Former Nintendo staffer explains why NES Zapper changed its name from the light gun

The Nintendo NES Zapper was almost called the light gun. That’s according to Bruce Lowry, former Nintendo of America vice president of sales.

Lowry reflected in a recent interview how “the arcades were getting a very bad reputation” back in the day following some incidents, including one in which a kid pointed an arcade gun at police who thought it was a real weapon. Nintendo was on the fence at the time, but what really pushed things in a different direction was a focus group in which a third of the women there were against having a gun in their house.

Lowry told Time Extension:

“As for the Zapper, I mean, originally, it was gonna be called a light gun. But something was eating at me a little bit because, at that time, the arcades were getting a very bad reputation. One of the incidents I remember hearing about was that police had gone into an arcade and a kid pointed an arcade gun at them, and they [mistook it for a real weapon]. That made everybody change their guns to a bright orange, red, or yellow, [including us].

Because of that, we weren’t sure of the name either. So we decided that we were going to do a focus group, which we did in Paramus, New Jersey, where Ron and I set up with a great company. They brought in about 20 or 30 housewives who have children, and the person leading the focus group told them all about the Nintendo light gun, Duck Hunt, and all these other great things, and about a third of the women got up and walked out. And the others were all saying, ‘No guns are coming in my house.’

Immediately after, we had another group come in, and all we did was change the name to the Zapper, but this time the results were the exact opposite; they all thought it was great. So that one little focus group could have had a big impact on our success.”

Ultimately the NES Zapper was a success for Nintendo, and helped make the overall console a hit. It was also tied with the strong reception to Duck Hunt.