Light Phaser

The Light Phaser is a light gun controller created for the Sega Master System, modeled after the Zillion gun from the Japanese anime series of the same name. It was used in several games, including Safari Hunt which was built into version 2.4 of the Master System BIOS. It was released in the UK in August 1987 at a price of £44.95.

The Light Phaser consists of a light sensor in the tip of the gun, which is focused on a small area of the screen; and a trigger (which corresponds to Control Pad button 1). When the trigger is pulled, the game flashes the screen in a way that is detectable by the light sensor, and hardware built in to the console allows the game to determine where the gun is pointing. The phaser is heavier than its Nintendo counterpart, the Nintendo Zapper, but considered by some to have a more responsive trigger and more accurate targeting.

The standard Light Phaser is entirely black. As with the Nintendo Zapper, the Light Phaser looked realistic enough to warrant parental pressure to alter the device, so that police would not confuse it with a real gun. Altered Light Phasers are distinguished by a hand-painted neon orange tip, and are much rarer than their solid color counterparts. Tec Toy also released a blue Light Phaser in Brazil. In that same country in 2009, an unaltered Light Phaser was used to hold a woman hostage [1].

As with all light guns, the Light Phaser was designed solely for CRT television sets, which were the standard for televisions during the 1980s and 1990s. The Light Phaser will struggle with LCD, LED or Plasma televisions or monitors, as well as projection screens.

Hardware

Pinout

Pin	Signal	Dir	description
1	Up		n/c
2	Down		n/c
3	Left		n/c
4	Right		n/c
5	VCC
6	TL	IN	trigger
7	TH	IN	light sensor
8	Gnd		ground
9	TR		n/c

Notes

The controller ports are active-low (this is achieved in hardware by leaving lines unconnected when inactive, and connecting them to Gnd when active):

• 1 in the corresponding port register means "not pressed" or "dark"
• 0 in the corresponding port register means "pressed" or "light"

Compatible Game List

• Assault City (also compatible with standard control pad)
• Gangster Town
• Laser Ghost
• Marksman Shooting
• Missile Defense 3-D
• Operation: Wolf
• Rambo III
• Rescue Mission
• Safari Hunt
• Shooting Gallery
• Space Gun
• Trap Shooting
• Wanted!

Gallery

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  BR model

Physical Scans

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  DE box (front)

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  BR box (front)