Blog: Let's Play with Guns (11/08/21 - 11/12/21) (Patreon)

This past weekend, I went to Retroworld Expo in Hartford, CT! I got to hang with my good friends, Pat & Dan, and meet a few Patrons as well. I'm already looking forward to the next convention.

In sports news, the Miami Dolphins...won? They are now 2-7 on the year!

Monday, November 08th - Recovery Day

I usually spend my Mondays after a convention recovering from the previous weekend. Conventions are usually pretty hectic. You meet many people, run around everywhere with your friends, and spend a lot of time in airports. So it's good to take a day to get back into your standard groove!

But alas, I was feeling pretty excited about this next project, so I worked anyway. As you may know, the next video is all about Light Guns on the Nintendo Entertainment System. So I thought it would be a good idea to set up my "test area."

Please excuse my mess! I decided to set up my PVM right next to my computer to play games and take notes quickly.

My next task was to figure out how I was going to capture this footage. As you may know, light guns do not work on modern televisions, so I have to use an older TV. I decided using my Analogue NT Mini was the best choice. I could hook it up to my PVM using the VGA port, then use the HDMI port and hook it into the capture card. But I ran into a problem...

I wasn't getting any signal from the VGA port! I tried multiple cables, but nothing worked—sad times.

Luckily, I came up with a better solution: I'm going to capture the footage with my camera! That way, you can see me playing the game with the light gun. 

Tuesday, November 10th - Early Light Guns

Our research begins with a look at the very first light guns. We can track the technology back to 1935 with the Ray-O-Lite Rifle Range, manufactured by Seeburg.

The technology is simple: When you pull the trigger on the toy gun, it emits a light. On the target is a phototube. Phototubes can turn light into electricity, which can signify a "hit" in the game. 

These games were pretty popular in the '30s and '40s. After World War II, the craze died down. One big problem with these early light gun games was they took up a lot of space. Newer advancements in technology allowed inventors to come up with new gun games that were much smaller. 

By 1970, Nintendo was able to take this basic concept and put it inside a toy! 

I purchased this Nintendo "Custom Lion" Beam Gun Toy, first released in 1976. I can't wait to capture footage of this thing in action! 

Tomorrow, I'll dive into when light guns made their way into video games. 

Wednesday, November 10th - HyperShot Acquired!

Have you ever heard of the Bandai HyperShot? This was a light gun for the Famicom released in 1989. It had a vibration system that ran on 4 C batteries that added recoil when you pulled the trigger! It also came with a game, Space Shadow, that took advantage of the gun's unique capabilities. 

I was able to scoop one up on eBay and will be featuring it in the video. If you would like more information right now, I highly recommend checking out my friend Game Dave's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvpiexzG8fA 

There is ALOT to cover in this video, so I worked on getting organized today. I wrote up an outline of everything I want to talk about. 

Usually, I research everything first, then write the outline. But because I'm going over so many different topics, I thought it would be best to do the outline first. That way, I can sort of perform the research in order. 

Thursday, November 11th - Mind. Blown!

Today, I finished up the historical part of my research for the light gun episode. What I found surprised me!

Above, you will see the rifle from the Nintendo Beam Gun toys and the rifle to the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console. They look pretty similar, don't they?

That is because Magnavox contracted Nintendo to manufacture their light gun! This was really cool to discover. It's a great transition from Nintendo's toy-making days to their involvement with video games. It looks like Nintendo has quite a history with light guns!

As I mentioned before, the history portion is just about done. Tomorrow, I will deep dive into the hardware. 

Friday November 12th - I Look Ridiculous

Here I am testing the Konami LaserScope. You aimed with the reticle display and yelled "Fire!" to pull the trigger. 

When I first tried the LaserScope, I couldn't hit ANYTHING. I took it off and examined it, and noticed the "laser" that shows the reticle display was off-centered. I'm going to have to take this thing apart and mess with it. In the meantime, I purchased another LaserScope off eBay in the hopes I can get a better working one. 

Today, I tested every light gun available for the Famicom / NES (except for the HyperShot, which should arrive next week). I got some surprising results! I won't spoil anything though.

Have a great weekend!

- Norm