Demon Gun

Demon Destroyer Gun

Manufactured By: TAC Systems

Retail Price: $5-25

Date:11-19-99

The Demon Destroyer Gun is a "classic" controller from the Doom era. For those of you not old enough to remember Doom- it was the first 1st person shooter that started us "old timers" on our quest for ever increasing faster computers. It was when a mouse was an option and DOS was the operating system.

I remember upgrading my video card to 1mb of memory so I can pay at high resolution (640 x 400!). Game controllers were in there infancy and there weren't too many options out there. One of the options was the arcade looking Demon Gun.

Unlike the arcade guns, the Demon gun does not have a light sensor. The shape of the gun is purely cosmetic. Actual control comes from a square button on the back of the gun. It functions as a 2 axis controller for movement. The trigger functions as button 1 and there is a second button on the side of the gun.

TAC Systems cannot be located any longer. I've made attempts to find them on the net and through national business directories to no avail. They probably didn't survive the highly competitive late 80's and 90's. I haven't come across any other controllers from this company.

Features-

• Cool gun shape
• 2 axis control
• 2 buttons

Warranty-

90 day limited.

System Requirements-

15 pin gameport, game support for joystick.

Price-

The Demon Gun can be found through on-line auctions and close-out outlets for ~$5-25.

Performance-

Well, I didn't expect much from the Demon Destroyer Gun. As expected, I didn't get much from it either. The main controller of the gun is a sizable square button. It is not to easily maneuvered. The joystick does not calibrate too well either. To further drag it down it only has 2 buttons limited it function even for the games of its time.

I fired it up with one of my all time favorite classic games- Rise of the Triad. the large gun is more of a distraction than anything. I found myself actually trying to aim with the gun. When you hold it up in front of the screen it blocks out much of your view. The controller button doesn't offer much in control. It was easier to use the keyboard.

Setup -

The gun can be setup under virtually any operating system. The gun plugs into a standard gameport. Under DOS it calibrates in the actual game. Windows setup works as a custom 2 axis, 2 button controller.

** Software -

**The gun ships with demos of Doom, Descent and Heretic. The joystick requires no drivers; using a 2 axis, 2 button setup. It also comes with a DOS based test utility.

Documentation-

The Demon Gun Ships with a single sheet instruction set. Only a small portion is dedicated to setting up and using the gun. The rest of the sheet lists cheat codes for the included demo games.

Overall-

Overall the Demon Destroyer Gun is an interesting collectors item. It offers nothing but the most basic controller function. Even "in its day" the Demon Gun was not an effective controller but it makes an intriguing addition to your classic controller collection.

Note- Classics are not rated.