Super Scope: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|SNES light gun peripheral}}
{{short description|SNES light gun peripheral}}
{{For|the game included with the peripheral|Super Scope 6}}
{{For|the game included with the peripheral|Super Scope 6}}
{{multiple issues|
{{original research|date=November 2011}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2011}}
}}
{{Infobox information appliance
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = Super Scope
| name = Super Scope
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| image = [[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-L.jpg|250px]]
| image = [[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-L.jpg|250px]]
| caption = The Nintendo Super Scope (without its sight)
| caption = The Nintendo Super Scope (without its sight)
| aka = Nintendo Scope<ref name=NLife/>
| developer = [[Nintendo]]
| developer = [[Nintendo]]
| manufacturer = Nintendo
| manufacturer = Nintendo
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}}
}}


The {{nihongo foot|'''Super Scope'''|スーパースコープ|Sūpā Sukōpu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} known as the '''Nintendo Scope''' in [[Europe]] and [[Australia]], is a [[light gun]] peripheral created by [[Nintendo]] for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]]. It is able to aim and fire at targets on a screen by connecting to a small [[infrared]] receiver module placed on top of the television. The peripheral was released in 1992 and packaged with the video game ''[[Super Scope 6]]''. However, only twelve total games were compatible with the device, all released between 1992 and 1994.
==Overview==
===Design===
[[File:Nintendo scope.jpg|thumb|European model with orange firing button]]
[[File:Nintendo scope.jpg|thumb|European model with orange firing button]]
[[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Bisected.jpg|thumb|right|The inside of the Super Scope]]
The Super Scope is a [[bazooka]]-shaped device, just under {{cvt|2|ft|cm}} long.<ref name=NLife>{{cite web | last=McFerran | first=Damien | title=Hardware Classics: Nintendo Super Scope | website=Nintendo Life | date=January 16, 2016 | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/01/hardware_classics_nintendo_super_scope | access-date=August 1, 2025 | archive-date=January 23, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123081130/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/01/hardware_classics_nintendo_super_scope | url-status=live }}</ref> Unlike its predecessor, the [[NES Zapper]], the Super Scope does not use a wired connection to the system and instead requires six [[AA battery|AA batteries]] for power.<ref name=NLife/> Located about midway on top of the barrel are the "Fire" button, the "Pause" button, and the device's power switch, which can also be used to activate turbo fire.<ref name=RG/> In the middle on either side are two clips for attaching the sight.<ref name=RG/> At the far end of the gun, on the bottom, is a {{cvt|6|in|cm}} grip with another button labeled "Cursor"; holding this button and pressing "Fire" twice will reset any game to the title screen.<ref name=manual>{{Cite book |last=[[Nintendo]] |title=Super Scope 6 |date=1999 |publisher=Nintendo |pages=3–5 |type=instruction manual}}</ref>


The '''Super Scope''' ({{Langx|ja|スーパースコープ|Sūpā Sukōpu}}), known as the '''Nintendo Scope''' in [[Europe]] and [[Australia]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mo5.com/musee/fiche.php?id=545 |title=French page that states "Nintendo Scope" as name |access-date=2009-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319011603/http://mo5.com/musee/fiche.php?id=545 |archive-date=2009-03-19 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5189/1003852.jpg |title=an image of the boxart retrieved by an Australian page, which states "Nintendo Scope" and "Pal Version" |access-date=2009-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304082903/http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5189/1003852.jpg |archive-date=2009-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> is a first party [[light gun]] peripheral for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]].  
On the end is the infrared receiver lens, approximately {{convert|1|in|mm|0}} in diameter, which picks up the light from a TV.<ref name="snesdev"/> The sight mount is shaped like a wide, very shallow "U", about five inches long. The end that faces toward the shoulder mount end of the Super Scope has a round open cylinder holder, where the eyepiece goes. The other end has a short, narrow tube, which forms the sight when one looks through the eyepiece that is in-line across from it. The end of the eyepiece is very simple: it is a cylinder with the diameter of a quarter, with a removable rubber piece through which the shooter looks. The sight is designed so that the aim will be correct at a distance of {{convert|3|m|ft|0}}.


