Dashine Electronics is bringing the classic shooter game Time Crisis into the modern world with the G’AIM’E light gun controller. This retro gaming peripheral will feature AI technology, allowing it to work regardless of your LCD screen, says the Japanese publication Game Watch (via machine translation). That means it plugs and plays into your display, irrespective of size or distance from the TV.
The G’AIM’E light gun controller connects to a console that comes pre-installed with Time Crisis. The base version is expected to start at $89.99. You could add $30 for the deluxe version, including a pedal controller, allowing you to recreate the classic Time Crisis arcade game in the comfort of your home.
The original light gun used the CRT’s raster scan to determine where it was pointed on the screen. However, the advent of LCD and LED screen technologies meant that this technique would no longer work, so the original light gun controller would no longer work with the displays we have today unless you install additional hardware like infrared sensors.
Your only other option until now, if you’re a classic light gun retro shooters fan, is the Sinden Lightgun. However, this is just the controller; you still need a console with the games you want to play to use it. Furthermore, since the Sinden Lightgun connects via USB, you need a hardware adapter to use it with a PlayStation 1 or 2.
On the other hand, G’AIM’E comes with a console that attaches directly to your TV. Although Time Crisis is the only available title on it as of press time, rumors say it will feature other titles in the future. This makes it easier to find games for the light gun controller instead of dealing with emulators and looking for ROMs.
We still don’t know when the G’AIM’E light gun controller will arrive on the market or if it will even arrive on U.S. shores. Nevertheless, many retro gaming enthusiasts will love this controller and probably gain a cult following. So, we can’t wait until it officially launches to get our hands on it for testing (and spend hours and hours again trying to beat Time Crisis).
