Super Scope

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.<ref name=NLife>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<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 Template:Cvt grip with another button labeled "Cursor"; holding this button and pressing "Fire" twice will reset any game to the title screen.<ref name=manual>Template:Cite book</ref>

On the end is the infrared receiver lens, approximately Template:Convert 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 Template: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.<ref name=manual/>

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.<ref name=NLife/>

The Super Scope interprets this by outputting a Template:Code signal when it sees the television raster scan and a Template:Code 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 Template:Code to Template:Code. At the end of the 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 gunsight.<ref name="snesdev">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<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 screens or LCDs) that continuously light each pixel.<ref name=NLife/>

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>Template:Cite web</ref> The peripheral came bundled with the video game Super Scope 6, which was created to demonstrate the device's functionality.<ref name=RG/>

Compatible games

Only 12 games were released that featured Super Scope compatibility, half of which required the accessory for play.<ref name=RG>Template:Cite magazine</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>Template:Cite web</ref>

Super Scope compatible games

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

Mario & Wario was also planned to support the accessory, but this was dropped before release.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name=movie/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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>Template:Cite news</ref>

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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, a hobbyist developer created a hardware mod to allow the Super Scope to be used with modern televisions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Zapper - A light gun peripheral for the original NES
• Menacer – A similar light gun peripheral by Sega for their Genesis platform
• The Justifier – A light gun peripheral by Konami for the Super NES and Genesis for use with Lethal Enforcers