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Everyone loves a good light-gun game. You get to shoot stuff, with a gun. It's just such a shame developers seem to be lacking in imagination in how they approach such titles. I appreciate that light gun peripherals can obviously represent pistols, but I think gamers would be happy to use them in more interesting contexts: as something other than hand-guns.
I enjoy shooting zombies and terrorists as much as the next man, but I'd enjoy shooting other stuff too. And I don't mean just swapping for dinosaurs or soldiers... I mean approaching light-gun games in a fundamentally different way. Here's a few ideas... some fantastic, some average and some... plain stupid...
ROBIN HOOD vs WILLIAM TELL
How about an array of archery equipment to choose from? Long-bows, short-bows, cross-bows and, er, other types of bow. And arrows. You use the light gun to control the aim, but you don't just shoot straight, you need to fire it taking into account height, distance etc. With this premise there could be some cool Robin-Hood based games with archery contests, ambushes, Maid Marion rescue missions etc.
GRAPPLING-HOOK RALLY
Now here's a nice weird concept-game idea for Sega or Nintendo to grapple with. You play some monkey or super-cute robot or some such, and are armed with a grappling hook (fired like a pistol using the light-gun). You then have to race across various courses, by latching on to objects or moving vehicles, and then zipping up the line to where your hook caught on. If you just go from inanimate object to inanimate object, you won't be going fast enough. You'll have to shoot the hook onto flying cars, or giant pelicans, or stampeding cows. But they can change direction at any point, so you need to keep updating your targets. That'd be fun.
OFFICE PARTY: PAINTBALL ATTACK
This would be more a comedy light-gun game. Perhaps featuring the characters from Ricky Dervais' top-notch 'the Office' series. The first level would involve the build-up to the 'morale-building' office paintball excursion. Set in the office itself, you have to throw paper-planes and punctured ink cartridges at the other office workers. With the aim of hitting them until they 'wind-up-ometer' is full. The rest of the game would revolve around the paintballing itself, also featuring 'regular-paintballer types' ie blokes with beards. You'd then play the various sub-games with their respectively ridiculous rule-sets. Could be good... splat.
BIG-GAME HUNT
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it.
PAPARAZZI
Another weird one now. A bit like a light-gun version of Polaroid Pete. You aim a long-distance photo lens and (shoot) various celebrities. You'll be able to take snaps of David Blunkett smoking crack, Kylie Minogue paying Keith Chegwin for sex, Holly Valance's dress falling off and Meka Dragon paying bribes for GAD prizes ; ) At the end of each level you have to sell your photos, and the better they are, the more cash you earn to buy stuff like: bigger zooms, night vision, rapid-snap, auto-focus etc
ARSON CITY
This time the light-gun represents a fire hose. You play a fireman living in a city where arson has become an underground sport. You must attempt to extinguish, contain or divert blazing infernos across the city. There's people to rescue, so you must clear escape paths with the water jet, but you must also pay attention to obvious threats like gas tanks and structural blazes... if they get out of contol you won't get the chance to rescue the victims. Nee nar Nee nar Nee nar.
GHOSTBUSTERS
I remember a class Ghostbusters game for the Amstrad CPC 464... this is a long-awaited update. You have to fire the big wobbly green ghost-trapping energy beam thingy. Once you have made contact and trapped the ghost with the beam, you must drag it down into the ghost-trap where it can be safely sealed away. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.
SWAG
You play a sawn-off shotgun weilding Eastend villain embarking on a series of heists. You use the light-gun to point at the victims in banks, post offices, museums etc, but the aim is not to shoot them. Instead you must simply try to cover all the people in the area while your accomplices steal the money. If a security guard twitches: point the gun at him, but if you see a teller creeping towards a phone in the background, you must point at him... and so on. Shooting is only a last resort, and the subsequent police attention will make the rest of your mission that much harder.
LOW DOWN DIRTY VARMINT
My final suggestion. A nice gruesome one at that. You play a pest-controller with an assortment of ridiculously violent projectile weapons. You must squelch, splatter and squash through plagues of insects, hordes of rats, gangs or racoons and other rodent-style vermin. A good opportunity for a new 'Gore'n'grime' graphics engine perhaps?
I enjoy shooting zombies and terrorists as much as the next man, but I'd enjoy shooting other stuff too. And I don't mean just swapping for dinosaurs or soldiers... I mean approaching light-gun games in a fundamentally different way. Here's a few ideas... some fantastic, some average and some... plain stupid...
ROBIN HOOD vs WILLIAM TELL
How about an array of archery equipment to choose from? Long-bows, short-bows, cross-bows and, er, other types of bow. And arrows. You use the light gun to control the aim, but you don't just shoot straight, you need to fire it taking into account height, distance etc. With this premise there could be some cool Robin-Hood based games with archery contests, ambushes, Maid Marion rescue missions etc.
