The NES Light Gun

In Hardware

One of the most annoying things about the gun for the NES is the constant clicking sound. I've gone in and seen that it is plastic, and when it's squeezed and released, causes that clicking sound. I can't figure out any way to get it not to click. Has anyone here modified their light gun so that it won't click anymore?

Ha, I like the clicking sound. Makes the shooting feel more "solid", so I've never even thought about it. I have several Zappers....I might open one.



wow u must be bothered easily...
i personally as well like the clicking sound but u know whatever u want to try



it's not so much the clicking that annoys me, as the twang kind of sound when the spring releases. I'll crack one open in a few minutes and update right here with my findings.

Update: OK, I've got the zapper open in front of me, and have one possible solution, and a second that needs some more thought, time for testing.

Update #2: OK, it doesn't click OR twang anymore, but there is a downside... and that is that it doesn't fire until you release the trigger, but that is the fault of the switch used for the gun. you can try it, if it doesn't work to your liking I suppose you can always undo it.

This is my rendition of the trigger mech inside the zapper for lack of a camera


Legend:

squiggly mess = springs

white triangle looking piece = piece that we need to prevent from moving

blue spot = place to glue/put screw to prevent piece from moving.

basically... just stop that piece from moving, and it won't click anymore.


hopefully it works to your liking.

if you have any questions about it just ask, I know the picture is terrible, but so are my art skillz

Hmmm... I've messed with that before... I'll give it a shot later tonite and see if I can get it to work! Thanks, NES-Luke!

I've tested it quite a bit, it works just fine. the clicking sound comes from something snapping back after the white piece in the image above releases, and when it releases it lets go of the trigger button in the Zapper which fires the gun. it's a sacrifice whether you want it to fire normally, or if the click/twang is irritating enough for you to just release the button to make it fire.

personally I didn't find it to be too much of an issue to have it fire on release. although I'm going to look into replacing the button entirely to see if I can make it work normally without the click.

I personally like the clicking.
When you don't hear anything there's no "feeling" of really shooting.

You could turn loud music on, so you won't hear the clicking any more.



I could... The only problem is that I live in an apartment building, and I like to listen to the game music when I play. They don't mind hearing my obnoxious Cryptopsy, or Parliament, but I think blasting The Adventures of Bayou Billy or Freedom Force would drive my neighbors insane!

Apartments are not good for such things.
In Munich (where I study) I have now a whole house for myself , so I can turn on music quite loud. And still louder when I want. That's great.
I also have lived in a little flat some time. Man, that's annoying. No loud noise after 10p.m.

Well, I finally got around to trying it out, and I don't have a screw small enough to place in there. I suppose this is a project that will have to wait for me. Once I get a screw, I'll give it a shot! Thanks for the help!

This is a useless reply to this post, I'm just putting my bit in

The loud click, yep it makes the gun feel solid.

The twang noise....COME ON ITS GREAT! If you hit the trigger quick enough the twang turns into a kinda PEEE-CH-EEEAAAAWWWWNNN! (like the noise that bullets would make when they hit off rocks in cowboy movies).

It totally adds to the effect when you are hiding behind the couch so the ducks dont see you coming.

...... Okay, maybe thats just me

Be happy you got to use yours, my cousin gave me his and it's broken. When you put it in, the NES acts as if there is no contrller but I like to fool around and press to hear the clicking noice. How could you hate it

My grandmother's lightgun would only work if you held it upside down. And the trigger was basically silent. I think it got this way because of one of my cousins spilling a soda on the lightgun during a Gumshoe marathon.

So you can experiment with some sodas, differnt flavors even?? Sorry for not having helpful input.

Ha! Maybe I'll try grape or cherry!

I seem to be the loner on the annoyance level of the light gun! Oh well...



No, we're a team!

I certainly think the sound is annoying, but I don't really want a silent gun. I like t meo have the response noise to let know I press it and missed because I mis-aimed. It's like tyring to make a silent keyboard. You almos need some kind of noise responding to your press, well I do at least. There is some kind of mental dependency, maybe not dependency but something, that needs the noise. At least I think so...there has to be some reason that WIndows XP has those darn clicking noises for the menus and things. I almost bought a slew of light guns today to test on, but they were 5.99 a piece at my local ebgames and that was too pricey for me at the moment.