Wii Zapper
Encyclopedia
The Wii Zapper is a gun shell peripheral for the Wii Remote. The name is a reference to the NES Zapper
light gun
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. It is mainly used for shooter game
s, including light gun shooter
s, first-person shooter
s, and third-person shooter
s.
, the idea of a Zapper-type expansion formed when the Wii Remote was first created. He expressed that "What we found is that the reason we wanted to have a Zapper is when you hold a Wii Remote, it can be difficult for some people to keep a steady hand. And holding your arm out like that can get your arm somewhat tired."
A staff member of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
s development team later created a makeshift gun-like frame using rubber bands and wires, which held the Wii Remote and Nunchuk together. In response, Miyamoto stated "this isn't the time or the place to be making things like this!". However, when Miyamoto held the prototype in his hands, he found it very comfortable. He proposed it to the hardware developers, who started on the formal development project. The Wii Zapper underwent an extensive development period involving many design phases, including one that produced a rumble whenever the player hit a target. To save battery life, the rumble function was abandoned.
A "Zapper" prototype was shown at E3 2006 featuring a shotgun
-like design with a "trigger hole", as well as an analog stick built into the top of the handle. This made it similar to the Nunchuk attachment, but without the accelerometer and the second button. In this version, the "gun barrel" of the shell housed the Wii Remote and connected with its expansion port.
A revised design was revealed on July 11, 2007 at E3 2007 with a form reminiscent of a Tommy gun
but even more so of a Steyr AUG
, in which the Wii Remote is fitted in the gun barrel and the Nunchuk is cradled in the rear handle. This design came about with the realization that making the Wii Zapper functionally independent from attachments would "allow for more diverse play styles." Some concern has been raised by this arrangement, since most people would naturally end up holding the Nunchuk with their dominant hand and be forced to pull the trigger with their non-dominant hand. Third-party titles designed to support the Wii Zapper include Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return
, House of the Dead: Overkill, Call of Duty: World at War
, Wild West Guns
, Quantum of Solace
, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition, Dead Space: Extraction
, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
, Heavy Fire: Special Operations
, Mad Dog McCree: Gunslinger Pack
,GoldenEye 007
and Call of Duty: Black Ops
, while Nintendo has supported it with the first-party WiiWare
game, Eco Shooter: Plant 530
, as well as with Sin and Punishment: Star Successor.
The Wii Zapper was first released in Japan on October 25, 2007 as a pack-in with Ghost Squad, with standalone units also made available for purchase on Nintendo's Japanese online store. A bundle with Umbrella Chronicles was later released in the region on November 15, 2007. For other regions, the Wii Zapper is packaged with Link's Crossbow Training
, a training game based on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
. It was released in North America
on November 19, 2007, in Europe on December 7, 2007 and in Australia on December 13, 2007.
listed a "Wii Blaster" peripheral on its website, with a release date of May 1, 2007. Originally listed without a specified manufacturer, the Wii Blaster had been speculated to be the Zapper, but has since been indicated to be produced by third party accessories manufacturer Core Gamer. According to GameStop on May 5, 2007, the Wii Blaster release date was changed to June 26, 2007 and is available for purchase.
Another variation on the official Wii Zapper is the Wii Light Gun. It is designed much like a sub-machine gun and although it is not sold with any games, it is available for purchase at the GAME website and GAME retailers.
While not technically an expansion, details on an aesthetic gun accessory for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, named the "Sharp Shooter", have been released by third-party manufacturer Joytech. In this accessory, the Wii Remote is housed in the gun barrel. The Nunchuk is fitted into the handle so that the Nunchuk's buttons serve as gun triggers.
A new gun peripheral, the Perfect Shot, is designed to be an alternative to the Wii Zapper and is designed by Nyko
. It has a pistol-like design that uses only the Wii Remote.
Below the Perfect Shot is a slot, where the user can attach the Nunchuk or other Wii Remote add-ons. Nyko has also released the Pistol Grip, a gun shell of similar design but only compatible with their Wand
Wii Remote alternative, due to its digital inputs using their proprietary expansion port.
Hong Kong-based accessory manufacturer Brando has also released two Wii gun shells: one of them is the 2-in-1 combined light gun, that very closely resembles the Nyko perfect shot, while the other one, named the Wii Cyber Gun, is more similar to the Zapper.
A Wii Remote-only gun shell was also released with the game Cocoto Magic Circus.
To coincide with the release of the Nerf N-Strike
video game, an arcade-style light gun shooter, Hasbro released the N-Strike Switch Shot EX-3, a functional Nerf
dart shooter that can be modified by removing the dart shooting mechanism and replacing it with a Wii Remote to allow it to be used as a light gun shell. The Switch Shot is available both in a bundle with the Nerf N-Strike game and as a separate peripheral.
