Old school light gun arcade 1970's - thoughts?

Pac Manz

New member
Joined
Jun 2, 2011
Messages
27
Reaction score
1
Location
California
Old school EM "light gun" arcade 1970's - thoughts?

I'm thinking of adding one of these to my collection. My era would be early 70's. Any thoughts on these games. Worth owning? Stuff to look out for? Price range?

Any input appreciated.
 
Last edited:
I"d probably try to get a Nintendo one. Not only will it be fun, but it'll have that whoa factor. Not sure how easy it would be to find one though... it's hard enough to find one at all, much less a specific title.
 
1970s? Technically that isn't going to be a light gun then. If you're looking for a gun game from that era it's either going to have a pivoting gun that is really just an analog stick, or it would be a electromechanical game.

Sorry, don't have any recommendations. Not into EM games. If you want one of the earliest light gun games that came out it would be a Nintendo Vs. single/dual/red tent system (as the last poster mentioned) and your choices would be stuff like Hogan's Alley, Duck Hunt, Gumshoe, and Freedom Force.
 
1970s? Technically that isn't going to be a light gun then.
I think he's talking about the EM "light gun" games, that literally shot light beams at targets with light sensors in them... like this: http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/duckhun.htm . They're really fun IMO... if you're ever in Vegas, drop by the Pinball Hall of Fame and try some out. Some of them are really cool, and have some neat art.

Nintendo's Vs. system is far from the first light gun video games though... The Magnavox Odyssey had one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_Gallery_(game_accessory) , and I remember there being a pretty early B/W shooting arcade game as well (early 70s duck hunting game, maybe by Sega, IIRC).

DogP
 
Last edited:
love those games. i specifically remember one in chuck e cheese here, but i do not recall what it was called.

it looked roughly like this: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9526

with the console for the guns etc, but i believe it was older...probably late late 70's early 80's. the screen curved inwards and was from the floor up. i was young, but i remember the rifles weighed a metric shit ton. would love to have one.
 
I think he's talking about the EM "light gun" games, that literally shot light beams at targets with light sensors in them... like this: http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/duckhun.htm.

Yes, those are the ones. I've edited the title in case that helps others.

Those don't shoot light beams, they're just a bunch of switches. Still really cool, though. Edit: Wait, that particular one does. My bad.

The lightgun games were typically big projection screens, with a full size rifle mounted on a chain at a station a little ways back, kind of like the one advans13 showed, but there were older ones back even in the 50's. Nintendo made a bunch in the early 70's and was really dominant with them for a while, Sega was making them back then too.
 
Last edited:
Wild Gunman was the first one made by Nintendo.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10432

However, the game of this type that I'd really like to play is this one...

"In 1974, Wild Gunman, the first game of its kind, was released. Alongside Wild Gunman, Nintendo designed an adult version of the game titled Fascination; instead of cowboys, the game featured a Swedish woman in an evening dress who would dance around on the projection. Then, when the women struck a pose, players would shoot off key parts of her clothing until she was completely nude. However, the game was never released to the general public."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Clay_Shooting_System
 
Is that how those old EMs are setup? Guess I lurnt sumfn today. :D

Kind of wondering what the Sega duck hunting game was... anybody know?
 
Em gun games are awesome. There were a couple of different styles made - The light sensor type (light from the gun would shine on the target sensor), and the "dale gun" style, where there is a stylus style contact board mounted under the gun/rifle that moves with the gun, and touches contacts to allow the machine to know if the target is lined up or not.
I own a dale gun game (Chicago Coin Twin Rifle) myself. From what I have read this particular game is easier to fix if there is an issue with the guns - the guns are easier to replace since they do not project light, and I also remember reading that the sensitivity of the light sensors can change over time, making the light gun games more difficult to repair.
Most games are the dale style, and are more common, but I would love to own several of the light gun games if they were complete (some of the coolest in my opinion).
You can check out all the different models ands types on pinrepair (as already noted here by another post), to see which types use which target method.
If you can pick one up, I say go for it. For me, the 2 player games are the most fun though.
 
I've seen pictures of these and they look like they'd be fun to own. I've always liked shooting galleries and that's what these EM games go back to....so say short of buying an old carnival booth this is as close as you're gonna get...
 
Back
Top Bottom