The peripheral consists of two devices: the wireless light gun itself, called the "Transmitter", and a "Receiver" that connects to the second controller port of the Super NES console. The Transmitter has two action buttons, a pause button, a power switch and is powered by six [[AA battery|AA batteries]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/superscope.html |title=Super Scope |access-date=2007-05-11 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070928041445/http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/superscope.html |archive-date=2007-09-28 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Super Scope comes packaged with a small infrared receiver module, {{cvt|2.5|x|2.5|x|1|in|cm}} in size, with a standard [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]] controller cord attached. On the front is an oval-shaped black area, receding back from the two sides to an infrared transmitter about the size of a [[dime (United States coin)|dime]]. The receiver must be placed above the screen and connected to the system's second controller port for play.<ref name=manual/>


==History==
===Functionality===
The Super Scope was released in [[North America]] and the [[PAL region]] in 1992, followed by a limited release in Japan in 1993.
[[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Receiver.jpg|thumb|right|The receiver module that plugs into controller port, meant to sit on top of the TV]]
The Super Scope makes use of the scanning process used in [[cathode-ray-tube monitor]]s, as CRTs were the only widely used TV monitors until the early 2000s. On a CRT, the screen is drawn by a scanning [[electron]] beam that travels horizontally across each line of the screen from top to bottom. A fast [[photodiode]] will see any particular area of the screen illuminated only briefly as that point is scanned, while the [[human eye]] will see a consistent image due to [[persistence of vision]].<ref name=NLife/>


==Design==
The Super Scope interprets this by outputting a {{code|0}} signal when it sees the television [[raster scan]] and a {{code|1}} signal when it does not. Inside the console, this signal is delivered to the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System#Video|PPU]], which notes which screen [[pixel]] it is outputting at the moment the signal transitions from {{code|1}} to {{code|0}}. At the end of the [[Film frame#Video frame|frame]], the game software can retrieve this stored position to determine where on the screen the gun was aimed.<ref name=NLife/> Most licensed Super Scope games include a calibration mode to account for both electrical delays and maladjustment of the [[Sight (device)|gunsight]].<ref name="snesdev">{{cite book |author=Nintendo |author-link=Nintendo |title=Super Nintendo Entertainment System Development Manual |pages=327–354 |year=1995}}</ref>
[[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Bisected.jpg|thumb|right|The inside of the Super Scope]]
The Transmitter is a [[bazooka]]-shaped device, just under {{cvt|2|ft|cm}} long. Located about midway on top of the barrel are two buttons, the purple "Fire" button (colored orange in Japanese and European models) and the gray "Pause" button, and a switch used to turn the Super Scope off or select regular or turbo fire. In the middle on either side are two clips for attaching the sight. On the far end of the gun, on the bottom, is a six-inch (15-cm) grip with another button labeled "Cursor".


On the end is the infrared receiver lens, approximately {{convert|1|in|mm|0}} in diameter, which picks up the light from a TV. The sight mount is shaped like a wide, very shallow "U", about five inches long. The end that faces toward the shoulder mount end of the Super Scope has a round open cylinder holder, where the eyepiece goes. The other end has a short, narrow tube, which forms the sight when one looks through the eyepiece that is in-line across from it. The end of the eyepiece is very simple: it is a cylinder with the diameter of a quarter, with a removable rubber piece through which the shooter looks. The sight is designed so that the aim will be correct at a distance of {{convert|3|m|ft|0}}. The Receiver is a small box, {{cvt|2.5|x|2.5|x|1|in|cm}}, with a standard [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]] controller cord attached. On the front is an oval-shaped black area, receding back from the two sides to an infra-red transmitter about the size of a [[dime (United States coin)|dime]].
The Super Scope ignores red light, as do many guns of this type because red [[phosphor]]s have a much slower rate of decay than green or blue phosphors.<ref name="snesdev"/> Since the Super Scope depends on the short persistence and scan pattern of CRT pixels, it will not function with modern displays (such as [[Plasma display|plasma screens]] or [[Liquid crystal display|LCDs]]) that continuously light each pixel.<ref name=NLife/>


All of the Super Scope games made by Nintendo have a soft-reset to the game's main title. This is accomplished by pausing the game, then, while holding CURSOR, the FIRE button must be pressed twice.
==History==
The Super Scope was released in [[North America]] and the [[PAL region]] in 1992, followed by a limited release in Japan in 1993.<ref name=RG/><ref name=movie>{{cite web | last=Bertoli | first=Ben | title=Remembering the First and Only Mario FPS | website=IGN | date=March 13, 2019 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/13/mario-fps-yoshis-safari | access-date=August 1, 2025 | archive-date=October 19, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019012443/https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/13/mario-fps-yoshis-safari | url-status=live }}</ref> The peripheral came bundled with the video game ''[[Super Scope 6]]'', which was created to demonstrate the device's functionality.<ref name=RG/>


