Recycled Amusements

An Introduction to the Supergun

The rapid life cycle of arcade games created large inventories of unprofitable arcade equipment in the early 1980s. Finding alternative uses for this equipment became a priority for arcade proprietors and suppliers, who began selling arcade-game PCBs (printed circuit boards) to the general public at swap meets and through mail-order advertisements placed in popular magazines. Electronic hobbyists made devices, today known as superguns in the English-speaking world, to play surplus arcade games on home television sets. By 1986 commercially manufactured superguns were being sold to Japanese gamers. Within a few short years, these arcade-at-home devices appeared in Europe, North America, and elsewhere. Taking a historical and cross-cultural approach, this article provides a brief explanation of the supergun device and details its arrival into various countries during the 1980s and 1990s. It also presents some of the motivations of people who joined the ranks of supergun owners and explains how they used arcade hardware in ways that video game manufacturers never anticipated. This article investigates a global gaming subculture that has yet to be studied.