If you haven’t heard about the news yet, there’s a new plug & play light gun system on the way from a new player in the field, Tassei Denki, who just recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund their first official system, called G’AIM’E (pronounced GAME.)

This system boasts compatibility with any HD monitor as well as no requirement for mounted sensors or on-screen borders, as well as the official license from Namco for four of their most popular light gun titles from yesteryear, all contained in one little box.

Last week at PAX West, I got a chance to personally check out the new G’AIM’E light gun system to see what it’s all about and learn more from the team who developed the system to see how it compares to other options on the market and how it performed from a technical standpoint.

While I only got to spend about 40 minutes with the system, I got a pretty good idea of how the whole thing functioned, and although I didn’t get a chance to do full playthroughs of all four of the included games, but played a decent amount of each one.

The package consists of a light gun (or two, depending which package you get,) a foot pedal, and the console itself, which is only about the size of a CD jewel case, but it contains a pretty impressive assortment of games and technology within.

When you first boot it up, you’ll go through a quick calibration process, where you shoot at 8 targets on the screen, which is then saved to the gun based on your position to the screen. The system uses a high-res camera to determine the position, similar to some other modern PC light guns, but also has an advanced algorithm programmed into it so it can accurately triangulate where you’re aiming with only very little visual info from the camera, after your settings are saved.

Even if there’s a physical obstruction in the way of the screen, it won’t affect your aim, using the technology they’ve programmed it with, and it supports displays up to 150”, which means it should also work with projector screens if you want to try it out that way!

The gun also features a rumble motor for recoil/feedback, and while it isn’t super tactile or strong feedback (compared to something like a Time Crisis arcade machine) it still adds a bit of extra immersion. There’s an options menu after calibration that lets you choose the game and also tweak some of the settings like difficulty and whether you want an on-screen crosshair or not.

I got the chance to try out all four of the included games, which are Time Crisis, Point Blank, Steel Gunner, and Steel Gunner 2, and all 4 of them worked quite well in the short time I got to spend. The foot pedal was far from arcade spec, but it functioned well and didn’t really move around, even on a carpeted floor.

I’m anxiously awaiting spending some more time with the unit when it arrives for full review in the near future, but the first impressions here were quite impressive, even from a long-time light gun gamer like myself. The cost of the units is quite reasonable for what you get in the package, and even though it only currently supports four games, there’s always a possibility for more Namco games to be added in the future, though there’s no guarantees there.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth review and testing soon, and check out the official website for more details. The packages are available for pre-order now on the Kickstarter page and should ship in October for those wanting to get their hands on the unit as soon as possible.