Sony Ps2 Light Guns Compat With Sony Wega


slaanesh

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I recently "upgraded" my 10 year old, composite only input Sony Trinitron to a Sony WEGA Widescreen High Definition CRT. Yes, I didn't buy an LCD or Plasma.

Just before this I'd started getting into light gun games with my trusty Guncon-2. I was playing Virtua Cop and the Time Crisis 2 demo I had from a magazine cover. Marveling at the amount of fun I was having, I bought Time Crisis 1 (PS1) and Time Crisis 2 (PS2) from eBay.

By the time Time Crisis 2 arrived I had my new Sony WEGA in place and to my utter disappointed started finding out about 100hz screens. I found that there was apparently a work around in the Time Crisis 2 game. Simply hold the trigger hit select whilst not pointing at the screen. This allows you to switch between Normal, 100hz and Progressive modes. Text even appears on the screen indicating that you have done so. However, I still could not calibrate the gun. :-(

I later found that the Sony WEGA apparently always displays it's screens in a High Definition mode, upscaling whatever source video it receives. This seems to be be incompatible with the GunCon-2. The 100hz and Progressive modes will only work on CRTs which display a regular PAL resolution 100hz screen or regular PAL resolution progressive screen.

My question is: Are there any guns for the PS2 which are compatible with the PS2 Namco Guncon-2 games and also work on TVs like the Sony WEGA? Are there any widescreen HD CRT TVs which can switch to a basic PAL screen?

I still have my old Sony Trinitron in the Garage. For the time being I have to use this to play. :-(
 
slaanesh said:
I recently "upgraded" my 10 year old, composite only input Sony Trinitron to a Sony WEGA Widescreen High Definition CRT. Yes, I didn't buy an LCD or Plasma.

Just before this I'd started getting into light gun games with my trusty Guncon-2. I was playing Virtua Cop and the Time Crisis 2 demo I had from a magazine cover. Marveling at the amount of fun I was having, I bought Time Crisis 1 (PS1) and Time Crisis 2 (PS2) from eBay.

By the time Time Crisis 2 arrived I had my new Sony WEGA in place and to my utter disappointed started finding out about 100hz screens. I found that there was apparently a work around in the Time Crisis 2 game. Simply hold the trigger hit select whilst not pointing at the screen. This allows you to switch between Normal, 100hz and Progressive modes. Text even appears on the screen indicating that you have done so. However, I still could not calibrate the gun. :-(

I later found that the Sony WEGA apparently always displays it's screens in a High Definition mode, upscaling whatever source video it receives. This seems to be be incompatible with the GunCon-2. The 100hz and Progressive modes will only work on CRTs which display a regular PAL resolution 100hz screen or regular PAL resolution progressive screen.

My question is: Are there any guns for the PS2 which are compatible with the PS2 Namco Guncon-2 games and also work on TVs like the Sony WEGA? Are there any widescreen HD CRT TVs which can switch to a basic PAL screen?

I still have my old Sony Trinitron in the Garage. For the time being I have to use this to play. :-(
I remember reading about something like this before.

I don't think, at least at the time, there was a gun out. And I shall take that TV, I want a HD CRT, I love teh CRT.
 
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You might want to try one of these "EMS Topgun" units.
For a while it was to only lightgun on the market that would work with LCDs or Plasma screens.
It works becuse it tracks the gun using the 2 IR transmitter "sticks" and does not rely on any TV picture timings for tracking. I suspect this might also solve your issue, but I can't say for sure. I have been using one of these guys for a while, but with a PC running MAME, so I don't have any PS2 experiance with it. It does work pretty well as long as you do not move around too much after you calibrate the gun.
There is a lot of information about it here:
http://www.hkems.com/product/xbox/LCDTopGun.htm
Good luck!
 
Thanks for your replies. I found out about the EMS topgun from play-asia.com. They still seem to stock them, which is nice.
I did read some reviews, unfortunately not exactly glowing.
It's a pity the Guncon-3 isn't backwards compatible - why would they not do this? There must be literally tens of thousands of people in the same boat - guncon gamesm upgrade TV and no means of playing them anymore due to lack of suitable gun controller.
 
Quick follow up:

Normally you cannot use guncon with 100hz screens.

There are some exceptions as you CAN actually try some different modes.

Time Crisis 2 does support some 100hz screens. At the calibration screen follow these instructions:

1). Point the gun away from the TV screen
2). Hold the trigger and press the select button on the gun.
3). This toggles the words 'Progressive scan' to '100hz'

Depending on your TV this may work as it adjusts the timing of the gun to the TV. It does not seem to work with high definition type TVs like the Sony WEGA. It should work with standard definition TVs running at 100hz or progressive scan.
 
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