Ways to play NES Light Gun Games on a Modern TV 

Who here noticed that the ambient background music is just some songs from Duck Hunt, but slowed down by a lot?

Duck hunt is fun for about 5 minutes. Making it work on a modern tv is fun for 5 years. LOL

really like the way you animated how the NES sent the signal to CRT's and how that varied to newer LCD's, Very nice.

Why is this man's voice so soothing?

Retro gaming needs to come back. Duck hunt and Hogan’s alley are gems.

A really great video that deserves more support. The animations are great, and vary informative!

The background music is haunting

Very well made! I love the pixel art animations :)

Ok, now lets do Time Crisis :P

This is great news! I’ve actually been contemplating whether to get rid of my Trinitron and light gun games was kinda my last hurdle. Great video!

Dude. I could listen to your voice forever

This was fascinating, I don't even remember why I subscribed to your channel.. I think it was on accident being completely honest, but I am sure glad I stuck around!

That's a lot of commitment for an old game Kudos to you

It's not a "CRT filter". The limitation of the original Light guns is that they can only "see" infrared, because the CRTs also emitted infrared amongst visible light. It was made like this because it was cheaper, as they could use the same infrared photo-receptors that were used for remote controls everywhere. And LCDs emit no infrared light. Those clone guns seem to use a different photo receptor that's able to operate on the visible light range.

Thank you for this succinct and informative video, it saved me from going down this rabbit hole myself 😆 I was sitting here thinking "so I know about the timing issue, but if you hacked the ROM, or even had the emulator just save state and rewind..." and so I'm glad to find out that a) there's another issue involved and b) this problem is thoroughly solved already!

I did not know about the filter in the zapper! Good video.

Spoopy background music

Hopefully we can eventually get light guns back. I miss Time Crisis 1 and 2.

I kinda want to try this but then again, I kept my CRT for this purpose and the living room is the retro room, bedroom is the newer PC room with a PS2.

That was a fun watch, good stuff.

The Slow Mo Guys did an awesome video about how CRT displays work differently from LCD. They show in very slow motion the scanning pattern of CRTs verses the "fade wipe" style transition LCDs have. Very cool. I understood there are two models that the zapper could use. One used the timing of the electron beam scanning across the screen to figure out where the gun was pointing. If the gun saw light at the instant the NES was drawing the target in the screen it would know you were pointing at the target. Most games used the other mode that would blank the screen and show a white square, one frame for each target. If the gun saw light for that frame it would register a hit.

Loved the video, you have a good voice and a good choice in music. Keep it up.

I think buying a CRT would be cheaper.

Interesting. I haven't had luck getting my Sega menacer to work on my flat screen. Same thing with lethal enforcers 1 and 2. And a terminator game to. Even my Xbox silent scope game with the big green rifle. As well as house of the dead. I loved light gun games. They were quick and easy to use. Now I see why I was getting so frustrated trying to set them up. I thank you, and I would like to learn more on this.

Subscribed! I was on the fence until I saw your dinosaur hat. They sealed the deal

I wonder if the NES and game creators would have ever predicted their work would soldier on for 30+ years in the future. This brings me way back. My brother and I got our NES in 1990 and played on a 27" Trinitron back in the day. I think our patents got so fed up with us hogging the TV they bought us one for our games room upstairs and a couple bean bag chairs.

That was really insightful. Thank you very much.

This was fun to watch thanks.

The music in the background of this video is great.

Here is the guide in steps: 1. Buy an Everdrive-N8. 2. Patch a ROM of Duck Hunt. 3. Buy the Hyperkin Zapp Gun.

There's also another way: VR In VR, you already have a (or rather two) highly accurate motion controllers, so it's fairly trivial to have an emulator that support this. New Retro Arcade Neon has this feature. Since VR headsets run at 90Hz, it can be really fast and accurate.

Loved duck hunt!! Oh yeah, and world class track meet!

The Slomo Guys showed that modern TVs, though fully lit at all times, do actually "fade" from top to bottom.