Other gun peripherals include a Wii Crossbow, a Wii Magnum, and a Wii Shotgun. A handcannon shell was also released in Australia, the U.K. and Europe with The House of the Dead: Overkill
, modeled after the AMS pistols used by the main characters in the game. Another shell shaped like a toy laser gun was released alongside Toy Story Mania!
in Europe.
NES Zapper
The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...
light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. It is mainly used for shooter game
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
s, including light gun shooter
Light gun shooter
Light gun shooter, also called light gun game or simply gun game, is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is aiming and shooting with a gun-shaped controller. Light gun shooters revolve around the protagonist shooting targets, either antagonists or inanimate objects...
s, first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
s, and third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
s.
History
According to an interview with Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, the idea of a Zapper-type expansion formed when the Wii Remote was first created. He expressed that "What we found is that the reason we wanted to have a Zapper is when you hold a Wii Remote, it can be difficult for some people to keep a steady hand. And holding your arm out like that can get your arm somewhat tired."
A staff member of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii video game consoles. It is the thirteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series...
s development team later created a makeshift gun-like frame using rubber bands and wires, which held the Wii Remote and Nunchuk together. In response, Miyamoto stated "this isn't the time or the place to be making things like this!". However, when Miyamoto held the prototype in his hands, he found it very comfortable. He proposed it to the hardware developers, who started on the formal development project. The Wii Zapper underwent an extensive development period involving many design phases, including one that produced a rumble whenever the player hit a target. To save battery life, the rumble function was abandoned.
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
-like design with a "trigger hole", as well as an analog stick built into the top of the handle. This made it similar to the Nunchuk attachment, but without the accelerometer and the second button. In this version, the "gun barrel" of the shell housed the Wii Remote and connected with its expansion port.
A revised design was revealed on July 11, 2007 at E3 2007 with a form reminiscent of a Tommy gun
Tommy Gun
Tommy Gun may refer to:*Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun, a submachine gun*"Tommy Gun" , a song by The Clash...
but even more so of a Steyr AUG
Steyr AUG
The AUG is an Austrian bullpup 5.56mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG . The AUG was adopted by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 in 1977, where it replaced the 7.62mm StG 58 automatic rifle...
, in which the Wii Remote is fitted in the gun barrel and the Nunchuk is cradled in the rear handle. This design came about with the realization that making the Wii Zapper functionally independent from attachments would "allow for more diverse play styles." Some concern has been raised by this arrangement, since most people would naturally end up holding the Nunchuk with their dominant hand and be forced to pull the trigger with their non-dominant hand. Third-party titles designed to support the Wii Zapper include Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is a first-person shooter game for the Wii and the PlayStation Portable. It is an installment in the long-running Medal of Honor series of World War II games. Each version was built from the ground up for its respective system. The Wii version was announced at Nintendo's...
, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return is a compilation and re-release of The House of the Dead 2 and III for Wii. It is compatible with the Wii Zapper peripheral.-Gameplay:...
, House of the Dead: Overkill, Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is generally considered to be the fifth mainstream game of the Call of Duty series and returns the setting to World War II. The game was...
, Wild West Guns
Wild West Guns
Wild West Guns is a WiiWare and iPhone OS shooting video game by Gameloft. For the Wii, it was released on August 1, 2008 in Europe, on August 4, 2008 in North America, and on August 5, 2008 in Japan. It costs 1000 Wii Points. On February 5, 2009, Gameloft released the game worldwide for the...
, Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace (video game)
007: Quantum of Solace is a first-person shooter video game based on the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360...
, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition, Dead Space: Extraction
Dead Space: Extraction
Dead Space: Extraction has received favorable reviews, with an average rating of 82/100 on review aggregator Metacritic. Official Nintendo Magazine awarded the game 84 percent and called it "A first rate introduction to one of the finest survival horror franchises of recent years." The website...
, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, known as in Japan, is an on-rails shooter video game for the Wii developed by Capcom and Cavia. The game was released on November 17, 2009 in North America. It was released in Europe on November 27, 2009 bundled with the Wii Zapper accessory.-Plot:The game's...
, Heavy Fire: Special Operations
Heavy Fire: Special Operations
Heavy Fire: Special Operations is an on-rails arcade shooter developed by Teyon for the WiiWare. It appeared in the WiiWare Shop in North America on July 26, 2010 and in the PAL region on December 31, 2010...
, Mad Dog McCree: Gunslinger Pack
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990....
,GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...
and Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released worldwide on November 9, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii consoles, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. Announced on April 30, 2010,...