GRAPPLING-HOOK RALLY
Now here's a nice weird concept-game idea for Sega or Nintendo to grapple with. You play some monkey or super-cute robot or some such, and are armed with a grappling hook (fired like a pistol using the light-gun). You then have to race across various courses, by latching on to objects or moving vehicles, and then zipping up the line to where your hook caught on. If you just go from inanimate object to inanimate object, you won't be going fast enough. You'll have to shoot the hook onto flying cars, or giant pelicans, or stampeding cows. But they can change direction at any point, so you need to keep updating your targets. That'd be fun.
OFFICE PARTY: PAINTBALL ATTACK
This would be more a comedy light-gun game. Perhaps featuring the characters from Ricky Dervais' top-notch 'the Office' series. The first level would involve the build-up to the 'morale-building' office paintball excursion. Set in the office itself, you have to throw paper-planes and punctured ink cartridges at the other office workers. With the aim of hitting them until they 'wind-up-ometer' is full. The rest of the game would revolve around the paintballing itself, also featuring 'regular-paintballer types' ie blokes with beards. You'd then play the various sub-games with their respectively ridiculous rule-sets. Could be good... splat.
BIG-GAME HUNT
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it.
PAPARAZZI
Another weird one now. A bit like a light-gun version of Polaroid Pete. You aim a long-distance photo lens and (shoot) various celebrities. You'll be able to take snaps of David Blunkett smoking crack, Kylie Minogue paying Keith Chegwin for sex, Holly Valance's dress falling off and Meka Dragon paying bribes for GAD prizes ; ) At the end of each level you have to sell your photos, and the better they are, the more cash you earn to buy stuff like: bigger zooms, night vision, rapid-snap, auto-focus etc
ARSON CITY
This time the light-gun represents a fire hose. You play a fireman living in a city where arson has become an underground sport. You must attempt to extinguish, contain or divert blazing infernos across the city. There's people to rescue, so you must clear escape paths with the water jet, but you must also pay attention to obvious threats like gas tanks and structural blazes... if they get out of contol you won't get the chance to rescue the victims. Nee nar Nee nar Nee nar.
GHOSTBUSTERS
I remember a class Ghostbusters game for the Amstrad CPC 464... this is a long-awaited update. You have to fire the big wobbly green ghost-trapping energy beam thingy. Once you have made contact and trapped the ghost with the beam, you must drag it down into the ghost-trap where it can be safely sealed away. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.
SWAG
You play a sawn-off shotgun weilding Eastend villain embarking on a series of heists. You use the light-gun to point at the victims in banks, post offices, museums etc, but the aim is not to shoot them. Instead you must simply try to cover all the people in the area while your accomplices steal the money. If a security guard twitches: point the gun at him, but if you see a teller creeping towards a phone in the background, you must point at him... and so on. Shooting is only a last resort, and the subsequent police attention will make the rest of your mission that much harder.
LOW DOWN DIRTY VARMINT
My final suggestion. A nice gruesome one at that. You play a pest-controller with an assortment of ridiculously violent projectile weapons. You must squelch, splatter and squash through plagues of insects, hordes of rats, gangs or racoons and other rodent-style vermin. A good opportunity for a new 'Gore'n'grime' graphics engine perhaps?
"BIG-GAME HUNT
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it".
Dale Winton is often in my local supermarket. My mate bagged him once when he heard Winton tutting about the lack of available baskets. My mate said " I bet that never happens in your supermarket!".
My mates greatest ever achievement and I wasn't there to see it!
Anyway I digrees, I can suggest the above idea to him next time I see him.
Then run quickly...
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it".
Dale Winton is often in my local supermarket. My mate bagged him once when he heard Winton tutting about the lack of available baskets. My mate said " I bet that never happens in your supermarket!".
My mates greatest ever achievement and I wasn't there to see it!
Anyway I digrees, I can suggest the above idea to him next time I see him.
Then run quickly...
Some great ideas there, and yes you're right, developers don't show too much imagination when it come to lightgun games, and there should be some more light-hearted gun games instead of some of the intense one we see so much.
I particularly like the Grappling-Hook Rally idea, and think that an idea like that could actually work (you should buy the rights)
There was actualy a light-gun game where you put out fires. It was called Brave Fighefighters (you might remember it from the arcades).
You had a sort of fire hose handle and had to put out fires within a set time, rescue trapped people etc.
I think it was developed by Sega, and it's a shame they didn't bring it out on the DC.
A Ghostbusters lightgun game would rule!
