The Mystery of the Duck Hunt
Great are the manifestations of time, isn’t it? At one point you are playing a game without a care in the world and at another you are unravelling the concepts behind it. As an 8 year old, I had received a video game as birthday gift.
Remember that DuckHunt game? Yes, the one in which you had the liberty to shoot flying ducks on a television screen. I used to spend hours, trying to sync the trigger with the duck. I used to feel sorry for the sad dog when I couldn’t help him in his quest! I can feel the disappointment/victory tune ringing in my ears while I write this. No wonder, kids are curious. We used to be curious too, questioning everything under the sun. As a child I thought it was magic! Now that I’m able to right through all the “magic” happening around me, how the game actually piqued my interest! I was definitely curious but somehow with the innocence and ignorance I took that particular working for granted.
Later when I enrolled myself in Engineering, and this particular piece garnered my attention. This time I didn’t let the curiosity go in vain and tried to understand the working behind it.
When playing Duck Hunt you pull the trigger to shoot a duck out of the air. When that trigger is pulled, the TV screen goes entirely black for one frame. The light sensor uses that black screen as a reference point, which helps it account for the wide variety of lighting situations in the rooms where the game is being played.
In the next frame, the area the duck occupied turns white while the rest of the screen remains black. If the light sensor detects light in that second frame, your gun is on target. If the light sensor does not, the dog is going to laugh at you.
When there are two ducks on the screen, three frames are used. The game will show a black screen, then a black screen with one of the ducks turned into a white square, and then a third frame with the other target illuminated.
That’s it. Such a simple device. It’s really a shame they’ve never improved on video games since then. This was the perfect game.
Its ironical how in this physical world a gun triggers bullets and is the source and in this particular game it was the light on the screen that was the source and the gun was just a sensor. The whole thing was quite counter-intuitive for me. This particular gun could actually give the thrill and excitement of being a hunter.