Excellent news can't wait to try it out

Thanks for the information, I may pick this up myself!! Small critique: I noticed the background music's emotional tone was great for the whole video's topic while it was a mystery but while you were rejoicing at the end, the emotional tone was no good.

Nice job! Very informative.

Nifty. What gets me is that everyone is always talking about Duck Hunt with the Zapper. I know, it was the pack-in, but Hogan's Alley is arguably a much more challenging and entertaining Zapper game. I'd even recommend Gotcha! over Duck Hunt, on which you play capture the flag paintball on a 2d side-scrolling field, while using the dpad on a controller in port 2 to move left and right while shooting your opponents. It was really, really cool to play that way when it came out.

Awesome man i'm happy for you!

I had a plug and play 40 games in one thing, and the lightgun sensor built into the top of the controller (it was shaped like an N64 controller) worked amazingly

This is very interesting and totally cool dude 😎

You have a really soothing voice.

I have a lightgunverter and it works well. Wish the setup was less messy but better than nothing. Hopefully we will see a good solution for all older systems

A custom light gun can be made using Gravity IR sensor in junction with the Xbox IR bar thingy. It was demonstrated on a channel called Samco. I couldn't buy the sensor in my location, so I tried using a gyro but it needed to be reset for every run to compensate for drifting. I was thinking of using a wiimote, but that wouldn't be as satisfying as something DIY.

I can tell the background music is the Duck Hunt intro theme music when I play back this video at twice speed. It's like a slow motion Duck Hunt theme.

Interesting observation about televisions, though I'm fairly confident this isn't the case for computer monitors. That might not be immediately obvious because even on CRT televisions and monitors, a lot of computers (especially from the mid 90's) were using double buffering in hardware, which creates the same effect, roughly speaking... However, if you disable VSYNC on a modern graphics card, and can render a scene at higher speed than the monitor's refresh rate, you still get screen tearing, indicating it's still updating the display as the information comes in. The NES light gun however depends on a technique that just doesn't work on modern displays. However, the SNES technique (aka the light pen technique also seen on older systems in a different context) is even less likely to work on a modern display, since it depends on the actual scanning pattern of a CRT, timing, and the fact that while persistence of vision and phosphor decay disguises this somewhat, the actively drawn screen location is vastly brighter than anything else onscreen. Which simply isn't at all true for an LCD no matter whether it's updating in realtime or not. Even if you mimic the update pattern of a CRT, which many LCD monitors still do, you still won't get the kind of visual brightness changes that a light pen depends on. However, the NES Zapper is not based on this principle, instead it seems to be based on flashing a bright frame to tell when the light gun needs to respond, then flashing a bright box around each possible object the light gun can hit in turn to determine which of these causes the light gun to respond, if any. Thus the system knows because of the relationship between the response and the timing, which object was hit. Quite why this doesn't work on modern displays, I'm not entirely sure. (the light pen method can determine actual screen coordinates of what the light pen/light gun is pointed at, but is perhaps even more finicky...)

You have a very sleepy voice. I like it. :>

Great work!

Good, i like your pixel art

Nice. Now I want 2 things: 1: Repro carts of all light gun games on NES with the patches (I have Ever Drive but still carts would be cooler). 2: Super Scope and Enforcer replicas that work and repro carts of all light gun games on SNES with the patches (I have Ever Drive and SD2SNES but still carts would be cooler). Other consoles would be cool but those 2 especially.

Very informative. Aslo, cool soundtrack.

I appreciate you very much for sharing your video thanks again

Dude! I’m a 80s kid and Duck Hunt is a classic for me. This was an interesting video to see but what I wanted to comment on: you should make audiobooks for children :) I would like to test this video with my 7y and 3y old kids. If put this to play on the background when they go sleep, I bet they will fall asleep quite quick. Regards from Finland :)

This is what I got for 2020 chrismas

Now i want a Sega lightphaser, a konami justifier & a namco guncon to work on modern displays

Your voice reminds me of Jang from Ultimate RC. I miss him.

Nice ASMR I like it (Like really it’s quite calming)

Dude I love the music

It would be cool if there was a company making widescreen modern thin crts. That would make retro gaming feel more modern

Instant sub ❤️

I’m loving this erry slowed down version music of Duck Hunt.

