NES Zapper, aka Video Shooting Series light gun (光線銃シリーズガン) electronic light gun for NES commercial.
The NES Zapper, also known as the Video Shooting Series light gun (光線銃シリーズガン, Kōsen jū shirīzugan) in Japan, 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, and launched alongside the NES in North America in October 1985.
The Zapper is used on compatible NES games, such as Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman, and Hogan's Alley. Its internal optical sensor allows the player to point at a television set and "shoot" at in-game targets such as ducks, clay pigeons, cowboys, and criminals. Some games also used the Zapper on the title screen to select a mode and start the game.
The Famicom light gun was designed by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada of Nintendo R&D1. The gun's design is based on a revolver. It was based on the light gun toy used in Nintendo Beam Gun toy line, which itself was based on the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Despite its origin, the Famicom light gun is a double-action revolver—it has a moving hammer, which is automatically fired when the trigger is pulled without needing to cock the hammer, although it is still possible to cock hammer regardless.[citation needed] The Famicom light gun was released in Japan for the Famicom on February 18, 1984, made for the game Wild Gunman. It could be purchased separately, or bundled with the game Wild Gunman and a holster.
In North America, it was redesigned from the ground up by Nintendo of America's head designer Lance Barr (who believed that it could resemble a ray gun) as the NES Zapper. It was included in the Nintendo Deluxe Set, a launch bundle released in October 1985 that contained the NES console, the NES Zapper, Robotic Operating Buddy, two controllers and two games—Duck Hunt and Gyromite. The Zapper was also available for purchase separately.
The North American version of the NES Zapper resembled a futuristic science fiction ray gun with a color scheme matching the NES, rather than a revolver like the Famicom version. The design originally released in North America had a dark gray barrel and grip. In 1988, the Federal Toy Gun Law was signed into United States law, requiring that toy guns be visually distinct from real guns in a variety of ways, including color. The next year, the orange NES Zapper was released.
The Famicom light gun connects to the Famicom's expansion port via cable. The NES Zapper connects to one of the NES's controller ports via cable. Due to these controllers using ports that the other system lacks, light guns made for one system are not compatible with the other system.
光線銃シリーズ(こうせんじゅうシリーズ)は、任天堂より発売された光を用いた射撃玩具。考案者はゲーム&ウオッチ等を手掛けた横井軍平。
1984年にファミコン上でガンシューティングゲームを再現するための光線銃型コントローラ「ガン」及び専用ゲームソフトが光線銃シリーズの名で発売された。トリガーを引くとゲーム画面がターゲットの位置のみ白く表示される識別用の画面に切り替わり、銃口のセンサーがこれを感知して命中判定を行う。この識別用画面の表示は一瞬のため、人間の目には画面がちらつく程度にしか認識されない。液晶テレビやワイド画面では作動せず、ブラウン管テレビでしか作動しない。
1985年にはNintendo Entertainment Systemでも発売された。『ダックハント』や光線銃がNES本体に同梱されるバージョンがある。また、任天堂VS.システムの海外版でもこれを使用したタイトルが発売されている。
当時のファミコン最初期のラインナップのうち通常のゲーム(『ドンキーコング』、『マリオブラザーズ』、『ポパイ』など)は、難易度別に初心者向けのGAME Aと上級者向けのGAME Bがスタート時に選択できるが、光線銃シリーズはそれに加えてGAME Cがあり、AやBとは違うルールのゲームを遊べるようになっていた。
光線銃シリーズ対応ソフト
ワイルドガンマン
発売日:1984年2月18日(FC)
ダックハント
発売日:1984年4月21日(FC)
ホーガンズアレイ
発売日:1984年6月12日(FC)