==Hit detection==
===Compatible games===
[[File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Receiver.jpg|thumb|right|The receiver box that plugs into controller port, meant to sit on top of the TV]]
Only '''12''' games were released that feature Super Scope compatibility, half of which require the accessory for play.<ref name=RG>{{cite magazine|last=Szczepaniak|first=John|date=March 2022|title=30 Years of the Super Scope|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Future plc]]|issue=231|pages=44–49}}</ref> Certain games released after the Super Scope—such as ''[[Yoshi's Island]]'' and ''[[Kirby Super Star]]''—display a warning message indicating that the game is incompatible if it detects the receiver is plugged in.<ref>{{cite web | last=Olney | first=Alex | title=Video: Switch 2's Mouse Controls Are Nothing New For Nintendo | website=Nintendo Life | date=May 12, 2025 | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/features/video-switch-2s-mouse-controls-are-nothing-new-for-nintendo | access-date=July 29, 2025 | archive-date=June 14, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614051322/https://www.nintendolife.com/features/video-switch-2s-mouse-controls-are-nothing-new-for-nintendo | url-status=live }}</ref>
The Super Scope makes use of the scanning process used in [[cathode-ray-tube]] monitors, as CRTs were the only widely used TV monitors until the early 2000s. In short, the screen is drawn by a scanning [[electron]] beam that travels horizontally across each line of the screen from top to bottom. A fast [[photodiode]] will see any particular area of the screen illuminated only briefly as that point is scanned, while the [[human eye]] will see a consistent image due to [[persistence of vision]].
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Super Scope compatible games
|-
!scope=col| Title
!scope=col| Year
!scope=col| Publisher
!scope=col| Required
!scope=col class="unsortable"| Note
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Battle Clash]]''
| 1992 || Nintendo || {{Yes}} ||
|-
!scope=row| ''Bazooka Blitzkrieg''
| 1992 || [[Bandai]] || {{Yes}} ||
|-
!scope=row| {{sort|Hunt for Red October|''[[The Hunt for Red October (console game)|The Hunt for Red October]]''}}
| 1993 || Hi-Tech Expressions, Inc. || {{No}} || Only used for bonus games<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Lamborghini American Challenge]]''
| 1993 || [[Titus France]] || {{No}} || Features an optional Super Scope-exclusive mode<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Lemmings 2: The Tribes]]''
| 1994 || [[Psygnosis]] || {{No}} || A secret [[easter egg (media)|easter egg]] allows the Super Scope to destroy lemmings<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge]]''
| 1993 || Nintendo || {{Yes}} ||
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Operation Thunderbolt (video game)|Operation Thunderbolt]]''
| 1994 || [[Taito]] || {{No}} || Also compatible with a standard controller or the [[Super NES Mouse]]<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Super Scope 6]]''
| 1992 || Nintendo || {{Yes}} ||Packaged with the Super Scope<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day (arcade game)|T2: The Arcade Game]]''
| 1993 || [[Acclaim Entertainment]] || {{No}} || Also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Tin Star (video game)|Tin Star]]''
| 1994 || Nintendo || {{No}} || Also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse<ref name=RG/>
|-
!scope=row| ''[[X-Zone]]''
| 1993 || [[Kemco]] || {{Yes}} ||
|-
!scope=row| ''[[Yoshi's Safari]]''
| 1993 || Nintendo || {{Yes}} ||
|}


The Super Scope takes advantage of this in a fairly simple manner: it simply outputs a {{code|0}} signal when it sees the television [[raster scan]] and a {{code|1}} signal when it does not. Inside the console, this signal is delivered to the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System#Video|PPU]], which notes which screen [[pixel]] it is outputting at the moment the signal transitions from {{code|1}} to {{code|0}}. At the end of the [[Film_frame#Video_frame|frame]], the game software can retrieve this stored position to determine where on the screen the gun was aimed. Most licensed Super Scope games include a calibration mode to account for both electrical delays and maladjustment of the [[Sight (device)|gunsight]].<ref name="snesdev">{{cite book |author=Nintendo |author-link=Nintendo |title=Super Nintendo Entertainment System Development Manual |year=1995}}</ref>
''[[Mario & Wario]]'' was also planned to support the accessory, but this was dropped before release.<ref>{{cite magazine | author=Hilliard, Kyle | date=August 9, 2017 | title=Game Freak's Origins And Its Pre-''Pokémon'' Games | url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/08/09/game-freaks-origins-and-non-pokemon-games.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204142400/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/08/09/game-freaks-origins-and-non-pokemon-games.aspx | archive-date=December 4, 2019 | access-date=March 26, 2020 | publisher=[[GameStop]] | url-status=live | magazine=[[Game Informer]]}}</ref>