Now this actually brings a big spin on the old outdated hardware. Although the NES Classic game pack is free on the Nintendo Switch E-shop. But this brings a big question for Nintendo, although they can't re-release the Black Boxed light gun games like Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman and have it play like the original NES release. But Nintendo can actually re-release the NES Zapper as a modern Switch controller version. The way I can see it working for the Switch is by taking advantage of the IR sensor.

I have a challenge for you now: I would like to see if you can get a Super Scope to work on a modern TV set. I have a Super Scope and loved playing it when I was younger, but was majorly disappointed when I read online-and later confirmed in real life-that it only worked on CRT sets. I still have this old CRT set from my childhood so I could still use it, but it’s only a matter of time until it fails.

Your voice is basically ASMR. Lived the video, though.

Brad, by FAR your video is the absolute best on this topic!! Obviously you take an engineer approach and that's why. I am one too and so it's to the point, clear and informative. I was wasting so much time on the web trying to get my zapper to work and you're the only person to point out that the original NES zapper will NEVER work because of a physical restriction. (You found out directly the hard way and did francis bacon trial/discovery) SO thank you for that!! Once I realized I was wasting my time I have everything set up (The nes mod page is not really clear on the source rom required but thankfully he did provide a checksum so EVENTUALLY I found the proper rom to patch) So I am asking this favor, do you have any info or links. etc. to a workbook to upgrade the LED on the original NES zapper? I figure I could get what I need from Greybar but I am not going to "Guess" at the A-Z (Basically convert a NES to a Tomee diode wise) for example is it just a matter of the diode or do I need to get a board or modify the in-series board ? etc. I could take the guts out of a tomee and put it into my old shells but that's a bit of an expensive way when I have the tools and iron to do the upgrade to the existing NES branded hardware. BTW Props on the home-made gunverter!! Obviously that is really the best solution (if he does a port for all consoles) as it's a physical bridge so it would work with every game without mod and every console without mod of the game itself. If we can present a large enough presence or get a crowdfund going maybe start a project to do full turn-key kits. Basically a gun that has the "Wii" hardware inside of it, a box/adapter that plugs into the console and sits in front of the TV (like the Wii sensor) and boom. We just mass market them, maybe even sharktank it. but anyone who would fund production would need to know it's going to sell.. I am content with crowdfunding, getting a hopefully large list of buyers and then just make-to-order ship them. I have two zappers, so I will take one, gut it, gut my Wii remote and get the parts for a sensor. Check out the source at that openNES page and make my own just to have it (a Wii embedded zapper) and then if it is easy enough and successful... push for the crowdfund route Let me know your thoughts and thank you for you forthcoming support on this!! By the way your speaking voice is IDENTICAL to JP!!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-z0O_VYcsIk8.htmlsi=GXHiSwQeWh4VWBhx

The lag can be eliminated in most LCD TVs by turning off the upscaling/memory buffer. In mine, it's even labeled as "game mode." And I HAVE to have it turned on to play Smash Bros. online.

I wonder if you can use the Tomee Zapp Gun and an NES to NES Classic controller converter on the NES classic (and use Hakchi to load the patched gun game roms).

Que genial se oye esa modificación :)

Does the Zapp Gun really work on LCD TVs? I was looking into it on Hyperkin's website and the product description says it won't work on LCD, LED, and most modern HDTV television sets.

I'm so lucky I still have my CRT TV

Could this method work with, let's say, Sega Light Phazer or any of the PS1/PS2 light guns?

Mystery of the universe background music. I like it.

People tend to forget the Wii U VC version of Duck Hunt as an option to play the game. It uses the Wii Mote and a modified ROM for shot recognition. While it plays slightly differently and it's fairly easy due to the displayed reticle, you can still hide the reticle for a more authentic experience.

All you need is the Sinden Light gun.... It's kick-starter made 10x the original amount required, they release regular updates of progress and it should be going on commercial sale after the Kickstarter orders are fulfilled.

Excellent

It also sequentially sends out the white boxes so that it knows which target you hit.

wow and to think i was considering buying a CRTV. now i will just get this hyperkin thing and emulate it off my switch or steamdeck

You the man!