, while Nintendo has supported it with the first-party WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
game, Eco Shooter: Plant 530
Eco Shooter: Plant 530
Eco Shooter: Plant 530, known as 530 Eco Shooter in Japan and Europe, is a game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii's WiiWare service. It was first released in Japan on November 24, 2009, and later released in North America on December 21, 2009 and in Europe on...
, as well as with Sin and Punishment: Star Successor.
The Wii Zapper was first released in Japan on October 25, 2007 as a pack-in with Ghost Squad, with standalone units also made available for purchase on Nintendo's Japanese online store. A bundle with Umbrella Chronicles was later released in the region on November 15, 2007. For other regions, the Wii Zapper is packaged with Link's Crossbow Training
Link's Crossbow Training
Link's Crossbow Training, known in Japan as , is a shooting video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It was bundled with the Wii Zapper peripheral and was the first title to use it. It was first released in North America and was later released in Europe,...
, a training game based on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii video game consoles. It is the thirteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series...
. It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on November 19, 2007, in Europe on December 7, 2007 and in Australia on December 13, 2007.
Third-party gun accessories
Despite an official Wii Zapper expansion released by Nintendo, some gun peripherals have been shown by third parties. The first of these appeared in early April, when video game retailer GameStopGameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
listed a "Wii Blaster" peripheral on its website, with a release date of May 1, 2007. Originally listed without a specified manufacturer, the Wii Blaster had been speculated to be the Zapper, but has since been indicated to be produced by third party accessories manufacturer Core Gamer. According to GameStop on May 5, 2007, the Wii Blaster release date was changed to June 26, 2007 and is available for purchase.
While not technically an expansion, details on an aesthetic gun accessory for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, named the "Sharp Shooter", have been released by third-party manufacturer Joytech. In this accessory, the Wii Remote is housed in the gun barrel. The Nunchuk is fitted into the handle so that the Nunchuk's buttons serve as gun triggers.
A new gun peripheral, the Perfect Shot, is designed to be an alternative to the Wii Zapper and is designed by Nyko
Nyko
Nyko is a manufacturer of third-party accessories for various gaming consoles.-Wand:The Nyko "Wand" is a 3rd-party replacement for the Wii Remote. It was announced at CES 2009. The Wand features Trans-Port technology, which allows specially designed attachments to pass through key buttons to the...
. It has a pistol-like design that uses only the Wii Remote.
Below the Perfect Shot is a slot, where the user can attach the Nunchuk or other Wii Remote add-ons. Nyko has also released the Pistol Grip, a gun shell of similar design but only compatible with their Wand
Nyko Wand
The Wand is a line of game controllers released by Nyko as third-party alternatives to the official Nintendo Wii Remote. The original Wand duplicated the functionality of the Wii Remote, while the updated Wand+ added internal replication of the Wii MotionPlus for more advanced motion sensing,...
Wii Remote alternative, due to its digital inputs using their proprietary expansion port.
Hong Kong-based accessory manufacturer Brando has also released two Wii gun shells: one of them is the 2-in-1 combined light gun, that very closely resembles the Nyko perfect shot, while the other one, named the Wii Cyber Gun, is more similar to the Zapper.
A Wii Remote-only gun shell was also released with the game Cocoto Magic Circus.
To coincide with the release of the Nerf N-Strike
Nerf N-Strike
Nerf N-Strike is a video game developed by EA Salt Lake and published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS and Wii. The game is a rail shooter and focuses on the NERF line of toy dart blasters. It has an optional unique blaster for gameplay called the Nerf Switch Shot EX-3, that can either be...
video game, an arcade-style light gun shooter, Hasbro released the N-Strike Switch Shot EX-3, a functional Nerf
Nerf
Nerf is a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. The acronym NERF stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, but there are also several different types of Nerf toys, such as balls for sports like football,...
dart shooter that can be modified by removing the dart shooting mechanism and replacing it with a Wii Remote to allow it to be used as a light gun shell. The Switch Shot is available both in a bundle with the Nerf N-Strike game and as a separate peripheral.
Other gun peripherals include a Wii Crossbow, a Wii Magnum, and a Wii Shotgun. A handcannon shell was also released in Australia, the U.K. and Europe with The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill is a first-person rail shooter video game developed by Headstrong Games and published by Sega. It is the fifth game developed in the The House of the Dead series, a prequel to the original House of the Dead chronologically and the first in the series to be released...
, modeled after the AMS pistols used by the main characters in the game. Another shell shaped like a toy laser gun was released alongside Toy Story Mania!
Toy Story Mania! (video game)
Toy Story Mania! is a video game produced by Disney Interactive Studios and developed by Papaya Studio. The game is based on the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction located at Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios, which was inspired by the Toy Story movie series produced by...
in Europe.