# Problem with the NES Zapper



## adamshinoda (Nov 17, 2013)

*Okay, so I got an NES, a Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge and a flatscreen CRT TV (I repeat: it's a CRT TV). The first Zapper I used to play Duck Hunt didn't work. It did NOTHING AT ALL when I pulled the trigger: At the menu screen, I point the gun away from the TV to select the game mode and the cursor just stood still; it can't shoot the ducks in the game. I thought the gun was broken and get another one. 

This time, nothing changed ! The same exact thing happened with the second Zapper.

Well, now I guess the problem is not the Zapper itself. Can somebody help me with this case?*


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## Zeliga (Nov 17, 2013)

Im not really good with NES accessories but from what I heard you have to be in a dark room *not too dark* and then play?
PS: Try it and tell me if it working or not


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## raulpica (Nov 17, 2013)

IIRC it doesn't work with flatscreen CRTs.



> Be careful if you want to play light gun games, some more modern flat screen CRTs don't work. Some have a scan feature (I forget the technical name) the processes low res images to a cleaner image. This processing takes a few milliseconds but it screws up the timing required for light gun operation. I almost bought one, but I tested it out with my light gun and found it didn't work and so I passed. On the model I was looking this feature couldn't be disabled so it would have been no better to me than a non-CRT television.


Source: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12779


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## trumpet-205 (Nov 17, 2013)

Only works for curved CRT.


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## adamshinoda (Nov 17, 2013)

The Nerd has a flatscreen CRT TV and his Zapper still works.


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## adamshinoda (Nov 17, 2013)

raulpica said:


> IIRC it doesn't work with flatscreen CRTs.
> 
> 
> Source: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12779


 
But when you point the gun away from the screen to select the menu, it should still work, right? It has nothing to do with the screen then.


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## DinohScene (Nov 17, 2013)

Iirc, you could also point it at a lightbulb and it would work perfectly fine...


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## javanni9972 (Jul 8, 2014)

The zapper doesn't work on HDTV's


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## Foxi4 (Jul 8, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> Iirc, you could also point it at a lightbulb and it would work perfectly fine...


This is only partially correct - the _"effectiveness"_ of this method depends on the logic used to detect hits in-game. Some games only check the gun diode once, others do some crazy intervals to check if you're _"not cheating"_ and some make several checks across a few blanks to check which target you're actually shooting _(and if it turns out that you're shooting all targets at once, as it would be the case with pointing at a lightbulb, the shot is deemed invalid)_ so some games will accept a lightbulb and some won't.


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## DinohScene (Jul 8, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> This is only partially correct - the _"effectiveness"_ of this method depends on the logic used to detect hits in-game. Some games only check the gun diode once, others do some crazy intervals to check if you're _"not cheating"_ and some make several checks across a few blanks to check which target you're actually shooting _(and if it turns out that you're shooting all targets at once, as it would be the case with pointing at a lightbulb, the shot is deemed invalid)_ so some games will accept a lightbulb and some won't.


 
Well I only heard it working with Duckhunt.
Then again, I never had a zapper so I never could test it out ;p
Seeing I now finally got an HDTelly, I prolly will not ever get one (also complete lack of Zapper supported games)


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## javanni9972 (Jul 8, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> Well I only heard it working with Duckhunt.
> Then again, I never had a zapper so I never could test it out ;p
> Seeing I now finally got an HDTelly, I prolly will not ever get one (also complete lack of Zapper supported games)



It does work with duck hunt but 9 out of 10 times I couldn't shoot a duck by doing that


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