If you were playing video games back in the 1980s, you probably remember the game where you pointed a NES Zapper at ducks and tried to shoot them. You probably know this game that came out in 1985 as Duck Hunt and you probably remember that annoying dog that would laugh at you when you missed. And that’s all you were probably thinking about as well. Thoughts of, how exactly does this game work? may never have crossed your mind, but think about it now, are you curious?
A friend on my floor of the dorm brought back her old Nintendo system after winter break and with it 
came the classic game Duck Hunt. Of course, there are intense versions for the Wii or Xbox360 of this game, but I’m talking about the first one–the one with the sketch-like characters, the least complicated version of them all. I was watching some guys on the floor play the game, and it amazed me, how did the Nintendo know that they were shooting at the duck? I asked the question, and no one could tell me, or perhaps they were too into their game, but I took the opportunity to do some research and found out how this game works!
At first you would think that the gun shoots the TV, but in reality and according to an article on The Straight Dope, the gun isn’t shooting the TV, it’s the other way around. The NES Zapper is a light gun, so when you pull the trigger, the entire screen blackens briefly and a white duck flashes on the screen where the duck(s) are located. If your aim is good, then the photo sensor in the light gun detects the shift from dark to light and you have a hit. If you watch, you’ll see your screen flash for a split second. How Stuff Works has a great article about light guns and how they work.
Now I finally can sit there watching them play the game without making myself go crazy about how the system knows where the gun is pointing!