You could have all the witty lines from the film, loads of great ghosty special FX a la Luigi's Mansion.
But remember, don't cross the streams :)
I think a Dirty Harry lightgun game would be cool too. I watched it on dvd a few nights ago and i'm sure you could get a pretty decent game out of that old classic.
Imagine controlling Harry's big gun and taking out hoards of 70's street scum.
I particularly like the Grappling-Hook Rally idea, and think that an idea like that could actually work (you should buy the rights)
There was actualy a light-gun game where you put out fires. It was called Brave Fighefighters (you might remember it from the arcades).
You had a sort of fire hose handle and had to put out fires within a set time, rescue trapped people etc.
I think it was developed by Sega, and it's a shame they didn't bring it out on the DC.
A Ghostbusters lightgun game would rule!
You could have all the witty lines from the film, loads of great ghosty special FX a la Luigi's Mansion.
But remember, don't cross the streams :)
I think a Dirty Harry lightgun game would be cool too. I watched it on dvd a few nights ago and i'm sure you could get a pretty decent game out of that old classic.
Imagine controlling Harry's big gun and taking out hoards of 70's street scum.
Everyone loves a good light-gun game. You get to shoot stuff, with a gun. It's just such a shame developers seem to be lacking in imagination in how they approach such titles. I appreciate that light gun peripherals can obviously represent pistols, but I think gamers would be happy to use them in more interesting contexts: as something other than hand-guns.
I enjoy shooting zombies and terrorists as much as the next man, but I'd enjoy shooting other stuff too. And I don't mean just swapping for dinosaurs or soldiers... I mean approaching light-gun games in a fundamentally different way. Here's a few ideas... some fantastic, some average and some... plain stupid...
ROBIN HOOD vs WILLIAM TELL
How about an array of archery equipment to choose from? Long-bows, short-bows, cross-bows and, er, other types of bow. And arrows. You use the light gun to control the aim, but you don't just shoot straight, you need to fire it taking into account height, distance etc. With this premise there could be some cool Robin-Hood based games with archery contests, ambushes, Maid Marion rescue missions etc.
GRAPPLING-HOOK RALLY
Now here's a nice weird concept-game idea for Sega or Nintendo to grapple with. You play some monkey or super-cute robot or some such, and are armed with a grappling hook (fired like a pistol using the light-gun). You then have to race across various courses, by latching on to objects or moving vehicles, and then zipping up the line to where your hook caught on. If you just go from inanimate object to inanimate object, you won't be going fast enough. You'll have to shoot the hook onto flying cars, or giant pelicans, or stampeding cows. But they can change direction at any point, so you need to keep updating your targets. That'd be fun.
OFFICE PARTY: PAINTBALL ATTACK
This would be more a comedy light-gun game. Perhaps featuring the characters from Ricky Dervais' top-notch 'the Office' series. The first level would involve the build-up to the 'morale-building' office paintball excursion. Set in the office itself, you have to throw paper-planes and punctured ink cartridges at the other office workers. With the aim of hitting them until they 'wind-up-ometer' is full. The rest of the game would revolve around the paintballing itself, also featuring 'regular-paintballer types' ie blokes with beards. You'd then play the various sub-games with their respectively ridiculous rule-sets. Could be good... splat.
BIG-GAME HUNT
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it.
PAPARAZZI
Another weird one now. A bit like a light-gun version of Polaroid Pete. You aim a long-distance photo lens and (shoot) various celebrities. You'll be able to take snaps of David Blunkett smoking crack, Kylie Minogue paying Keith Chegwin for sex, Holly Valance's dress falling off and Meka Dragon paying bribes for GAD prizes ; ) At the end of each level you have to sell your photos, and the better they are, the more cash you earn to buy stuff like: bigger zooms, night vision, rapid-snap, auto-focus etc
ARSON CITY
This time the light-gun represents a fire hose. You play a fireman living in a city where arson has become an underground sport. You must attempt to extinguish, contain or divert blazing infernos across the city. There's people to rescue, so you must clear escape paths with the water jet, but you must also pay attention to obvious threats like gas tanks and structural blazes... if they get out of contol you won't get the chance to rescue the victims. Nee nar Nee nar Nee nar.
GHOSTBUSTERS
I remember a class Ghostbusters game for the Amstrad CPC 464... this is a long-awaited update. You have to fire the big wobbly green ghost-trapping energy beam thingy. Once you have made contact and trapped the ghost with the beam, you must drag it down into the ghost-trap where it can be safely sealed away. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.
