A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol.
The Zapper is an electronic light gun accessory launched within the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America on October 18, 1985. It is a cosmetic redesign by Nintendo of America's head designer Lance Barr, based on Gunpei Yokoi's Video Shooting Series light gun (光線銃シリーズガン), which had been released in Japan for the Famicom on February 18, 1984. The Zapper requires compatible NES games, such as Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman, and Hogan's Alley. Its internal optical sensor allows the player to aim at a television set and accurately shoot at in-game targets.
Virtua Cop is a 1994 light gun shooter game developed by Sega AM2 and designed by Yu Suzuki. It was originally an arcade game on the Sega Model 2 system, and was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Windows in 1996. The Saturn version included support for both the Virtua Gun and Saturn mouse, as well as a new "Training Mode" which consists of a randomly generated shooting gallery.
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games.
Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, and can be used in combination with other tools such as grenades for indirect offense, armor for additional defense, or accessories such as telescopic sights to modify the behavior of the weapons. A common resource found in many shooter games is ammunition, armor or health, or upgrades which augment the player character's weapons.
The following article is a broad timeline of arcade video games.
Lethal Enforcers is a 1992 light gun shooter released as an arcade video game by Konami. The graphics consist entirely of digitized photographs and digitized sprites. Home versions were released for the Super NES, Genesis and Sega CD during the following year and include a revolver-shaped light gun known as The Justifier.
The Menacer is a light gun peripheral released by Sega in 1992 for its Sega Genesis and Sega CD video game consoles. It was created in response to Nintendo's Super Scope and as Sega's successor to the Master System Light Phaser. The gun is built from three detachable parts, and communicates with the television via an infrared sensor. The Menacer was announced at the May 1992 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago and was released later that year. The gun was bundled with a pack-in six-game cartridge of mostly shooting gallery games. Sega also released a Menacer bundle with Terminator 2: The Arcade Game.
Time Crisis 4 is a rail shooter and the fourth installment in the main series. It was released as an arcade game in 2006, and was ported with the GunCon 3 light gun peripheral for PlayStation 3 in 2007. It features a new first-person shooter mode. It was later re-released as part of Time Crisis: Razing Storm with support for the PlayStation Move controller, without the first-person shooter mode.
The Justifier is a light gun peripheral released by Konami for numerous home console games. Konami released versions of the gun for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES, and PlayStation consoles. The original gun appeared similar to a Colt Python. The guns were originally designed for use with the home versions of Konami's Lethal Enforcers games, although they are also compatible with other titles.
The GunCon, known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles. The original controllers used traditional light gun technology, while newer controllers use LED tracking technology.
Light-gun shooter, also called light-gun game or simply gun game, is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is to simulate a shooting gallery by having the player aiming and discharging a gun-shaped controller at a screen. Light-gun shooters revolve around the protagonist shooting virtual targets, either antagonists or inanimate objects, and generally feature action or horror themes and some may employ a humorous, parodic treatment of these conventions. These games typically feature "on-rails" movement, which gives the player control only over aiming; the protagonist's other movements are determined by the game. Games featuring this device are sometimes termed "rail shooters", though this term is also applied to games of other genres in which "on-rails" movement is a feature. Some, particularly later, games give the player greater control over movement and in still others the protagonist does not move at all. On home computer conversions of light-gun shooters, mouse has been often an optional or non-optional replacement for a light gun.
Fun Labs Romania SRL is a Romanian video game developer based in Bucharest. Founded in 1999, it long worked with Activision on a multitude of projects, including several Cabela's games.
M2 Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, best known for handling emulation of re-released games, such as some Sega Ages titles, Virtual Console titles for Nintendo systems, the 3D Classics series for the Nintendo 3DS and their ShotTriggers range of classic STG games. M2 has also created entirely new titles such as WiiWare games for Konami under the ReBirth moniker and more recently a new GG Aleste game. In addition, M2 currently holds the rights of Aleste series and all NEC Avenue and NEC Interchannel games on TurboGrafx-16 and variants, previously owned by Lightweight.
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 is a hunting video game published by Activision in conjunction with Cabela's for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. It was released in the U.S. for the DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 and for the Wii on October 26, 2010; special editions of the game were released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii that same day bundled with the Top Shot Elite wireless hunting controller. It was released in Europe and Australia in 2011. The game's story features the character Cole Rainsford, who, along with his father, are on an African safari to hunt dangerous possessed animals that are terrorizing locals. The plot and script for the game was written by the screenwriter Brad Santos. Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 also features shooting galleries as well as multi-level multiplayer modes. This game had an additional re-release for the Nintendo Wii titled Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011: Special Edition, which included an exclusive optional "cell-shaded animation mode". The game received mixed reviews from critics.
Cabela's Outdoor Adventures is a hunting video game released only in North America on September 8, 2009 by Activision for home consoles, and on October 13, 2009 for Microsoft Windows.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 is a hunting video game developed by Cauldron and published by Activision for the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 in 2011.
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013 is a first-person shooter light gun hunting video game developed by Cauldron and published by Activision on October 23, 2012, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Wii. A Wii U port was released later on December 4, 2012. The game's story features Jacob Marshall as he tries to hunt in Africa, while remembering a past hunting trip in Alaska with his father and brother.
An arcade video game is an arcade game where the player's inputs from the game's controllers are processed through electronic or computerized components and displayed to a video device, typically a monitor, all contained within an enclosed arcade cabinet. Arcade video games are often installed alongside other arcade games such as pinball and redemption games at amusement arcades. Up until the late 1990s, arcade video games were the largest and most technologically advanced sector of the video game industry.
