Menacer question

[Joe Redifer]

I have a question about everybody's most favoritist peripheral EVER in the history of all time, the Sega Menacer. Now while most people in the world purchased 3 or 4 Menacers even if they didn't have a Sega system of any sort, I never bothered to get one and it was never available for rent. So I put this question to you:

Does the screen flash when you pull/press the trigger?

Every other light gun I've ever seen caused the screen to flash for 1/60th of a second as a means of figuring out where you are pointed. Every light gun except the SNES Super Scope 6. No flash. WTF? Since Sega ripped off the Super Scope 6, I was wondering if they ripped off the technology as well.

Does it flash?

[Obviously]

The screen doesn't flash because the Menacer isn't really a light gun, it's infared. You need to plug an infared sensor into your Genesis which is the downside. The plus side is menacer games allow you to move a targetting reticle around the screen which is something light guns can't do.

[David J.]

I have one, and have owned it for 10 years or so, but I've never really used it. Mine came with T2, and a friend got one, and his came with the Menacer 6 in one cart. I've seen so many loose 6 in one carts it's not even funny, but no menacers!

Ironically when I did buy the six in one cart a few years ago, the clerk asked me if I had the gun, instead of just selling me the cart right away. Maybe someone bought it in the past, and returned it because they didn't have a menacer.

The lack of games really sucked, and no Body Count wasn't released in the states. The scans you see online are mockups.

[Joe Redifer]

The screen doesn't flash because the Menacer isn't really a light gun, it's infared. You need to plug an infared sensor into your Genesis which is the downside. The plus side is menacer games allow you to move a targetting reticle around the screen which is something light guns can't do.
The light guns on the Dreamcast allowed me to move the cursor around without flashing. Of course it only did it in the calibration mode.

Since the Superscope 6 and Menacer are infrared, why won't they work with LCD TVs?

[Obviously]

I don't know the answer to that one, but the Menacer is indeed infared.

[Joe Redifer]

I'm not saying you're wrong, I just wanna know! To me it seems like they should work. I tried a Superscope 6 on an LCD TV and it was a no-go. I should try the Superscope on a CRT HDTV.

[Elusive]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_gun

should answer all your questions. :)

LCD TVs don't work with some lightguns because they use trickery with electrons moving in the cathode ray tube in 'big-box' TV sets. LCDs don't have this.

[Joe Redifer]

Yes, but the Superscope 6 and Menacer aren't light guns, remember?

[raskar42]

I assume the menacer won't work on master system games played through the genesis power base.

how about the justifier, can you use it instead of the light phaser?
or vise versa?

[David J.]

I assume the menacer won't work on master system games played through the genesis power base.

how about the justifier, can you use it instead of the light phaser?
or vise versa?

Yes to question one, and No to question two. The Light Phaser is for SMS gun games only. Conversely, you can’t use the Menacer to work with Justifier games, and the Justifier will not work with Menacer-only games.

[Joe Redifer]

Just to be a bit more clear, you can only use the Light Phaser for SMS games.

[capi1010]

Yes, but the Superscope 6 and Menacer aren't light guns, remember?


According to wikipedia, Menacer is a light gun. It uses the infrared to relay signals as opposed to a wires. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menacer.

It was cool to use in T2 Judgement Day, not enough game support.

[Joe Redifer]

Light guns require a screen flash. Wikipedia needs to get its head out of its ass.

[raskar42]

sorry I'm slow.

the justifier will work on sms games on the power based genesis?

I just want to verify this yay or nay before I go ebaying.

[Fonzie]

I'm pretty sure the justifier don't need any flashing to work... it just reac to the tv tube's beam. The flashing was just here for fun. But that's offtopic :)
About the menacer, bodycount also supported it? Really? Too bad :'(

[Joe Redifer]

The Justifier needs a flash, it is a regular light gun. But no, it won't work on the SMS because the trigger isn't button B. If it were, it probably would.

[raskar42]

thanks all question answered

[Fonzie]

Nha, justifier don't need a flash, it just need a bright screen :)
I mean, not black :)

I've been studiing the system for a software implementation in one of my demos :)
In fact, each time the tv beam come accross the gun, it send an interrupt to the megadrive.

With quick software, the megadrive read the actual tv X and Y position of the beam (eventualy adjust using calibration in the case of a lag).
And, if the gun button is pressed, display a shot :)

Of course, it can be on the other side (in the case of a black screen):
If you press the gun button, the screen goes white during the next display,
then the gun send the interrupt and the megadrive gets X & Y.

[Joe Redifer]

Every time I pull the trigger on the Justifier, the screen flashes.

[Fonzie]

Yeah, but it is done by software... I mean, it depends of the game... not neccessairy to flash the screen to make it work. That's what i wanted to explain :)