Newer light guns with sensor bar. Are they basically like Wii remote?

[dgrams2000]

http://www.arcadeguns.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=278&zenid=3t3em9t70tcvqamk0s2e6akv86

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xamitrak+gun.TRS0&_nkw=amitrak+gun&_sacat=0

After checking out a couple youtube reviews on these and watching some video of them in action... I can't quite grasp if these track as good as Wii remotes or if they are actually better/accurate.
They seem like pretty much the same concept.
I used to have a gun to use with Mame that had sensor bars I had to mount on the left and right sides of the screen. (Can't remember the name of it...) but there were lots of problems with tracking and being accurate once you start moving to the sides of the screen.

It seems like people with a pretty steady hand get a lot of shaking on crosshairs on the screen still.  ()

Or if they drift left and right, the cursor really takes off going to the side of the screen.

Can anyone offer some real advice on how good these are for the money?

[DarthMarino]

Star Wars Trilogy isn't a good example.  The game is actually played with an analog stick but I was just demonstrating that you can substitute the use of a gun. The crosshair shaking in the video is more likely the program trying to adjust for the input, rather than the Aimtrak system not being accurate.

[dgrams2000]

So .. what is your opinion on how well it works with mame games? Tracking good, lag free, can u accurately move around the whole screen? If u actually aim, do sights on gun line up with cursor or does cursor seem to lose tracking based on how u move gun around?

[Titchgamer]

Have a search on here and you will find a few threads I have started or posted on in regards to the Aim traks.

I have a dual AT set up on my machine.
The short answer to your question is they work great.

They take some setting up, tweaking settings etc but once they are set up they are great.

The gun you mention in the op sounds like the top gun.
I also had one of them but tbh it often lost its calibration or did not work correctly.

The aim traks do not suffer the same problem and the calibration is saved once set.
It does change if someone else uses the gun (because of difference of height etc) but it takes only a few seconds to recalibrate and can be done in game unlike the top gun etc.

[BadMouth]

I've tired of making the same points over and over again for new members, but yeah....pretty much just like a wii remote.  Maybe slightly better.
You pretty much have to use the on-screen crosshairs instead of the gun sights.

That ruins it for me because I'm used to old CRT guns that were accurate to a few pixels using only the gun sights.

Plenty of other people love them though.  It depends on what your standards are.
They are the best thing available for LCD screens short of spending a couple thousand on an original Sega IR hardware setup.

I rid my house of CRTs a few years ago and sold my Act Labs S-video guns.  I regret it now.

[dgrams2000]

Well, thanks for the input guys.
I'm sorry if this kind of stuff gets repetitive.  That is what happens when you are around these places for a long time instead of just passing by, I guess.

My interest was spiked yesterday when I saw these newer (newer to me) gun options were out there.
I did my own research.. read some reviews, watched some videos...  There is only so much searching you can (or want to do) before you want to ask detailed questions for answers you are specifically after.
So, for seeming to post repetitive questions... I don't feel bad.

Like the comment made about not being able to use gun sights and have to rely more on the on-screen cross hairs.  That is exactly the kind of information I am looking for.  In the reviews and videos I was looking at.. it was hard to really determine this.

Basically the gun works best when kept stationary like on a pole... just pivoting the gun up/down/left/right... If you move your body & gun or have it moving around at different heights or drifting around the room... the calibrations still will get off.
Exactly the info that I am after.

I don't want to order something for $100+ and have unrealistic expectations.  I love to know what I am buying and what I am in for.

I think since I have most of what I need already - I am going to try doing the wii remote/gun option first.  Playing on a 40" lcd, and where I would stand with the gun would be back about 5' from the TV, as my CP is huge.   That should be back far enough from the sensor I would think that aiming would be kind of accurate.    I will see how that goes, then determine if I want to spend more and try an aimtrak or something else.

[Titchgamer]

I did this video ages ago, I think it will show you what they can and can not do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0a4nGyRL8s&feature=youtu.be

[Slippyblade]

That ruins it for me because I'm used to old CRT guns that were accurate to a few pixels using only the gun sights.

