In the annals of peripheral history, no system has more one-offs and duds like the Wii. The saddest part is, most of them are made by Nintendo themselves. While I enjoy my Wii Wheel, Wii Zapper and Wii Speak in an odd, kitschy kind of way; they are, in reality, random oddities that quickly get shelved when they reveal their lack of true function. Hell, I've never even used that microphone as of yet.
By far the biggest disappointment in my mind is the Zapper; I can live without the other stuff, but there's a visceral satisfaction to holding something that looks like a gun while you're blasting zombies, aliens or whatever other scourge has landed in your game. Sure, light gun games probably work better when you're just holding the remote; but it lacks the catharsis that only cheap plastic can provide.
If the picture above hasn't given it away, I've found a champion towards my cause to feel like a bad ass in the virtual shooting range, and it's made by those infamous purveyors or foam dart combat, Nerf.
My oldest got the gun and game combo for Christmas, and while I can't vouch for the title that came with it, I can tell you that the Switchshot EX is my new favorite rubber-ended firearm. Nintendo's doohickey, while aesthetically appealing in a way, seems a bit too...epic. It reminds me of the Super Scope; it eschews practicality in order to look awesome. Nerf's gun looks like a, well, Nerf gun; but during play it feels like Nintendo's old orange wonder.
Which means, in summation, that I've suddenly gotten an itch to play light gun games again. I've got Dead Space: Extraction in my GameFly queue with the possibility of adding Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles as well, plus I may even go pick up The House of the Dead: Overkill and milk it for all it's worth. Bang bang, indeed.
Posts
5 comments:
I loved Nerf in the early 90s. I had the bow and arrow gun, the Eagle Eye, and a bazooka chain gun type of thing called the Razorbeast. Man, I had some good memories with those things. My cats ended up eating my darts though...
Let us know how DS: Extraction is.
I would've been an absolute Nerf nerd had these been out when I was a kid.
@Dustin: Yeah, my middle child has pretty much annihilated the darts that came with this one, too; which is OK, it just means that my oldest will lose interest with it and I can permanently play Dirty Harry or cowboys or something.
I'll definitely keep everyone in the Dead Space: Extraction loop; considering it's so highly praised and so hard to find, I may just pick it up.
@Chris: Hey, you can still be a Nerf nerd!
I know what you feel like. My wife and I are on a light gun games kick since we picked up House of the Dead: Overkill and a couple of the Nyko gun peripherals. It's sad that I have an entire drawer full of Wii controllers. Problem is none of these add-ons get used in other games (i.e. Wii Wheel).
The overabundance is the downfall, isn't it? I really do like things like the wheel and zapper; but they're limited in appeal and, unlike the zapper of old, nigh unusable. How are those Nyko guns? I saw them somewhere for $15 and thought about getting one, but am always leery about third party stuff.
Post a Comment