Random: Man Who Just Wanted To Play Duck Hunt With His Kids Built His Own Light Gun

For many of us, the light gun was a part of our childhood. Whether it was grabbing your NES Zapper only to be mocked by a dog in Duck Hunt, or heading to the arcade and spending those few pennies of pocket money you saved up every week for a quick blast of Time Crisis, it captured the imagination and excitement of kids all over.

The retro community has long been working on getting light guns such as the Zapper, the Super Scope, and even Sony-compatible products like the Namco GunCon (G-Con) family of peripherals, working on our incompatible modern day TVs.

One such fan, Andrew Sinden, is at the forefront of this effort. His Sinden Lightgun, which was funded via Kickstarter back in 2019, has shipped over 10,000 units as of the end of 2021 through Indiegogo. And in a recent interview with The Guardian’s Lewis Packwood, Sinden talks about the drive behind making his very own light gun.

Inspired by his love of Duck Hunt growing up and his desire to play the wildfowl-hunting game with his kids, Sinden used his background as a software developer to create a code to make a modern day equivalent to the Zapper or similar.

The full article goes in more depth about the turmoil that Sinden went through to get production of the light gun funded, as well as how light guns work — both traditional console ones and the various types Sinden created over the years.

The Sinden Lightgun will set up back £80 for a basic model, or you can get a recoil-ready version for £135. While that might sound a little steep, the cost of goods and materials over the course of the pandemic has forced the price up. But really, you can’t deny how beautiful these models are. They look exactly like something you’d pick up at an arcade 20 years ago.

As of now, the gun is only compatible with PC and the Raspberry Pi. Sinden is working on a plug-in-and-play version, but those are coming later down the line. And Sinden has worked with the Polymega team to create that console’s lightgun, too.

You can check out Sinden’s website for more details on the gun, including where you can order your own. The next batch is due to ship this March/April.

What’s your favourite memory of the light gun era? And what was your go-to light gun game? Share your fondest ones down below!

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