The Super Scope ignores red light, as do many guns of this type because red [[phosphor]]s have a much slower rate of decay than green or blue phosphors.<ref name="snesdev"/> Since the Super Scope depends on the short persistence and scan pattern of CRT pixels, it will not function with modern displays (such as [[Plasma display|plasma screens]] or [[Liquid crystal display|LCDs]]) that continuously light each pixel.
== Legacy ==
In response to the Super Scope, Sega would release their own light gun peripheral for the [[Sega Genesis]], the [[Menacer]], later the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/levelup/a466096/menacer-retrospective-the-mega-drives-light-gun-flop.html |access-date=January 8, 2014 |title=Menacer retrospective: The Mega Drive's light-gun flop |last1=Reynolds |first1=Matthew |date=March 16, 2013 |work=[[Digital Spy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228124831/http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/levelup/a466096/menacer-retrospective-the-mega-drives-light-gun-flop.html |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==Compatible titles==
A Super Scope was used as a [[theatrical property|prop]] in the [[Super Mario Bros. (film)|live-action ''Super Mario Bros.'' film]] (1993), representing King Koopa's "Devo gun". Images from the film were used to promote the Super Scope's 1993 release in Japan.<ref name=movie/><ref>{{cite web | last=McFerran | first=Damien | title=How we got to the Switch: a brief history of Nintendo controllers | website=TechRadar | date=October 29, 2016 | url=https://www.techradar.com/news/how-we-got-to-the-switch-a-brief-history-of-nintendo-controllers/2 | access-date=August 1, 2025}}</ref>
Per ''[[GamePro]]'': all titles require the Super Scope unless otherwise noted.''<ref>{{cite magazine|date=November 1996|title=Buyers Beware|url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_088_November_1996/page/n25/mode/2up|magazine=[[GamePro]]|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|issue=98|page=24}}</ref>


* ''[[Battle Clash]]''
During the [[1993–94 United States Senate hearings on video games]], Senator [[Joe Lieberman]] used the Super Scope as evidence of video games promoting violence among children, citing the peripheral's resemblance to a real assault weapon.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1993/12/15/15video.h13.html | title = Coalition To Develop Rating System for Video Games | first = Mark | last = Walsh | date = December 15, 1993 | accessdate = October 31, 2018 | work = [[Education Week]] | archive-date = November 8, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201108111115/https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1993/12/15/15video.h13.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
* ''Bazooka Blitzkrieg''
* ''[[The Hunt for Red October (console game)|The Hunt for Red October]]'' (only used for bonus games)
* ''[[Lamborghini American Challenge]]'' (features an optional Super Scope-exclusive mode)
* ''[[Lemmings 2: The Tribes]]'' (secret easter egg allowing the Super Scope to destroy lemmings)
* ''[[Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge]]''
* ''[[Operation Thunderbolt (video game)|Operation Thunderbolt]]'' (also compatible with a standard controller or the [[Super NES Mouse]])
* ''[[Super Scope 6]]'' (bundled with the hardware)
* ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day (arcade game)|T2: The Arcade Game]]'' (also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse)
* ''[[Tin Star (video game)|Tin Star]]''
* ''[[X-Zone]]''
* ''[[Yoshi's Safari]]''
Some Super NES titles will display an incompatibility notice if it detects the Super Scope receiver connected to the console.


