver is the light gun released for the Philips CD-i multimedia system. It was released in 1994 and was bundled with ''Mad Dog McCree'', retailing for $60 ( USD). The gun required manual calibration, accomplished via menu opti ...
Philips CD-i – 1994 * GunCon
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
– 1997 *Stunner -
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the su ...
− 1995 * Dreamcast Light Guns
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
– 2000–2003 * GunCon 2
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
– 2001 *Topgun – EMS – 2005 *Topgun II – EMS – 2007 * GunCon 3
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
– 2008 *Integrated Pistol – MoProUsa – 2008 *
PSVR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 a ...
AIM Controller – Sony Computer Entertainment - 2017


See also

* Light gun shooter * List of light gun games


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Gun American inventions