What was Nintendo’s light-gun accessory for the original NES called?

Nintendo’s light-gun accessory for the original NES was called the NES Zapper.

Nintendo released the Zapper in Japan in 1984 for the Family Computer, where it was known as the Beam Gun. The accessory arrived in North America with the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and was commonly bundled with the console and Duck Hunt.

The Zapper detects light from compatible television displays when the player pulls the trigger. In Duck Hunt, the game briefly changes the screen and checks whether the gun is aimed at the target’s position. This made the accessory feel more responsive than its simple plastic design suggested.

The NES Zapper is often confused with Nintendo’s later Super Scope, a larger bazooka-style light gun released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is also different from the Wii Zapper, a Wii accessory shell introduced decades later. The original Zapper was designed for the NES and its era of CRT televisions.