This Is How the NES Zapper Peripheral Actually Works

The NES Zapper was an incredibly cool peripheral for a video game console in the ’80s. Using some clever technology, it was able to track, with surprising accuracy, shots fired at on-screen targets in a time way before the Wii Remote revisited the concept of physically pointing your controller at the screen. You’ve probably at least guessed at how it worked in the past, but the specifics of the technology are pretty ingenious.

Of course, this isn’t exactly new information, but this video from Today I Found Out on YouTube is a good rundown of a bit of video game trivia of which you might not have known the technical aspects.

Additional hint: The gun works even better—by which I mean you’ll have better aim—if you sit really close to the screen, but that’s ****** cheating. Full cord distance or nothing.

(image via screengrab)

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