bit-tech Shopping: Nintendo Wii Zapper

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: good build, comes with Links Crossbow training, cheap

Weaknesses: it's just a piece of plastic, design is awkward if you're used to the guncon

Summary: The Wii Zapper is actually pretty decent, although it's hold in a tommy gun style way. I'd prefer it if it was built like a pistol, but it still does the job. Since the Wii controller already acts a pointer, Nintendo only needed to make a plastic shell to create a lightgun experience. This allows for a very inexpensive product. It also comes with a free game which is suprisingly very fun. For $20, the game alone is probably worth it. I had a lot of fun, although it's short...but I find myself playing it from time to time to break records. Get this if you need a "lightgun" accessory for the Wii and a free game. Don't forget to pick up Ghost Squad and House of the Dead 2+3 while you're at it, as they take advantage of the Zappper.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Weeks

Strengths: Includes a game. Helps with aiming and endurance for playing shooting type games.

Weaknesses: none

Summary: I enjoy shooting games but my spouse does not. She never had the aim or endurance to play Alien Syndrone with me. After a few days with the game that came with this product, I found her playing Alien Syndrone when I returned from workone day.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: A good solution for turning your controller into a gun.

Weaknesses: It often seems like you're aiming at the Wii Sensor Bar (and not the bad guys on the screen).

Summary: This device is a must if you play shooter games like Resident Evil. It turns the controller/nunchuck combination into a functional gun-like device. My only gripe is probably a result of the limitations of the Wii system itself...unlike the guns of older game systems (like the Zapper Gun for the NES), which relied on the intrinsic workings of old CRT TVs, this device must rely on the sensor bar. This means that unless the sensor bar is in the center of your TV screen (which would be pretty intrusive), you're not actually aiming at the bad guys on screen....you're using pseudo-aiming with respect to the sensor bar. This can get annoying and frustrating at first, but you eventually get used to it.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: Link's training game, makes aiming easier

Weaknesses: Hard to attach nunchuck, awkward for younger children

Summary: First off, the game is great. You can play solo or multiplayer and it has plenty of replayability if you are into target shooting type games.About the zapper itself I have mixed feelings. I think it is much easier to aim and shoot with it than using the remote and nunchuck separately. My older children (15 & 9) have the same opinion but younger ones (6 & 4) have a really hard time controlling the gun. Once you lose the target off the screen it is hard to find it's way back again. The remote snaps easily into the zapper but the nunchuck has to be forced in. The little compartment on the bottom is hard to pry open and I am afraid that it is going to be broken off pretty soon.I am giving it a 4 simply because it comes with a nice little game that is worth the purchase price in itself. The zapper itself rates a 2-3.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: The Link Crossbos game is quite good and worth twenty bucks.

Weaknesses: The Zapper itself is impractical.

Summary: The Zapper is a plastic holster for your remote and nunchuck. It's suppsoed to simulate teh light gun experience. but I find it's complettely impractical. Its ergionomics aren'tsound and it seems restrictive in control access. Much better too just use the remote and nunchuck without it.However, Links Crossbos is worth $15-420 bucks. It's a fun little shooter that you cna play again and again. So pick this up for the game, not the plastic.