So I’ve had the new Wii Zapper in my little gamer hands for a weekend now, and so far I’ve experienced absolutely no urges to purchase a real gun or perpetuate any sort of violence upon real people. I’ll keep you posted, though. You just never know when shooting targets held by weird alien chicken things (Ooccoos) or taking out a few zombies with a white plastic gun will lead to murderous urges, right? It’s a freaking miracle that I haven’t killed several dozen people already, given the amount of time I spent shooting my little brother with a Nerf gun as a child.

Thus far, I’m impressed with the new Zapper, although it really isn’t more than a shell to hold the Wiimote still. The thing functions great as a point-and-shoot toy even without the white shell. The two handed grip is nice, and using the joystick to drive while it is attached to the back of the gun is remarkably intuitive. I’ve been a bit slow at adapting to aiming, but that’s my own deficiency. Being left handed has proved to be a continual challenge in the world of Wii. You’d think I’d just switch over and use the Wiimote with my left hand, but I’m so trained to use the c-stick with that thumb it creates even more problems trying to switch.

After a few hours with the Zapper, it is more or less exactly what it advertises — a gun shaped shell to hold your Wiimote. The grip is comfortable, the trigger is easy to use, and the weight balance is very satisfactory. My only complaint thus far is my Wiimote has trouble dropping into the designed slot because I use the Nyko charging dock, and the rubberized grip doesn’t quite fit right into the Zapper. I had to dig out the double A batteries and standard Wiimote back.

Oh, and the free game is nice. Simple, but challenging, and an excellent tool for getting used to the controller. It’s nice to see familiar scenes and characters from Twilight Princess — except Ooccoo, that thing continues to freak me out. And since I obviously need at least two Zappers (how else is my brother supposed to join me for zombie shooting action over his Christmas break?), I ended up with two copies of Link’s Crossbow Training. And giving it away is totally worthless, because the only friends of mine who would want to play it will obviously buy a Zapper for themselves and thus own their own copy already.