WHAT A PIECE OF... Antiquated Equipment: NES Zapper

I have seen this issue pop up in a few places, and even appear on eBay with people selling their “broken” NES Zapper guns. But guess what? Your gun probably isn’t actually broken.

The main problem is the NES Zapper was made 25 years ago, with the technology of the day, particularly CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Televisions. Plasma and LCD televisions just don’t display an image in the same way. It might be clearer and cleaner and prettier, but it is never truly black and white and has a refresh rate that the NES just doesn’t recognize.

Here is basically what happens when you play a game with the NES Zapper:

1. You aim and pull the trigger

2. This causes the NES to change one frame of the screen to black (background) and white (target.)

3. If the phototransistor in the zapper gun detects the black (or nothing at all) in that single frame it registers a “miss.” If it detects white in that single frame, it registers a “hit.”

4. The dog holds up a dead bird and peppy music plays if you hit your target, the dog laughs at you if you don’t. (Had to throw a Duck Hunt reference in there.)

Can you modify the gun to register hits and misses on an LCD, Plasma or anything else? Probably not. Can you change the settings of your TV to make the NES register hits and misses? No. Get used to it. The simple answer is if you want to play zapper games, you need a CRT television.

And for those of you who are holding your breath, hoping that the SNES’s Super Scope will work on your flat screen, Stop holding your breath before you pass out. Guess what? The SNES Super Scope uses the exact same technology as the Zapper. So if you don’t have an old TV, then no Bazooka Blitzkrieg for you.

So what is the good news? EVERYONE wants a flat screen TV these days. No one wants their bulky old CRT anymore. This means there are MILLIONS of them going unused. They are in peoples’ garages and basements, in thrift stores and flea markets. You can even drive around on trash day and find perfectly good working CRT televisions awaiting their final resting place at your local dump. What does this mean for you? Well obviously it means that you can get one for a few bucks (or free if you don’t mind grabbing one sitting beside rotting garbage.)

So this weekend, instead of waking up late and wondering around your house in your underwear for a few hours, drive around and find a nice, big, extremely heavy tv and play some Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley or Wild Gunman.

Don’t believe me? Think you can play Duck Hunt on your new 197 inch plasma screen with it’s wicked awesome SRS and its fancy PIP and awesome ABCDEFG? Check out this video! (Not my video, please give credit to the original YouTube user)

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE: Don’t forget to vote for your favorite game system on the poll located on the top of the column on the right! A lot of people have voted for the SNES, which is probably my least favorite vintage system and I really don’t think it did much to further the video game industry, but one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Anyway, VOTE! PLEASE VOTE!