{{short description|Video game pointing device}} {{About|the computer peripheral|the artillery|L118 light gun|the air traffic light gun|aviation light signals}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2018}} [[File:Nintendo-Entertainment-System-NES-Zapper-Orange-L.jpg|thumb|NES Zapper]] A '''light gun''' is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol.
==Early history== {{main|Light gun shooter}} The first light guns were produced in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensing vacuum tubes. In 1936, the technology was introduced in arcade shooting games, beginning with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cowan|first=Michael|date=2018|title=Interactive media and imperial subjects: Excavating the cinematic shooting gallery|url=https://mediarep.org/handle/doc/4207|journal=NECSUS. European Journal of Media Studies|volume=7|issue=1|pages=17–44|doi=10.25969/mediarep/3438}}</ref>
These games evolved throughout subsequent decades, culminating in Sega's ''Periscope'', released in 1966 as the company's first successful game, which requires the player to target cardboard ships.<ref>Ashcraft, Brian, (2008) ''Arcade Mania! The Turbo Charged World of Japan's Game Centers'', p. 133, Kodansha International</ref> ''Periscope'' is an early electro-mechanical game,<ref>{{KLOV game|12985|Periscope}}</ref> and the first arcade game to cost one quarter per play.<ref>Steven L. Kent (2000), ''The First Quarter: A 25-Year History of Video Games'', p. 83, BWD Press, {{ISBN|0-9704755-0-0}}</ref> Sega's 1969 game ''Missile'' features electronic sound and a moving film strip to represent the targets on a projection screen,<ref>{{KLOV game|10600|Missile}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{KLOV game|10821|Killer Shark}}</ref> Nintendo released the Beam Gun in 1970 and the Laser Clay Shooting System in 1973,<ref>[http://nintendoland.com/History/Hist2.php History of Nintendo – Toys & Arcades (1969–1982)] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100329080322/http://nintendoland.com/History/Hist2.php archived]), Nintendo Land</ref> followed in 1974 by the arcade game ''Wild Gunman'', which uses film projection to display the target on the screen.<ref>{{KLOV game|10432|Wild Gunman (1974)}}</ref> In 1975, Sega released the early co-operative light gun shooters ''Balloon Gun''<ref>{{KLOV game|12795|Balloon Gun}}</ref> and ''Bullet Mark''.<ref>{{KLOV game|12685|Bullet Mark}}</ref>
===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 <var>n</var> objects, the sequence of the drawing of the targets tell the computer which target the player hit after 1 + ceil(log<sub>2</sub>(<var>n</var>)) refreshes (one refresh to determine if any target at all was hit and ceil(log<sub>2</sub>(<var>n</var>)) to do a binary search for the object that was hit).<ref name="DuckFeedZapper">{{cite web|url=https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/classes/2011/4840/reports/Duck-Hunt.pdf|title=DuckFeed: An Embedded Take on Duck Hunt Columbia University, Spring 2011 CSEE 4840: Embedded System Design|last1=Teger|first1=Daniel|last2=Rogowski|first2=Scott|date=May 13, 2011|page=5|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623220601/http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/classes/2011/4840/reports/Duck-Hunt.pdf|archive-date=June 23, 2018|access-date=Jan 21, 2015|last3=Dinerman|first3=Julie|last4=Ramkishun|first4=Kevin}}</ref>
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.<ref name="DuckFeedZapper"/>
===Infrared emitters=== The Wii Remote uses an infrared video camera in the handheld controller, rather than a simple sensor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiimote#IR_Camera |title=Wiimote |publisher=WiiBrew |date=2011-04-26 |access-date=2011-06-01}}</ref> Wesley Yin-Poole stated that the Wii Remote was not as accurate as a traditional light gun.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yin-Poole|first1=Wesley|title=Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles Review|url=https://www.videogamer.com/reviews/resident-evil-umbrella-chronicles-review|website=Video Gamer|language=en|date=January 6, 2008|accessdate=February 11, 2022}}</ref>
GunCon 3 is an infrared light gun used for the PlayStation 3 port of ''Time Crisis 4''.<ref>{{cite web |first=Brian | last=Ashcraft |url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/reload/how-the-time-crisis-4-light-gun-works-268674.php |title=Reload: How The Time Crisis 4 Light Gun Works |publisher=Kotaku.com |date=2007-06-13 |access-date=2011-06-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212062339/http://kotaku.com/gaming/reload/how-the-time-crisis-4-light-gun-works-268674.php |archive-date=2010-02-12 }}</ref>
===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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sinden Lightgun |url=https://lightgungamer.com/sinden-lightgun/ |website=Lightgun Gamer |date=12 March 2019 |access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref>
==Positional gun== {{anchor|Positional guns}} The positional gun is common in video arcades, as a non-optical alternative to a light gun. The positional gun is permanently mounted on a swivel on the cabinet, 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'',<ref>{{KLOV game|9544|Silent Scope}}</ref> the arcade version of ''Resident Evil Survivor 2'', ''Space Gun'',<ref>{{KLOV game|9659|Space Gun}}</ref> ''Revolution X'',<ref>{{KLOV game|9308|Revolution X}}</ref> and ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. Console conversions may use light guns.