SWAG
You play a sawn-off shotgun weilding Eastend villain embarking on a series of heists. You use the light-gun to point at the victims in banks, post offices, museums etc, but the aim is not to shoot them. Instead you must simply try to cover all the people in the area while your accomplices steal the money. If a security guard twitches: point the gun at him, but if you see a teller creeping towards a phone in the background, you must point at him... and so on. Shooting is only a last resort, and the subsequent police attention will make the rest of your mission that much harder.
LOW DOWN DIRTY VARMINT
My final suggestion. A nice gruesome one at that. You play a pest-controller with an assortment of ridiculously violent projectile weapons. You must squelch, splatter and squash through plagues of insects, hordes of rats, gangs or racoons and other rodent-style vermin. A good opportunity for a new 'Gore'n'grime' graphics engine perhaps?
I enjoy shooting zombies and terrorists as much as the next man, but I'd enjoy shooting other stuff too. And I don't mean just swapping for dinosaurs or soldiers... I mean approaching light-gun games in a fundamentally different way. Here's a few ideas... some fantastic, some average and some... plain stupid...
ROBIN HOOD vs WILLIAM TELL
How about an array of archery equipment to choose from? Long-bows, short-bows, cross-bows and, er, other types of bow. And arrows. You use the light gun to control the aim, but you don't just shoot straight, you need to fire it taking into account height, distance etc. With this premise there could be some cool Robin-Hood based games with archery contests, ambushes, Maid Marion rescue missions etc.
GRAPPLING-HOOK RALLY
Now here's a nice weird concept-game idea for Sega or Nintendo to grapple with. You play some monkey or super-cute robot or some such, and are armed with a grappling hook (fired like a pistol using the light-gun). You then have to race across various courses, by latching on to objects or moving vehicles, and then zipping up the line to where your hook caught on. If you just go from inanimate object to inanimate object, you won't be going fast enough. You'll have to shoot the hook onto flying cars, or giant pelicans, or stampeding cows. But they can change direction at any point, so you need to keep updating your targets. That'd be fun.
OFFICE PARTY: PAINTBALL ATTACK
This would be more a comedy light-gun game. Perhaps featuring the characters from Ricky Dervais' top-notch 'the Office' series. The first level would involve the build-up to the 'morale-building' office paintball excursion. Set in the office itself, you have to throw paper-planes and punctured ink cartridges at the other office workers. With the aim of hitting them until they 'wind-up-ometer' is full. The rest of the game would revolve around the paintballing itself, also featuring 'regular-paintballer types' ie blokes with beards. You'd then play the various sub-games with their respectively ridiculous rule-sets. Could be good... splat.
BIG-GAME HUNT
You play Dale Winton on Safari. Hoo-ray. Being the big-game hunter that he is, he's on a mission to poach some big-game mammals with a big-game musket. That's it.
PAPARAZZI
Another weird one now. A bit like a light-gun version of Polaroid Pete. You aim a long-distance photo lens and (shoot) various celebrities. You'll be able to take snaps of David Blunkett smoking crack, Kylie Minogue paying Keith Chegwin for sex, Holly Valance's dress falling off and Meka Dragon paying bribes for GAD prizes ; ) At the end of each level you have to sell your photos, and the better they are, the more cash you earn to buy stuff like: bigger zooms, night vision, rapid-snap, auto-focus etc
ARSON CITY
This time the light-gun represents a fire hose. You play a fireman living in a city where arson has become an underground sport. You must attempt to extinguish, contain or divert blazing infernos across the city. There's people to rescue, so you must clear escape paths with the water jet, but you must also pay attention to obvious threats like gas tanks and structural blazes... if they get out of contol you won't get the chance to rescue the victims. Nee nar Nee nar Nee nar.
GHOSTBUSTERS
I remember a class Ghostbusters game for the Amstrad CPC 464... this is a long-awaited update. You have to fire the big wobbly green ghost-trapping energy beam thingy. Once you have made contact and trapped the ghost with the beam, you must drag it down into the ghost-trap where it can be safely sealed away. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.
SWAG
You play a sawn-off shotgun weilding Eastend villain embarking on a series of heists. You use the light-gun to point at the victims in banks, post offices, museums etc, but the aim is not to shoot them. Instead you must simply try to cover all the people in the area while your accomplices steal the money. If a security guard twitches: point the gun at him, but if you see a teller creeping towards a phone in the background, you must point at him... and so on. Shooting is only a last resort, and the subsequent police attention will make the rest of your mission that much harder.
LOW DOWN DIRTY VARMINT
My final suggestion. A nice gruesome one at that. You play a pest-controller with an assortment of ridiculously violent projectile weapons. You must squelch, splatter and squash through plagues of insects, hordes of rats, gangs or racoons and other rodent-style vermin. A good opportunity for a new 'Gore'n'grime' graphics engine perhaps?