== Legacy ==
The Super Scope has made cameo appearances in other Nintendo games, including as a recurring item in the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series beginning with ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' (2001),<ref>{{cite web | last=Trammell | first=David | title=Super Smash Bros. Melee Hands-on Preview | website=Nintendo World Report | date=May 21, 2001 | url=https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/2596/super-smash-bros-melee-gamecube | access-date=August 1, 2025 | archive-date=September 6, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906230355/https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/2596/super-smash-bros-melee-gamecube | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Pattison | first=Narayan | title=Smash Bros. Brawl AU Review | website=IGN | date=June 24, 2008 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/06/24/smash-bros-brawl-au-review | access-date=August 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Super Smash Bros. Melee | website=IGN | date=November 28, 2001 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/11/28/super-smash-bros-melee-2 | access-date=August 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=LaBella | first=Anthony | title=Super Smash Bros. (3DS) Item List | website=GameRevolution | date=October 16, 2014 | url=https://www.gamerevolution.com/guides/65728-super-smash-bros-3ds-item-list | access-date=August 1, 2025 | archive-date=April 11, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250411152713/https://www.gamerevolution.com/guides/65728-super-smash-bros-3ds-item-list | url-status=live }}</ref> as a microgame element in the ''[[WarioWare]]'' series,<ref name=movie/> and as the visual inspiration for the S-BLAST weapons in ''[[Splatoon 3]]'' (2022).<ref>{{cite web | last=Price | first=Leigh | title=See the SNES Super Scope Inspired Splatoon 3 Weapon | website=Siliconera | date=May 17, 2023 | url=https://www.siliconera.com/see-the-snes-super-scope-inspired-splatoon-3-weapon/ | access-date=August 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Norman | first=Jim | title=Splatoon 3: Chill Season 2023 - Every New Weapon, Stage, Feature | website=Nintendo Life | date=December 1, 2023 | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/splatoon-3-chill-season-2023-every-new-weapon-stage-feature | access-date=August 1, 2025 | archive-date=May 31, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250531053437/https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/splatoon-3-chill-season-2023-every-new-weapon-stage-feature | url-status=live }}</ref>
The Super Scope is a recurring item in the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series, appearing in every game since ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. When picked up, it acts as a projectile weapon that fires a continuous stream of small shots when the attack button is tapped repeatedly, or fires one large shot if the attack button is held down.


The [[Nintendo Switch]] game ''[[Splatoon 3]]'' feature a pair of in-game weapons, the S-BLAST '91 and S-BLAST '92, modeled after the Super Scope. The S-BLAST '91 is light gray with a purple barrel, matching the color scheme of the North American Super NES control deck, while the S-BLAST '92 is dark gray with a red barrel like the actual Super Scope transmitter.
In 2020, a hobbyist developer created a hardware mod to allow the Super Scope to be used with modern televisions.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lawler | first=Richard | title=Modder's DIY project makes the SNES Super Scope work on your flat TV | website=Engadget | date=October 28, 2020 | url=https://www.engadget.com/element14-snes-super-scope-raspberry-pi-mod-013115973.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101030829/https://www.engadget.com/element14-snes-super-scope-raspberry-pi-mod-013115973.html | archive-date=November 1, 2020 | url-status=live | access-date=August 12, 2025}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 100: Line 133:
*[[Menacer]] – A similar light gun peripheral by [[Sega]] for their [[Sega Genesis|Genesis]] platform
*[[Menacer]] – A similar light gun peripheral by [[Sega]] for their [[Sega Genesis|Genesis]] platform
*[[Konami Justifier|The Justifier]] – A light gun peripheral by [[Konami]] for the Super NES and Genesis for use with ''[[Lethal Enforcers]]''
*[[Konami Justifier|The Justifier]] – A light gun peripheral by [[Konami]] for the Super NES and Genesis for use with ''[[Lethal Enforcers]]''
==Notes==
{{notelist}}


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 00:16, 22 November 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Infobox information appliance

The Template:Nihongo foot known as the Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is a light gun peripheral created by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is able to aim and fire at targets on a screen by connecting to a small infrared receiver module placed on top of the television. The peripheral was released in 1992 and packaged with the video game Super Scope 6. However, only twelve total games were compatible with the device, all released between 1992 and 1994.

Overview

Design

File:Nintendo scope.jpg
European model with orange firing button
File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Bisected.jpg
The inside of the Super Scope

The Super Scope is a bazooka-shaped device, just under Template:Cvt long.[1] Unlike its predecessor, the NES Zapper, the Super Scope does not use a wired connection to the system and instead requires six AA batteries for power.[1] Located about midway on top of the barrel are the "Fire" button, the "Pause" button, and the device's power switch, which can also be used to activate turbo fire.[2] In the middle on either side are two clips for attaching the sight.[2] At the far end of the gun, on the bottom, is a Template:Cvt grip with another button labeled "Cursor"; holding this button and pressing "Fire" twice will reset any game to the title screen.[3]

On the end is the infrared receiver lens, approximately Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter, which picks up the light from a TV.[4] The sight mount is shaped like a wide, very shallow "U", about five inches long. The end that faces toward the shoulder mount end of the Super Scope has a round open cylinder holder, where the eyepiece goes. The other end has a short, narrow tube, which forms the sight when one looks through the eyepiece that is in-line across from it. The end of the eyepiece is very simple: it is a cylinder with the diameter of a quarter, with a removable rubber piece through which the shooter looks. The sight is designed so that the aim will be correct at a distance of Script error: No such module "convert"..

