I was in Target the other day and noticed they had one Wii Zapper still sitting around. Since no one could find me one for Christmas, I decided I’d drop the $25 myself and see what the hype is all about.
The Wii Zapper has a very solid construction and was fairly easy to setup. There’s a nice cable management system on the bottom section of the Zapper so you don’t have to look at the excess cord coming off the Nunchuck. There are two configurations for the Zapper as mentioned in the manual. The first is what you might imagine, with the Wiimote and Nunchuk inside the Zapper. The second involves removing the Nunchuck and using your left hand to manipulate that attachment on its own. Personally, I’m all for having everything in one package.
Link’s Crossbow Training is essentially a cheap pack-in to familiarize you with the Wii Zapper. There are various challenge levels where you have to shoot targets as they appear (sometimes actual targets, sometimes zombies, etc) in a timed fashion. It’s pretty fun, especially for a pack-game on a $25 accessory. Definitely not something you’re going to leave in your Wii and play every day.
I do have issue with how the Wii Zapper angles the Wiimote inside the case. It seems to be angled down quite a bit, so the target on screen appears well below where you would expect. This messed with your aiming a bit, which takes a little time to get used to. I’m not sure if I assembled it wrong or what the deal is, but it’s an annoyance none the less.
Expect a full review coming soon for this Wii accessory and game.
“I do have issue with how the Wii Zapper angles the Wiimote inside the case. It seems to be angled down quite a bit, so the target on screen appears well below where you would expect. This messed with your aiming a bit, which takes a little time to get used to. I’m not sure if I assembled it wrong or what the deal is, but it’s an annoyance none the less.”
Uhm, the position of the crosshair depends entirely on the sensor bar and it’s postion in relation to the wiimote. Everyone is going to have the crosshair higher/lower than the other person. Mine can change height if I sit further back or closer. It’s not meant to be like a light gun where you literally aim at the TV.
Unfortunately you’re both wrong and missing the point. The Wiimote by itself is essentially a light gun. It triangulates a point on the screen by where you’re aiming. That is a light gun. The Wii Zapper places the Wiimote on the top to use for aiming on screen and just adds an extension for the trigger.
The problem is that holding a Wiimote right next to the Wii Zapper is not at the same position on the screen. The Zapper keeps the Wiimote at a slight downward angle causing the Wiimote marker/crosshair on the screen to be lower than you would expect.
If you still think it’s not a lightgun, take a look at Reggie’s presentation from E3 when he calls it a lightgun a few times.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21540.html
Yeah, I won’t be getting this until they make a gun that can actually be aimed like a, you know, gun.
There’s a cross hair position configuration option in the corner of the title screen. Might solve your problems…