Not Every Project Can Be a Win

This story started many years ago when I had more hair, more kidneys, and more patience. I’ve always loved playing shooting games in the arcade; Police Trainer, Point Blank, and Time Crisis were always at the top of my list. Playing those games at home has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager in Southern California.

Home solutions exist that let you pair an original Sega gun or a Wiimote with emulators on an LCD TV. However, getting them to work is a real challenge, as you need adapters, drivers, additional software, and original, working hardware. Since original hardware can run as high as $250 on eBay, that was a no-go.

Then one day, a Kickstarter for the Sinden Light Gun appeared. It promised to be the solution to all our problems and was advertised as being plug-and-play while emulating a mouse. I immediately dropped the cash and became giddy with excitement.

After it arrived, I plugged it into my gaming PC and read the basic setup instructions. It was a mouse - a glorified mouse. Part of the setup required maxing out the mouse speed settings so there would be no lag as the gun (cursor) moved from target to target. It sort of worked, but any reflection or ambient light in the room would cause it to fail miserably. The main complaint from users was that lag and reflections rendered its basic functionality useless.

After that disappointment, the community began talking about Gun4IR. This looked promising, and it was just enough to get my hopes up again. I could build a gun with my 3D printer, do some basic wiring and programming, and even customize it to have a physical response after every shot. I got to work sourcing parts, printing, and installing IR LEDs around the edges of my TV.

Unsurprisingly, it was a pain in the ass to set up. Although it worked flawlessly in the Gun4IR calibration GUI, plugging it into my MiSTer was an endless, frustrating fight. I gave up, and it sat in a drawer for years.

Since I’m home for a month, the project was dusted off for another go. I even downloaded a pre-configured ISO with a Launchbox collection of light gun games built with the Gun4IR and Sinden in mind. This package included all the necessary drivers and software, supposedly making for an easy, out-of-the-box experience.

Long story short: It’s in the garbage. I’m done.

Between messing with Windows 11 nonsense and tweaking everything to the nth degree, the response is janky and full of lag. I managed to play a few rounds of Duck Hunt, but the gun makes you feel like you’re waiting for the cursor to catch up. It still feels like playing with a mouse. In fact, playing with a mouse would be much easier - that’s actually plug-and-play.

Maybe one day my childhood dream will come true.