The Super Scope comes packaged with a small infrared receiver module, Template:Cvt in size, with a standard Super NES controller cord attached. On the front is an oval-shaped black area, receding back from the two sides to an infrared transmitter about the size of a dime. The receiver must be placed above the screen and connected to the system's second controller port for play.[3]

Functionality

File:Nintendo-SNES-Super-Scope-Receiver.jpg
The receiver module that plugs into controller port, meant to sit on top of the TV

The Super Scope makes use of the scanning process used in cathode-ray-tube monitors, as CRTs were the only widely used TV monitors until the early 2000s. On a CRT, the screen is drawn by a scanning electron beam that travels horizontally across each line of the screen from top to bottom. A fast photodiode will see any particular area of the screen illuminated only briefly as that point is scanned, while the human eye will see a consistent image due to persistence of vision.[1]

The Super Scope interprets this by outputting a 0 signal when it sees the television raster scan and a 1 signal when it does not. Inside the console, this signal is delivered to the PPU, which notes which screen pixel it is outputting at the moment the signal transitions from 1 to 0. At the end of the frame, the game software can retrieve this stored position to determine where on the screen the gun was aimed.[1] Most licensed Super Scope games include a calibration mode to account for both electrical delays and maladjustment of the gunsight.[4]

The Super Scope ignores red light, as do many guns of this type because red phosphors have a much slower rate of decay than green or blue phosphors.[4] Since the Super Scope depends on the short persistence and scan pattern of CRT pixels, it will not function with modern displays (such as plasma screens or LCDs) that continuously light each pixel.[1]

History

The Super Scope was released in North America and the PAL region in 1992, followed by a limited release in Japan in 1993.[2][5] The peripheral came bundled with the video game Super Scope 6, which was created to demonstrate the device's functionality.[2]

Compatible games

Only 12 games were released that feature Super Scope compatibility, half of which require the accessory for play.[2] Certain games released after the Super Scope—such as Yoshi's Island and Kirby Super Star—display a warning message indicating that the game is incompatible if it detects the receiver is plugged in.[6]

Super Scope compatible games
Title Year Publisher Required Note
Battle Clash 1992 Nintendo Yes
Bazooka Blitzkrieg 1992 Bandai Yes
Script error: No such module "sort". 1993 Hi-Tech Expressions, Inc. No Only used for bonus games[2]
Lamborghini American Challenge 1993 Titus France No Features an optional Super Scope-exclusive mode[2]
Lemmings 2: The Tribes 1994 Psygnosis No A secret easter egg allows the Super Scope to destroy lemmings[2]
Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge 1993 Nintendo Yes
Operation Thunderbolt 1994 Taito No Also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse[2]
Super Scope 6 1992 Nintendo Yes Packaged with the Super Scope[2]
T2: The Arcade Game 1993 Acclaim Entertainment No Also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse[2]
Tin Star 1994 Nintendo No Also compatible with a standard controller or the Super NES Mouse[2]
X-Zone 1993 Kemco Yes
Yoshi's Safari 1993 Nintendo Yes

Mario & Wario was also planned to support the accessory, but this was dropped before release.[7]

Legacy

In response to the Super Scope, Sega would release their own light gun peripheral for the Sega Genesis, the Menacer, later the same year.[8]

A Super Scope was used as a prop in the live-action Super Mario Bros. film (1993), representing King Koopa's "Devo gun". Images from the film were used to promote the Super Scope's 1993 release in Japan.[5][9]

During the 1993–94 United States Senate hearings on video games, Senator Joe Lieberman used the Super Scope as evidence of video games promoting violence among children, citing the peripheral's resemblance to a real assault weapon.[10]

The Super Scope has made cameo appearances in other Nintendo games, including as a recurring item in the Super Smash Bros. series beginning with Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001),[11][12][13][14] as a microgame element in the WarioWare series,[5] and as the visual inspiration for the S-BLAST weapons in Splatoon 3 (2022).[15][16]

In 2020, a hobbyist developer created a hardware mod to allow the Super Scope to be used with modern televisions.[17]

See also

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

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