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Duck Hunt Remade In VR As Light Gun Games Get A Second Chance
It took a 21-year-old New Jersey Institute of Technology student to put a fine point on one of virtual reality’s potential uses. Joseph Delgado has adapted the Nintendo Entertainment System’s Duck Hunt.
The endeavor required a Razer Hydra motion controller and a 3D-printed mount for its sensor to ensure optimal accuracy. All of this was part of the Global Game Jam 2016, which took place in late January.
The event was held at a number of physical hub locations in 93 countries, bringing together more than 36,000 creators. Those participating generated nearly 6,800 games, all under a 48-hour time constraint. You can play some of the resulting games, all of which share a common “Ritual” theme, on the Global Gam Jam website.
While Duck Hunt might be the purest expression of light gun fun, in our jaunt through numerous virtual reality demos, it became clear the genre has new life. Arizona Sunshine (our preview), designed for Vive and other motion-controlled, room-sized VR solutions, puts players in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Oculus’ Dead & Buried is a shooting range designed for the company’s Touch controllers.
While these recent creations don’t entirely resemble the Time Crisis and House of the Dead games on which we were weaned, they share common DNA. What VR offers is more authentic iron sight aiming, and the general immersion benefits that the technology brings to bear.
Delgado says he’s planning on releasing his Duck Hunt conversion for free. A Vive port is likely, since the current setup requires a specialized set of equipment not likely available to most.
[Source: Joseph Delgado via Gizmodo]
Our Take
While technology and game design have evolved far beyond the light gun shooter, the features that VR affords could yield fertile ground for a resurgence. Lets just hope that the campy, cheesy, and often terrible voice acting from games like House of the Dead is well behind us.
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