

How the Gun on the Original Duck Hunt Game Worked - aresant
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/12/how-the-gun-on-the-original-duck-hunt-game-worked/

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kree10
A friend had what I think was a Telstar Marksman in the late 70s. It was a
console that had the usual Pong-like games built-in, and also came with a
light gun for a target shooting game. It didn't take long to figure out you
could "shoot" the ball in all the games, even the supposedly non-shooting
ones. It was a fun way to annoy your friends.

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larrik
I always wondered why a box flashes around the ducks whenever I took a shot.
Now I know.

Although I certainly perceived it every time, not just when there were
multiple targets (which is what the article claims). I don't recall perceiving
the black frame, though.

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Fargren
This is related to the TV refresh rates. The system was designed for TVs that
refreshed 30 times per second, the standard in japan. However the standard in
either USA or Europe (I don't remember which) was 24 refreshes per second.
This led to the flash of the screen being visible in some TVs

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InclinedPlane
Japan and the US used NTSC at 30 frames per second, much of the rest of the
world used PAL or SECAM at 25 frames per second.

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JoeAltmaier
Now its simpler I believe. The screen is scanned by an electron beam, the gun
senses the bright pulse when the beam passes the point its focused on, the
game correlates pulse to screen position.

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jcl
This is how the GunCon (Time Crisis) gun worked -- comparing the observed beam
refresh with a feed of the video signal.

Unfortunately, this method requires a CRT, so these guns don't work with LCD
or plasma displays. That's why modern light guns, like the GunCon 3, use a
Wii-like system that triangulates position based on infrared LEDs attached to
the display.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_gun#Cathode_ray_timing>

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xentronium
AVGN made a great video on light guns and other NES accessories.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBMscW_dVg> \-- I believe there was another
part about power glove.

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ryanb
I always wondered about this as a kid. I'm surprised by how simple it is.

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shrikant
Anyone else felt like punching the smug SOB (heh) grinning dog that would pop
up every now and then?

