Nintendo Kôsenjû Duck Hunt - How it works

In a previous post, we saw what Nintendo's Kôsenjû Duck Hunt (光線銃 ダックハント) is capable of: it projects life-like flying ducks, that crash down when hit by the light-beam shotgun.

Today we will take a peek inside this wonderful machine, to try and understand how it actually works.

Nintendo Kôsenjû Duck Hunt (1976)

Duck Hunt is an electro-mechanical toy from 1976. It combines various technologies Nintendo developed for the Laser Clay Shooting System as well as for Kôsenjû SP and Kôsenjû Custom light-beam guns and targets.

Nintendo's engineers managed to pack all this technology into a small, relatively affordable device, fit for home use.

Nintendo Kôsenjû Duck Hunt (光線銃 ダックハント, 1976)

Duck Hunt is one of the classic Nintendo 8-bit video games. It was released in Japan in 1984, about one year after the introduction of the Family Computer.

Duck Hunt (ダックハント) was part of the Family Computer Video Shooting Series (光線銃シリーズ), together with Hogan's Alley (ホーガンズアレイ) and Wild Gunman (ワイルドガンマン).

These games were played with a pistol-style light Gun (ガン), which could be bought loose or in a set together with the Wild Gunman game.

Nintendo Family Computer Gun and Duck Hunt (1984)

In Europe and the US, Duck Hunt was probably even more well known than in Japan. Included as pack-in game with, amongst others, the popular Action Set version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, it reached millions and millions of homes. The Western version of the game was identical to the Japanese, but was played with a differently shaped, more futuristically looking light gun, called the Zapper.

The Famicom/NES Duck Hunt isn't the first one, however. Eight years before, Nintendo already introduced a duck hunt simulation under the same name.

Nintendo Duck Hunt (1976) and Nintendo Duck Hunt (1984)

This original Nintendo Duck Hunt saw the light of day already in 1976.