Hands-on Preview: NES Time Breaker Light Gun from SoCal Gaming Expo
The NES Time Breaker prototype model
This year at the SoCal Gaming Expo in Pasadena, CA, we had a chance to meet with lots of light gun fans and share our love for this genre, including many local gamers, influencers, and industry personalities. We also had a chance to catch up with Intec Gaming, who recently released their new Time Breaker series of light guns, with the first release being the PS1/PS2 Time Breaker.
While they did have a new firmware update for the PS1/PS2 version of the gun, which should be releasing soon (and aims to reduce the wireless latency and improve accuracy,) they were also able to show us their new light gun for the NES, which is shaping up to hold an interesting place in the market for retro light gun solutions, and we got to try out several different games with it during our visit.
An updated prototype with added buttons (not representative of final design)
Even though it’s still in a prototyping phase, with the designs we got to use still being works-in-progress, it’s already shaping up to be a unique solution for retro game fans who want to keep their old light gun libraries alive. Unlike the attempt that Hyperkin made a few years ago with their NES light gun solution called the Hyper Blaster HD (which only worked for Duck Hunt and had many other limitations,) Intec is taking a very different approach.
The prototype guns we got to use felt great and fairly closely resembled the NES Zapper, but with a few extra bells and whistles, a rechargeable battery, and no wires. They’ve added some dials for fine-tuning the aim of the gun as well as start and select buttons on the gun itself, making it a little easier to use without having an extra controller plugged in, which is a nice addition for convenience.
The Time Breaker NES console
As to how it works, the gun will come packaged with a sensor that goes on top of the TV for reading the aim, and an NES clone console that was specifically built for use with these guns. It’s nice that the console itself is being included here, as it becomes an all-in-one package that includes everything except the games themselves, and makes it pretty easy to set up and use. The console has one NES controller port for connecting a controller in the case of games that require one in addition to the Zapper, and a USB slot that’s used for the wireless receiver that powers the gun.
There’s a USB-C power port and an HDMI port in the back, as well as a switch to change the display from 16:9 widescreen to 4:3 picture size, and this makes for a bit of a caveat in that you won’t be able to use this natively on your CRT TVs, unless it’s one of the CRT widescreen models that has an HDMI port on it. While some video converters could technically be utilized to use the gun on 4:3 CRTs, converters can sometimes introduce lag, which is not what you want for light gun games.
Other side of the NES Time Breaker, showing the aim adjustment dials
When playing the games, you’ll have an on-screen crosshair for your aim if you want it, but it can also be turned off, and this already makes it a bit of a step up from the feel of the PS1/PS2 Time Breaker, since it gives a better idea of where you’re aiming at all times, and it seemed to have less latency than the PS1/PS2 guns in general. I got to play several games including Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley, and Wild Gunman, where it worked quite well on all of the games, especially when set to the 4:3 display mode, and the team informed me that they’ve been testing the gun and console for compatibility with all NES Zapper-compatible games.
Check out the video below to see the gun in action!
While there is no price set in stone for the package as of yet, this is already the best solution we’ve got for wirelessly playing NES light gun games on modern displays, and they’re planning to launch in October of this year. We’ll be keeping up to date with the team as development progresses, so stay tuned for a full review closer to the launch time, and I’m hoping this can become a go-to solution for those wanting to keep their old NES Zapper titles alive without a CRT monitor.