A positional gun is essentially an analog joystick that records the position of the gun to determine the player's aim on the screen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Creating Games: Mechanics, Content, and Technology|author=Morgan McGuire & Odest Chadwicke Jenkins|publisher=A K Peters, Ltd.|year=2009|isbn=978-1-56881-305-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0G3PKwgvizEC|access-date=2011-04-03|page=408|quote=Light guns, such as the NES Zapper or those used in the ''House of the Dead'' series, are distinctly different from positional guns used by arcade games such as SEGA's Gunblade NY. ... Light guns differ from positional guns, such as in Gunblade NY (bottom), that are essentially analog joysticks. ... Positional guns are essentially analog sticks mounted in a fixed location with respect to the screen. Light guns, in contrast, have no fixed a priori relationship with a display.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Advances in Multimedia Information Processing-PCM 2005: 6th Pacific-Rim Conference on Multimedia, Jeju Island, Korea|date=November 13–16, 2005|author=Yo-Sung Ho & Hyoung Joong Kim|publisher=Springer Science & Business|isbn=3-540-30040-6|page=688|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-KQDQ0BtG4C&pg=PA688|access-date=2011-04-03|quote=The two routes to conventional gun control are light guns and positional guns. Light guns are the most common for video game systems of any type. They work optically with screen and do not keep track of location on the screen until the gun is fired. When the gun is fired, the screen blanks for a moment, and the optics in the gun register where on the screen the gun is aimed. That information is sent to the computer, which registers the shot. ... Positional guns are mounted stationary on the arcade cabinet with the ability to aim left/right and up/down. They function much like joysticks, which maintain a known location on screen at all times and register the current location when fired.}}</ref> The gun must be calibrated, which usually happens after powering up. Early examples of a positional gun include Sega's ''Sea Devil'' in 1972,<ref>{{KLOV game|10632|Sea Devil}}</ref> Taito's ''Attack'' in 1976,<ref>{{KLOV game|6971|Attack}}</ref> and ''Cross Fire'' in 1977,<ref>{{KLOV game|7443|Cross Fire}}</ref> and Nintendo's ''Battle Shark'' in 1978.<ref>{{KLOV game|7050|Battle Shark}}</ref>
==Models== {{Missing information|section|the main platform of each model|date=November 2025}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *Beam Gun – Nintendo – 1970 *Shooting Gallery – Magnavox Odyssey – 1972 *Laser Clay Shooting System – Nintendo – 1973 *''Qwak!'' – Atari – 1974 *Wonder Wizard – General Home Products – 1976 *ColorSport VIII – Granada – 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 – 1977/1977/1978 *TV Fun Sportsrama – APF Electronics – 1977 *TV Master 6 – Binatone – 1977?<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=1039|title=Binatone TV Master MK 6 (model n° 01 / 4907)|website=www.old-computers.com|access-date=2015-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004061304/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=1039|archive-date=2017-10-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Visio Matic 101 – CIT Alcatel – 1977 *Model 1199 – Interstate – 1977 *Markint 6 – Markint – 1977 *N20 – Philips – 1977 *Visiomat 11 – Pizon-Bross – 1977 *TV Scoreboard – RadioShack – 1977 *Home T.V. Game – Santron – 1977 *TV game – 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 – 1978 *Sports Centre, Colour TV game 3600 MK III – Granada plc – 1979 *Color Multi-Spiel – Universum – 1979 *NES Zapper – Nintendo – 1984 *Light Phaser – Sega – 1986 *Magnum Light Phaser - ZX Spectrum - 1987 *XG-1 – Atari (XEGS) – 1987 *Action Max – Worlds of Wonder – 1987 *"Plus-X" Terminator Laser - ASCII - 1989 *LaserScope – Konami – 1990 *Super Scope – Nintendo – 1992 *Menacer – Sega – 1994 *Gamegun - 3DO Interactive Multiplayer *Peacekeeper Revolver – Philips CD-i – 1994 *GunCon (for the PlayStation) – Namco – 1997 *Stunner - Sega Saturn − 1995 *Dreamcast Light Guns – Sega – 2000–2003 *GunCon 2 (for the PlayStation 2) – Namco – 2001 *Pulse Cannon – Pelican – 2001 *Topgun – EMS – 2005 *Topgun II – EMS – 2007 *GunCon 3 (for the PlayStation 3) – Namco – 2008 *Integrated Pistol – MoProUsa – 2008 *PSVR AIM Controller – Sony Computer Entertainment - 2017 *GUN4IR Lightguns – 2019<ref>{{cite web|url=https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=161189.0|title=GUN4IR - The Ultimate 4 Points Lightgun System|website=forum.arcadecontrols.com|access-date=2025-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029130639/https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=161189.0|archive-date=2019-10-29|url-status=live}}</ref> *MARS LightGun - PDP - 2019 *Sinden Light Gun – 2020 *Retro Shooter Lightguns - 2023 {{div col end}}
==See also== * Light gun shooter * List of light gun games * Laser pistol (sport)
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Game controllers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Gun}} Category:Light guns Category:American inventions