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X99L Laser Blaster
'more pleasure with your lightgun games'
Manufacturer: Logic3
Product Type: Light Gun
Connection Type: through X-Box port
System Requirements: X-Box
Extra: laster pointer, recoil included
Retail Price: 39,90 euro
Date posted: 17 August 2005
Written By: Bjorn
Getting yourself a 'play'gun.
Lightgun games.
It has been produced since the first homeconsole ever, Nintendo's NES and Sega's Megadrive. I owned a Megadrive with SEGA's lightgun and playing "ToeJam and Earl", shooting away rotten tomatoes was absolutely fantastic!
But that was basically the only lightgun compatible game I got and never bought anything else for the system.
Decades later, the playgun or better 'lightgun' is still here and compatible games for it are still being made such as the 'House of the Dead' series from SEGA for almost every console or the 'Silent Scope' series from Konami.
For X-Box, there are a few lightguns on the market and we decided to test and review the 'X99L Laser Blaster' from Logic 3.
Lets see if this 'laser blaster' got what it needs.
Its features
Hardware manufacturer 'Logic3' has several accessories for all the consoles and PC and their X-Box segment is pretty big. They have at this moment 2 guns available for the X-Box, the X99L Laser Blaster that we'll be testing here and the 'Assault Rifle'.
When viewing the X99L for the first time, I was impressed. Not only by its size (it's not a small gun) but by its grip. The X99L is very comfortable in the palm of your hand and with your second hand, you can easily grab the gun for more precision.
The Laser Blaster is compatible with all X-Box LightGun games and can be used for NTSC and PAL X-Box consoles. It has a built in directional control pad which make it a lot easier to navigate throughout the entire game and menus.
It also has an unique RECOIL vibration feature and Laser Targeting Pointer. Using Recoil is just like a real gun. When firing a shot, you'll actually 'feel' every shot! It so real, people would think you're using a real gun instead of just a play'light'gun. It definitely sets the atmosphere right.
The 'laser targeting pointer' is also an add-on for the lightgun and when turned ON, a red laser will be pointed out on your screen, which basically is a crosshair and helps you in targeting your target.
The X99L also has a so called 'machine gun' mode which enables an auto-fire and auto reload feature. Besides that, the gun has a precision light sensor for accurate targeting and its cable is about 1.8 Metre long. Of course a wireless lightgun would even be better, working on 2.4Ghz.
Here's a picture of the X99L Laser Blaster box:
Getting installed and ready
Installing the X99L Laser Blaster from Logic3 is really a breeze. First, you have to turn OFF your X-Box console. Connect the Laser Blaster to controller Port 1 on the front of your X-Box.
It's possible to add a second X99L gun to Port 2.
Set the Laser Blaster to the 'normal setting' (more on that in 'features more explained') and turn ON your X-Box console.
Now you're ready to calibrate your X99L Laser Blaster with the game that is loaded in the X-Box.
Calibration is really game depending meaning that for every lightgun game you'll need to calibrate your X99L. All lightgun games have calibration instructions and are all easy to complete. Without a decent calibration, the X99L will not perform accurately. So don't forget to do that.
After calibration you're ready to play. We tested the lightgun with 'House of the Dead III' and it worked excellent ... on a 50Hz TV.
Yes we have tested the lightgun and game on a 100Hz Panasonic Widescreen TV as well and unfortunately the calibration mode was not completed. In other words, the X99L is not compatible with 100Hz TVs. It works though but not as good as on a 50Hz TV. Especially targeting corners on a 100Hz is rather difficult and will result in inaccurate targeting, even if you use the laser pointer.
So in the end, if you only have a 100Hz TV, the X99L won't be good for you at all. If you have both (50 and 100) then you should consider buying it or look out for a decent 100Hz ONLY Lightgun. And the problem with 100Hz Lightguns is that they are hard to find and only a few hardware manufacturers are producing them.
Features more explained
So if the X99L is your cup of tea and you have a 50Hz TV then you really should read on about its exciting features. The lightgun definitely adds more features then any other gun and they are useful.
Here's list with its features which I'll explain more in-depth.
When installing the X99L, I strongly advise you to set the lightgun to 'normal setting'. Well, normal setting is a mode that allows the player to fire off 'single shots', enabling you to shoot more accurately.
Of course after installing you're free to pick any of the 3 other modes.
The second is the 'machine gun' mode. This is a combination of auto-fire and auto-reload, allowing continuous firing and auto reload simultaneously. Works well in the tested game, House of the Dead III and is great if you feel a bit tired of hitting that 'reload' button again and again.
'Auto reload' is the next mode and like the word says, it'll fire single shots each time the trigger is pressed, but will reload with the sixth shot fired.
Besides 'auto reload', the lightgun also features an 'auto fire' mode where you'll get fully automatic firing action. I mostly used the 'machine gun' mode while playing since it's the most efficient mode on the gun. Well that's only my own opinion.
One of the two other neat additions to the lightgun is the 'RECOIL' function. The recoil vibration is, when activated by sliding the switch to 'recoil' position, taking effect with every shot you fire. It feels realistic and natural and it's just like a real gun.
Its last feature that most lightguns dont have, is a real red 'laser targeting pointer'. Just switch the slide into the 'laser' position and off you go! Point the gun in the direction of the TV and a red laser point will appear. Neat!
One smart thing that Logic 3 added to its calibration of the laser targeting pointer is that its position can be adjusted by using the H- and V-Gears. H-Gear is used to adjust the Horizontal position of the Laser Point while the V-Gear is indeed, used to adjust the Vertical position of the Laser Point. Now you can easily calibrate your laser pointer as well, to match the original cursor.
The last two additions to the X99L lightgun is a directional control pad which can be used for navigating through the menu screens of the game. I find this very effective in lightgun games so you don't have to use a controller anymore.
The X99L also has 4 action buttons, A - Trigger, B and X which are located on either side of the barrel and Y as the safety catch of the light gun. Refer to the actual game to find out wether you can use these buttons in-game or not.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a great addition to your lightgun games and are bored playing them with your X-Box controller then Logic 3's "X99L Laser Blaster" might be something for you.
It features a decent grip, plenty of neat features (recoil, laser targeting pointer, directional pad and action buttons). Besides all these additions, the X99L also delivers good accuracy when shooting.
That is ONLY if you have a 50Hz Tv since this lightgun isn't compatible with 100Hz Tv's. A shame really since there aren't a lot of decent 100Hz compatible lightguns on the market. Perhaps Logic 3 could release a lightgun which is compatible with both frequencies. So for full enjoyment we stronly advise you to use a 50Hz Tv with the lightgun. We tested it on a 100Hz widescreen Tv too and it works but not as good as it should be.
Bottom line, own a 50hz TV and some lightgun games then the X99L Laser Blaster from Logic 3 is definitely a good buy!
-Bjorn
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