I keep seeing this trotted out and I have no clue where it comes from.   I've NEVER played an arcade cabinet where the guns were accurate, especially to within a few pixels.  Between lack of maintenance, customer abuse, and poor calibration EVERY shooter I've played required you to figure out where the gun was actually shooting.  It was never in line with the sights.

[BadMouth]

That ruins it for me because I'm used to old CRT guns that were accurate to a few pixels using only the gun sights.

I keep seeing this trotted out and I have no clue where it comes from.   I've NEVER played an arcade cabinet where the guns were accurate, especially to within a few pixels.  Between lack of maintenance, customer abuse, and poor calibration EVERY shooter I've played required you to figure out where the gun was actually shooting.  It was never in line with the sights.

I probably repeat the phrase "within a few pixels" because that was the claimed accuracy of the Act Labs guns that I have had.
I've played both perfectly and poorly calibrated cabs out in the wild.  The inaccuracy comes from a failure to calibrate them, not the technology itself.
Home CRT light guns from the PS2 era were pretty damn accurate too.

[BadMouth]

5 year old post with a video of my old setup with the Act Labs guns:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119925.msg1271239.html#msg1271239
(accurate using the gun sights from wherever you hold it)

We tried to get a gun subforum, but it never happened.
I made a post in the driving cab subforum (which I moderate) with links to various useful gun threads.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,151489.msg1583581.html#msg1583581
It's pretty disorganized.  It was an attempt to bookmark all the relevant threads so they could be moved to a gun subforum if we ever got one.

These days, I'm not very motivated to work on the arcade related stuff.

[Titchgamer]

See my memories of CRT light guns are a long shot away from deadly accurate and never loosing calibration!

I did prefer the way they worked but thats not really a valid argument for them lol

[dgrams2000]

I did this video ages ago, I think it will show you what they can and can not do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0a4nGyRL8s&feature=youtu.be

Okay.  That is good stuff.  Looks to be fairly accurate.  Much more than I have been used to with the junk I used in the past.
I will play with the Wii stuff as I have a USB sensor bar and guns on order (should be here next week)
Depending on how much I hate or like that, I may try what you have. 

In the meantime I need to start figuring out what is playable in mame or other emulators as far as the namco games and other goodies like lethal enforcers or point blank.  (One of my all time favs)
And then which of those that is playable on my big gaming rig can be transferred and run good on the PC I have in my Mame cabinet.

I am thinking Mame, dolphin and sega model 2 emulator will be the main things to try out for gun game needs.

[Titchgamer]

I did this video ages ago, I think it will show you what they can and can not do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0a4nGyRL8s&feature=youtu.be

Okay.  That is good stuff.  Looks to be fairly accurate.  Much more than I have been used to with the junk I used in the past.
I will play with the Wii stuff as I have a USB sensor bar and guns on order (should be here next week)
Depending on how much I hate or like that, I may try what you have. 

In the meantime I need to start figuring out what is playable in mame or other emulators as far as the namco games and other goodies like lethal enforcers or point blank.  (One of my all time favs)
And then which of those that is playable on my big gaming rig can be transferred and run good on the PC I have in my Mame cabinet.

I am thinking Mame, dolphin and sega model 2 emulator will be the main things to try out for gun game needs.

No problem!

On my cab I have the following working with the AT's:

MAME lots of games inc point blank (one of my faves to!) but games like time crisis and area 51 are very laggy unless you got high spec rig.

Sega Model 2 - virtua cop etc

American laser games - mad dog mcree etc

Aliens extermination

Silent Hill the arcade

Think thats it atm...

You can use them with PSX emu for time crisis etc but I could never get the emu running properly.

[BadMouth]

In the meantime I need to start figuring out what is playable in mame or other emulators as far as the namco games and other goodies like lethal enforcers or point blank.  (One of my all time favs)
And then which of those that is playable on my big gaming rig can be transferred and run good on the PC I have in my Mame cabinet.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119925.msg1271123.html#msg1271123

I never added the console gun games to my setup, but other people mention some good ones in the posts that follow the one linked to.

[dgrams2000]

Good stuff guys.  More stuff to browse here if things slow down at work this afternoon.