Is this piece of plastic worth it? http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=14843 The Wii Zapper concept has been around since E3 2006, where a
prototype was shown in a display case. This first example differed drastically than the version that is being made available to the public. It did not involve the Nunchuk in any way, instead including its own control stick and trigger button. For good or bad, Nintendo obviously realized that all Wii owners already owned all of the necessary buttons and control devices, so they opted to instead release a simple piece of plastic that both a Wii Remote and Nunchuk could be firmly connected to.
The only button on the device is the trigger. This is simply a hinged piece of plastic that relies entirely on pressing the B button in the Wii Remote. It's obvious that the designers intended this to be the primary means of interacting with games designed for the Zapper. In fact, the way the unit is put together renders every other button on the Wii Remote all but useless, as they can't be reached in any comfortable or quick motion. Thankfully, the Nunchuk is mounted in such a way that both the Z and C buttons are accessible, along with the control stick. Do the math, though. That's only three buttons, so don't expect many complex gaming experiences to come out of this device.
Probably the biggest knock against the device is that it actually makes games harder to play. In Link's Crossbow Training (the game that comes with the device), I would routinely score higher when I held the Wii Remote in my hand. This is due largely to the fact that I had much more precision in simple wrist motions than I did trying to move the entire Zapper assembly. There just isn't a perfect way to hold it. Everyone who has picked it up and tried to play with it has gone through several different methods of holding it before settling on one and commenting that nothing felt quite right. Overall, it's just quite awkward. The instruction manual even suggests taking the Nunchuk off and holding it in your left hand while holding the Zapper in your right. This feels cool, but fails in practice. You will immediately start holding the Zapper up to your eye to aim (much like aiming was done with the original NES Zapper). The pointing device of the Wii Remote doesn't work in this manner, as it can't account for different television sizes, so the precise aiming does not help at all.
If you had to place the Zapper somewhere on the spectrum of Wii accessories, it would fall much closer to those silly Wii Sports attachments than the Nunchuk or Classic Controller. If you think you'll have more fun shooting something that feels more gun-like, feel free to pick it up. If you think you need it to play any of the shooter games coming out, think again.
Pros:
Link's Crossbow Training comes with it Should promote the shooter genre on Wii Cons: Makes games more difficult Change is mostly aesthetic Never feels quite right when used Appearance: 8.5 If it's sitting on your coffee table fully outfitted with Wii Remote and Nunchuk, people are going to take notice. It's cool enough looking that it will at least entice people to try some games.
Comfort: 3.0 It doesn't ever feel much like a gun or crossbow. You may just spend more time figuring out how you want to hold it than you will actually playing a game with it.
Quality: 4.0 It's hard to use a product that makes games more difficult. The only possible reason for doing so is that holding an actual gun makes the games significantly more fun. While the Zapper looks gun-like, holding it low and barely moving it to adjust your aim does not feel like shooting a gun.
Value: 6.0 Being priced at the same point as the Wii Classic controller is just completely ridiculous for something that has no electronics in it at all, but including Link's Crossbow Training sweetens the pot.
Construction: 7.0
The Wii Zapper is at least manufactured well. Everything fits snuggly, and some clever engineering was used to hide most of the cable that attaches the Nunchuk. For the most part, it feels sturdy and solid. I don't perceive anything major breaking off, like one of the handles. The trigger feels a little flimsy when it doesn't have the B button of a Wii Remote behind to brace it. It'd also be a bit nicer if the cover used to conceal the Nunchuk wire snapped into place a bit better.
Final: 4.0
While the inclusion of Link's Crossbow Training skews the value scale slightly, as a standalone product, the Wii Zapper doesn't really matter. When something designed to enhance the experience can actually hinder it, there are fundamental problems with the product.
Topic: REVIEWS: Wii Zapper (Read 7744 times)
