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Why do 16-bit light guns look so ridiculous?


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Why do 16-bit light guns look so ridiculous?

 

SNES Super Scope:

Nintendo_scope.jpg

 

Sega Menacer:

800px-Sega_Menacer_cropped.jpg

 

Compared to these 8-bit offerings:

 

Famicom Revolver:

video_shooting_series_light_gun4.jpg

 

NES Gray Zapper:

1024px-NES-zapper.jpg

 

NES Orange Zapper:

800px-Wikipedia_Nes_Zapper.jpg

 

SMS Light Phaser:

1024px-SMS-Light-Phaser.jpg

 

Atari XG-1:

640px-Atari_XG-1_light_gun.jpg

 

I mean, I can understand that in the 90s, video game and toy makers were pressured to make guns look unrealistic as possible, but come on, the Super Scope and Menacer just look absolutely ridiculous. Even later gen systems like the PS1 Namco Guncon look normal in comparison. What's worse, with all the modular detachable pieces that can get lost over the years, it's nearly impossible to find one complete. :sad:

Edited by stardust4ever
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if in the early 90's everything was bigger, badder, and had more attitude with a fresh hip young face, why would you want something that looks directly out of a 1970's low budget sci-fi film?

 

you didnt want a zapper or a phazor, no, thats baby crap, you want a GOD D*MED BAZOOKA! Its just a mentality of the time and the audience

 

the real shame is there were hardly any games made for them, they are actually pretty decent light guns, and aside from the useless tubes for "sights" on the Menacer, I find it to be a cool design as it can switch from pistol to rifle

Edited by Osgeld
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To be fair, you also had these 16-bit offerings:

 

attachicon.gifjustifiers.jpg

 

(Image shamelessly stolen from AtariAger the.golden.ax.)

 

I agree with Osgeld, though. Everything wanted to look "grown-up" in the 16-bit era, or at least more hip than those "toys" from the 8-bit era.

Are those compatible with the SMS Phasor? What games are those in the somewhat low-res photo? I picked up a Menacer 6-in-1 cart a couple weeks ago not realizing it was a light gun game. Probably Sega's answer to the SNES Super Scope 6.

 

I got my SNES Super Scope CIB last year. Freakking had the paperwork and everything but was missing the rubber eyepiece so I made a makeshift eyepiece out of a plastic soda bottle cap with a hole bored through it. It plays quite nicely despite I was a bit peeved that the eyepiece was missing. At least the sights work on it. So far I have the Super Scope 6, Battle Clash, and Yoshi's Safari. Yoshi's Safari seems to be the only one of the three with redeeming play value. I beat the game on easy mode then got my ass handed to me when I unlocked hard. where's the medium setting? :P I just noticed Revolution X supports the Scope; I may have to rebuy that title. I had it at one time (came bundled with the Goodwill SNES I bought in 2004 along with SMW+SMAS and two other crap games) but the Dpad controls sucked donkey so I eventually sold it. In other news, I just picked up Operation Wolf for the NES earlier tonight. People say it sucks but that's probably because most like other dual control games, playing with the Dpad sighting is a huge handicap.

Edited by stardust4ever
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Why do 16-bit light guns look so ridiculous?

 

Because in the 8-bit era you had to be smart to get into the field. You had to have some talent, somewhere. And be reasonable. By the time the 16-bit 90's rolled around, any Tom, Dick, or Harry could get a job in tech. And then you had the influence of flamboyant VR headgear come into play.

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  • 6 years later...

Why is this in Classic Computing instead of Classic Gaming?

 

Anyway, I was always dislike how the Menacer was so big and bulky, not as easy to get a pistol style grip on.

Plus if you hold it one handed, arm extended, 6-8 feet from a TV, it almost obscures your entire field of vision, unless you play quick draw style, always letting your guard down!

I was thinking about this recently myself, and I theorized they needed a BIG lens for how it works. Its essentially a Wii-mote if I'm not mistaken?

 

As a kid I was really surprised at how accurate both the binos AND standard sights worked. Just take the 10 seconds to calibrate it for the setup you're using.

Nowadays I HAVE to play using just the base component, the shoulder stock is TOO short to use comfortably as an adult.

Or I should say I USED to have to,.. the stock WAS too short, but I got clever and made a simple modification to lengthen it.

Now I generally just use it rifle style, but as a kid I was always WAY better with the binos.

..and side note, using the binos WITHOUT the stock just feels and looks weird!

 

Damn, now I wanna play Crime Patrol.

I know what I'm doing after work!

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  • 1 month later...

I would have preferred something with a silencer on it that make the "shoop" sound. Even with the Famicom guns, which were some of the nicest, you still felt like you were shooting an empty gun, with sound coming from the TV, not the gun. Not that I'd want them making the deafening crack of a real gun, either.

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I remember in the 80's I bought a squirt gun that looks nearly exactly like a real Uzi...The very next year all the squirt guns were white and bright orange...Growing up, our toy guns often looked like the real thing.  I seem to remember, that the incident that set everything off was a cop thought a kid had a gun, but it was a toy or something, but I don't remember details.

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2 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

I remember in the 80's I bought a squirt gun that looks nearly exactly like a real Uzi...The very next year all the squirt guns were white and bright orange...Growing up, our toy guns often looked like the real thing.  I seem to remember, that the incident that set everything off was a cop thought a kid had a gun, but it was a toy or something, but I don't remember details.

I had one of those. 1985, I believe. 

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6 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

^Yeah Totally!   (In the parlance of the times hehe)...I knew it had to be 1985 or 1986 because I took it to our Senior picnic around the last day of high school 1986 and squirted a bunch of people ...Pretty much anybody who wouldn't beat me up :rolling:

 

 

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7 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

 

Oh did you edit yours to also include the Uzi commercial?  Or was I just not paying attention the first time around?  hahah 

Yeah, I was trying to find an earlier commercial, but it didn't really match. I must have been adding the Japanese one at the same time you were posting. This was the one. I know it was 85 or 86 cause I used it on a class trip in 11th grade. By 1990 they were neon colored.

r/nostalgia - LARAMI UZI battery-operated water gun that we all played with in the 80s before the Super Soaker

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