GunCon

The Gunconhttp://timecrisis3.namco.com/news/details/?6] (often spelled "GunCon", a portmanteau of "Gun Controller"), known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of light gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles.

Background

The first Guncon (G-Con 45 in Europe) (Sony ID: SLEH-00007) was bundled with the PlayStation conversion of "Time Crisis". A second version of the Guncon, known as the Guncon 2 (G-Con 2 in Europe), was bundled with the PlayStation 2 conversion of "Time Crisis II". "Time Crisis 4" came out for the Playstation 3 bundled with the Guncon 3 [ [http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:52277 Time Crisis 4 + GunCon] ] [ [http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/time-crisis-4-coming-to-ps3-yeah-247276.php "Time Crisis 4 Coming To PS3? Yeah."] ] [ [http://games.kikizo.com/news/200601/127.asp "Namco's latest update to the much-loved shooting series exposed in this set of shakycam gameplay videos - plus PS3 conversion plans leaked?"] ] [ [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=160616 "Lightgun shooter heading to Sony's console, claim US retailers"] ] (G-Con 3 in Europe [http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=487 Three Speech » TIME CRISIS 4 PRESS RELEASE ] ] ).

Prior to the Guncon, the Konami Justifier was the first light gun peripheral for the PlayStation and a few games support it. With the exception of the North American localization of "Elemental Gearbolt" and "Maximum Force", [ [http://www.gamespot.com/ps/action/maximumforce/review.html?sid=2548237&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1 Playing Maximum Force is a one-time deal.] ] games that support the Justifier are not compatible with the Guncon and vice versa.

Differences

Both the Guncon and Guncon 2 utilize the special memory chip behind the lens of the muzzle to change and refresh the image every time the player moves the muzzle to other areas of the screen—allowing the gun to be accurate every time the player utilizes it.

The Guncon 3 utilizes two infrared LEDs as markers, placed on the left and right sides of the screen. An image sensor in the muzzle tracks the markers as reference points for determining where the gun is pointing on the screen. As opposed to the Guncon and Guncon 2 (which were only compatible with CRT-based displays), the Guncon 3 supports a wide variety of display types, including LCD and HDTV. [cite web |url=http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/06/how_the_guncon_.html
title=How The GunCon 3 Will Work: It's a Wiimote |accessdate=2007-06-16 |author= |last=Kohler |first=Chris |authorlink=Chris Kohler |coauthors= |date=June 13, 2007 |work=Game Life |publisher=Wired |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

The Guncon featured a supplemental button on each side which performed only one additional function. The Guncon 2 had three buttons and a control pad on the back of the gun which the player can have more than one function.

The Guncon 3 features a "sub-grip", mounted underneath the barrel and extending to the side for use with the left hand. On the sub-grip is an analog stick and two shoulder buttons, like in a modern gamepad. At the back end of the gun barrel is another analog stick and two buttons underneath. Another two buttons are placed along the left side of the barrel. Fact|date=June 2007 The analog sticks allow the player to play first-person shooting games with manual aiming/firing of the light gun.In regards to appearance, all Japanese Guncon controllers feature a black coloring, though due to a California toy gun law passed in 2004Fact|date=August 2008, the US/PAL release of the Guncon 3 was changed to a bright orange plastic. This controller has been criticised for being uncomfortable for left-handed gamers.

Games supporting the Guncon

"This section talks about various PlayStation games compatible with one or more versions of Namco's Guncon controller. See the complete list of light gun games on the PlayStation 2 for a complete list of light gun games."

Guncon compatible games

The Guncon 2 is not compatible with the Playstation as it has no regular PS-port but USB only, meaning the following games only work with the original Guncon.
*"Area 51 (video game)"
*"Elemental Gearbolt"
*"Ghoul Panic"
*""
*"Maximum Force"
*"Moorhuhn" series
*"Point Blank" series
*"Rescue Shot"
*"" "Japanese and PAL versions only."
*"Time Crisis"
*""

Guncon 2 compatible games

Many Guncon 2 (PS2) games are compatible with the original Guncon. The only limitation is if the game utilized the extra buttons on the Guncon 2.
*"Death Crimson OX+" (JP)
*"Dino Stalker"
*"Endgame"
*"Guncom 2" (EU)
*"" (EU)
*"" (JP)
*"Gunvari Collection + Time Crisis" (JP)
*"Ninja Assault"
*""
*"" (EU)
*"Starsky & Hutch"
*"Time Crisis II"
*"Time Crisis 3"
*""
*"Vampire Night"
*"Virtua Cop Re-Birth" (JP)
*"" (EU)

Guncon 3 compatible games

*"Time Crisis 4"

References

ee also

*List of light gun games
* [http://www.blood-is-red.de/wiki/wikka.php?wakka=LightGunGCon45 List of all GunCon45 compatible games (German)]