Well that was a lot easier and cheaper than I'd expected it to be. Okay, I'll give it a shot. I'm on front projection, so I might not have enough brightness, but it only costs me a few bucks to find out.

It would be even better if the entire screen didn't go black every time you squeezed the trigger. As soon as that bug is squashed, then it'll be golden. The next logical step would be to put out an NES Classic version and start selling those shooter roms.

The music indeed is duck hunt, but man am I going to have nightmares.

I have a 36" CRT TV with 6 Video Inputs that I tend to use for Classic Systems. The last time I had it serviced was 2010 about 2 months before the shop closed (my uncle was the manager and I knew about the closing ahead of time). When it finally dies I will be a Sad Panda!

Great video. Weird music choice😂

That Wii remote adaption seems to me like all one would need to do is make a “translator” for the zapper. Something that plugs into the end of the zapper but looks exactly like the original, just making the zapper look slightly longer. As for power, those batteries used in the Dreamcast VMU’s would be good candidates. I personally prefer finding a way to play original carts with a original zapper or a quality replica that gives the same feel of the original. Instead of modifying an original cart, use something that hooks up to the cart like the Game Genie. Maybe playing around with the TV settings can help.

I've seen modern TVs that still go line by line without any buffer the slow mo guys showed that wit ha modern 4k OLED TV, with thed slow mo camera you were able to see how it was drawn

Hmm...I've know for a while myself that clone light guns use a more simplified sensor that doesn't filter as well (and makes shots a bit easier on regular hardware otherwise), but I'll have to give these lag compensation patches a try, as I have a progressive scan TV with about 1/4 frame lag that isn't enough to break most things, but light gun software isn't having any of that. This sort of patch might be the kind of thing to get those games working on this set from 2006 that, despite being a CRT, has never really worked properly with traditional light guns, aside from the later generation ones that also tap into a composite output.

This is why I keep an old 50 inch wood paneled CRT in my garage.

Well that background music is a streeeetch

thanks now i can play the game

That solves Duck Hunt. But I don't see anything but the LightGunVerter working with Operation Wolf.

Thank you sir

I just got the older tv in my game room. So i have the old one for light gun games. That includes my sega master system, the menacer, and superscope. I also use it for the Atari and older systems. But the flat screen for the newer stuff

Or goto goodwill and buy a CRT for $5 and play the NES the way it was meant to be played. Pretty cool modding though, I do appreciate that as well. But when I get my man cave build I'm definitely gonna find a good CRT for this. I actually had a really nice large flatscreen CRT. I just didn't have room for it when I moved to my apartment, really was heartbroken to let it go.

This music makes me feel like I'm strapped down in a chair and listening to am evil villains speech about how he's gonna take over the world with ducks and televisions

Something I've never seen addressed: When I first got my NES I played it on a small Black and White set. I soon discovered that if I aimed at the tree leaves, it counted as a hit, every time. I was able to get to (what I considered) absurdly high levels like this, but it was *very* dull to repeatedly shoot the same spot on the screen with no chance of failure for an extended period of time. I don't think I ever had the patience to get to level 100, as I have no memory of the now known glitches at that level. Once my parents became convinced the NES was indeed safe for a color TV set, I moved it over and was never able to replicate the trick. I had wondered why aiming at a light bulb didn't have the same effect. The filter you mention explains that part. I wish I still had that set to experiment with changing brightness and contrast settings. The "green" of the trees translated to a brighter white than the sky. Perhaps there was enough image persistence for it to register. I don't remember if I ever tried shooting the bush or grass, which would have been the same color. Any thoughts?

I love this

I think your a modest genius

Now please make this happen for House of the dead 2 on the dreamcast ;-) Good job by the way for your duckhunt ligthgun :-)

Now to get the super scope working on modern televisions!

Omg this is amazing! Now can someone please get this working on a pal sega saturn

I picked up a nice CRT yesterday for 5 bucks, busted out my modded original XBOX, and fell asleep watching Braveheart on DVD. Next I'm going to replay Doom 3.