AA MisterB - 12/25/2008 
A useful piece of plastic
The Wii Zapper borrows the name from Nintendo's very first Light Gun, the Zapper, if you remember this, then you will also remember that you used it to shoot ducks. Ducks! How games have changed! :)
A lot has changed since then but Nintendo has decided that it was time to resurrect the Zapper anyway and bring it to the Wii.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Wii Zapper was a light gun, but it is not. Think of it as more as a lump of plastic designed to help you hold the Wiimote and Nunchuk in a certain way. It could be argued that you could hold the Nunchuk and Wiimote in the same way without said lump of plastic or by using some combination of sticky tape and carboard, but thats all too much work really, so the Wii Zapper saves you here.
So what exactly is it then?
The Wii Zapper is basically a plastic shell that allows you to plug your Wiimote into the top and you Nunchuk into the bottom, in a gun shape, for use with certain games. The idea is that it forces the player to hold the Nunchuck and Wiimote in a more traditional "gun like" way, with the Wiimote obviously being used as the sensor and trigger and the Nunchuck's Joystick is used to control your character. When both are plugged into the Wii Zapper it obviously feels more solid. Everything locks into place, and you are all set!
Performance and Feel
The overall quality of the Wii Zapper is very good, and it looks quite nice, although the futuristic look is far from realistic, and you can find other Wii Zappers by third parties that look more realistic and have a greater arcade feel to them. I feel Nintendo has opted for its futuristic and toy-like look in order to not upset parents too much, which is fair enough but smacks of "playing it safe". Ergonomically, it feels spot on. Your front hand operates the trigger under the Wiimote at the front, and your other hand operates the Nunchuk. I should note that it's quite daunting at first attempting to move your character around and shoot at the same time, but after a while it becomes much easier. Many games that will be released with the Wii Zapper in mind do not yet let you control your character however, and are more an "on rails" experience, so I would hope that some brave game developers start to make use of this feature more. The Wii Zapper doesn't work exactly like a traditional light gun so it obviously feels slightly different when shooting at the screen, so this can also take some getting used to. But overall it piggybacks on the accuracy of the Wiimote and works quite well. In fact I find personally that it's more accurate than traditional light guns of old.
Durability
Since the Wii Zapper doesn't have any moving parts it is very durable. I'm not a fan of whacking new stuff I buy on the table, but it has the feel that if I did choose to do this, it would withstand the force. It definitely won't break easily by dropping it on the floor and it should last you for the length of time you will be using your Wii. Let's hope they give us an excuse to use it a lot in the future though by releasing more games that support it!
The Package
The best thing about the package is that it comes with a free game, "Link's Crossbow Training", which is a decent enough game in its own right, but it doesn't quite offer all the features of a full priced game, and is a bit shallow, so essentially it is a tech demo for the Wii Zapper, but one that (much like the Duck Hunt game that came with the original Zapper on the NES) can provide you with some hours of entertainment and help you be prepared for full priced games such as "Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles".
Conclusion
Overall I'd say it's not an essential piece of kit, particularly as you can still play the same games without it (ironically many believe Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles to be better without it), but it does provide you with a more realistic and arcade-like experience with these games.
If you are a fan of light gun games, I'd say pick it up, it's good value at the price, especially as it comes with the free game that'll keep you busy for a good few hours, although for others I'd recommend waiting to see which games will support it in the future first.
Thanks for reading my review. Possibly the only review you will find out here written about a lump of plastic!
MisterB |
Karim Bourouba - 12/25/2008 
..the nunchuck was incorporated into a fore grip, a bit like a T4?
I am not sure I would be able to make use of the controls that much with it stuck in my armpit - I assume that the end of the rig is a shoulder butt?
having a fore grip would give a certain carbine feel to it all... |
Steve Barnes - 12/25/2008 
Definitely not mate! Logic 3 PS099L Laser Blaster for PS2 :-D class gun, I've got 2. |
Me Carson - 12/25/2008
I would be pleased to have a go on Wii Fit etc, but they should have brought out all this stuff this year, not 2008 or (since they say it is 2008) - 2009.
Irritating short sighted unthinking so and so's.
:( |
Ray Cao - 12/25/2008
Best looking light gun, although the recoil action on the namco timecrisis gun rocks!
fyi
Steyr Aug 9mm assault rifle??
The 9mm would be the Sub Machine Gun (SMG) varient, the assault rifle would be 5.55mm |
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