Hardware
The XG-1 is a specialized light pen. Generic light pen support was built into the Atari 8-bit home computer family since its 1979 launch. The ''Atari 400/800 Hardware Technical Reference'' recommends a calibration procedure each time a light pen is used, so that the software can compensate for this offset for maximal accuracy. ''Bug Hunt'' and ''Barnyard Blaster'' for the XEGS each have unique hard-coded values. A reddish-orange version of the gun was planned for the 2600 and 7800 but was never released.Games
''Sentinel'' is the only game released for the gun on the 2600 console, and ''Shooting Arcade'' was planned but never released.Reception
For ''Antic'' magazine in August 1988, Matthew Ratcliff criticized the poor horizontal accuracy of the XG-1 light gun compared to the NES Zapper or the Sega Light Phaser. In December 1988, he said that, to switch between light gun and joystick games, active XEGS gamers are frustrated by the need to continually re-plug their devices and power cycle the system, due to the system's lack of autodetection, which is complicated by its awkwardly downward slanting ports. He said "''Barnyard Blaster'' and ''Bug Hunt'' could have been just a bit smarter" by including the simple routine that the magazine was forced to write and publish as a workaround. In the August 1989 issue of ''A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing'' magazine, Matthew Ratcliff wrote a front page feature on programming the XG-1 in users' custom software, including his program allowing the light gun to be used to make menu selections. He gave the XG-1 a positive review, calling it an "exciting alternative to joysticks". He said it "has much more 'noise' in the horizontal direction than vertical" due to hardware limitations. The 2014 book ''Vintage Game Consoles'' also criticized its accuracy compared to Nintendo and Sega, but says it became collectible as Atari's only light gun.See also
*References
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