NES Zapper in original gray

The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan,^[1] 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 (1984-02-18) and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985.^[1][2] The Famicom version of the Zapper, made for the game Wild Gunman, resembled a revolver-style handgun,^[1] but the North American version resembled a futuristic science fiction ray gun with a color scheme matching the NES. Early versions of the Zapper were a dark gray, but later it was changed to orange^{[3][dubious – discuss]} Although originally included in some configurations of the NES, the Zapper was available for purchase separately.^[4]

The Zapper allows players to aim at the television set display and shoot various objects such as ducks, clay pigeons, targets, cowboys, criminals or other objects.

History and usage [edit]

This section requires expansion with: Background on development. (January 2011)

The re-released NES Zapper in orange

The Zapper was first released in 1985 with the launch of the NES in North America. It came bundled with the NES console, the Robotic Operating Buddy and two games—Duck Hunt and Gyromite.^[5]

The Zapper is used on supported NES games such as Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman. To hit targets on the screen, players point the device by lining up the front and rear sights with the desired target and pulling the trigger. The Zapper could also be used on the title screens of games to move the cursor—done by pointing the device away from the screen and pulling the trigger—or starting the game (pointing at the screen and pulling the trigger).^[6]

When the trigger on the Zapper is pressed, the game causes the entire screen to become black for one frame. Then, on the next frame, the target area is drawn in all white as the rest of the screen remains black. The Zapper detects this change from low light to bright light, as well as at which screen position the change was detected. This is how the game knows which target has been hit. Although the Zapper just detects light, it can only be used on CRT displays. It will not work on LCDs, plasma displays or other flat panel displays due to display lag. A known glitch about the zapper is you can get a perfect hit score every time in some poorly programmed games by simply pointing the gun right next to and into a light bulb.^[7][8][9] It was also possible to tweak the brightness and contrast on some CRT televisions in such a manner that a hit was detected no matter where you aimed. After all target areas have been illuminated, the game returns to drawing graphics as usual. The whole process is almost imperceptible to the human eye, although one can notice a slight "flashing" of the image.

Games [edit]

Games compatible with the NES Zapper:

In Popular Culture [edit]

In the 1989 animated series Captain N: The Game Master, the main character Kevin Keene uses the reissued orange NES Zapper as a weapon during his time in Videoland (which you can plainly see while watching the show due to its bright color). The gun fires laser blasts which are used to destroy the enemies he encounters. It also had a freeze-ray option which fires off Tetris-shaped blocks of ice that encircle and trap foes inside a cube of ice.

Raul Panther of "The Protomen" usually has an NES Zapper in a belt holster while on stage.

Artist Kent Sheely is known for using Photoshop to replace pistols in film stills with NES Zappers.

See also [edit]

• Super Scope

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: NES Zapper

• Converting the NES Zapper into a Snapper (sniper-rifle) - featured on G4's Attack of the Show!
• How does the light gun for a video game work? at HowStuffWorks
• List of NES games supported by the Zapper from MobyGames
• The Way Games Work - NES Zapper Video from RetrowareTV.com