I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

Heh... Pretty soon "A Christmas Story" will be banned because it promotes guns!

dude.. they sell water guns, nerf guns, and other toy guns out there.... EXCUSE ME? or let's think about it in this manner....... the Zapper was meant for games simulating gun play!

What's more dangerous... using a toy that look slike a gun, or a video game meant to simulate a gun. cmon.. this is just stupid.

@nightwing2000

On your list, you forgot:

a stick or twig

As a kid, how many of us picked up a fallen stick or twig and played cops and robbers?

Reading the first few comments at the Star Ledger blog is really disturbing. Are parents and grandparents that out of touch with reality? The Wii Zapper being viewed on par with a real gun? Give it a rest. When has anyone seen a gun like that?!?!

I wonder how many of those parents also purchase Star Wars light sabers, SpiderMan web slingers and Pirates of the Caribbean swords for their kids?

It is pretty amazing that people jump to the conclusion that Nintendo is immediately going to release games like "187: How to Kill A Cop!" (no thats not a real game). Get real. This isnt contributing to the derogation of society. It is stupid, uniformed people who try to blame everything but their own parenting that seem to be the ones taking us to all new depths of societal low. But god forbid we blame ourselves for anything. I mean the fact that our society as a whole leaves the TV or video games on as a babysitter is not to blame. Oh no, its the people who make the TV shows and games.People need a wake up call. Learn to police your kids and not blame all of the world's troubles on video games.

And as a sidenote, maybe we can talk about how the zapper doesnt even look anything like a real gun. Maybe we can blame candy cigarettes for people smoking. Or how about the gum cigars for people liking cigars. Big League Chew could be blamed for chewing tobacco. IBC Root Beer (since it comes in an actual bottle) for kids wanting to drink beer. Yeah. Lets go overboard everywhere. Seriously, people need to get a life.

@DavCube

See my response to DragonBomber.

I have other reasons, but people die if I get to angry.

@ kidfenris

I can only hope this is the case. I want to sport one of those amazing gangster coupes one day. I would rather have it converted to electric or biodiesel than run gas, but in the long run I likely will never own one and am merely dreaming. Cool cars and zoot suits. That's where the danger's at.

I'm more surprised that they didn't flip out over the replica sword and shield for Zelda.

I love how they panic when a game uses a gun like toy, but never when stores sell water guns to kids at like 99 cents, or the super soakers, or nerf guns for that matter.

@Scottland89
Technically all that is is plastic. You just place the Wii-Mote and Nunchaku in the slots. Not a new electronic. It's the same concept for the Wii-Mote steering wheel.

@nightwing2000 --

Slings aren't weapons to be scoffed at. A number of ancient armies had soldiers who were proficient with slings. The sling bullets were carved and sharpened rocks that were most definitely deadly in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing.

Additionally, there was a weapon called a staff sling. It was basically a sling on the end of a three to four foot stick. It was more difficult to use, but it could generate even more velocity.

They were used in King's The Dark Tower series, but (no groaning here) a historical usage was David slaying Goliath. (There was a good History Channel show on this -- I think it was an episode of Ancient Weapons.)

There was another story from New Jersey yesterday regarding a city councilman taking a water gun away from a kid at a swimming pool. If I can find the link again, I'll post it.

@Blackice

Why exactly are you trying to turn this topic into a nintendo - sony - ms console fanboy war?

I really couldn't give a monkeys which company made the lightgun, the issue here is the clueless people on the "omg! a lightgun for a console? it's turning children into murderers!¬!¬" line of thought

"Are you out of your mind, Dennis? There is a problem with gun violence in this country, and Nintendo is feeding that problem. What a dork."


And yet you are going after the fake guns, and doing nothing about the fucking REAL guns. What a joke you have become.

@IanC

I'm not even going to bother that i'm likely older than you.. Foolish Child..

jee a jack thompson post theres something new


ok back to blue dragon

What is wrong with these people? These parents never heard of Duck Hunt haven't they?

I played with plastic toy weapons and other imitiations and it didn't make me a killer.

Either the people who are complaining are complete morons (no offense but they are) or a lack of toy history. (from gun darts to BB guns)

Nekowolf: "Now then, I know quite well what the 2nd Amendment does. It gives the right to bear arms in establish militia. However, militia is no longer necessary, considering we now have a full standing army"

But, err, the whole point of the Second Amendment is so that The People and the several States could protect themselves from said standing army should the Federal government ever abuse it. Go read the Federalist papers. Or go read the recent Circuit Court decision in Parker vs. DC.

Anyhoo, if you don't like us having guns, Molon Labe. ;)

Just because the Wii has a gun shaped controller doesn't mean it's bad. If it is so, then toy makers should stop making toy guns that produce cute sounds and colorful lights. Besides, not all Wii games are targeted for kids. This is what happens WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT. Before speaking, you should base it in on facts.

Just because a kid holds a knife doesn't mean he's gonna be a killer.

generic New Jersey joke #28,401

"introducing to 4-9 years"

Again, adults show their ignorance by claiming video games are just for kids.

"What kind of message are we sending as parents when we buy these things for our kids?"

Don't buy it then. Be a parent for once and just say no to the kid.
does anyone know how much the Zappers are supposed to cost?

1st (hopefully)

The first Nintendo Zapper came out 20 years ago! I don't recall that particular piece of plastic warping my fragile mind when I was young. I think all of this negativity actually comes from an anti-youth attitude. Children aee not nearly as idiotic and fragile as some would have you believe. I know that children can be impressionable at times, but I think this is pushing it. Next they'll be taking the Nerf guns away...

Does anyone remember Duck Hunt?

Jesus Christ, a what bunch of freakin' idiots.

Hmmm....
Plastic Dart Guns.
"Realistic" plastic machine guns, AK47s, even the "realistic" wodden riffles.
Cap guns.
Paintball guns.
Laser Tag.
Water pistols.
Water soaker rifles.
"Guns" that fire cars.
Guns that shoot Nerf balls.
Guns that shoot... pretty much any "bullet" design (circle, ball, etc).
Plastic bows and arrows.
Toy crossbows.
Plastic lightsabers.
Plastic swords.
Plastic knives.
Plastic battleaxes.
Big foamy "bats" for hitting each other.
Plastic grenades.
Plastic batons.
Rock 'em Sock 'em.
Darts (plastic, velcro, sharp tip, etc).
Etc
Etc
Etc

Nah, only video games have EVER encouraged young children to be violent or how to practice preparing to use long range weapons better.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

the thing with a Nintendo gun, if it is anything like the NES version, is that it teaches kids guns suck. I mean, it is too hard to hit anything so you give up, right?


Or maybe I just can't "aim".

I don't think the Zapper is actually a controller is it? It's just a plastic snap-in frame that uses the Wii-mote and Nunchuck.

"Nintendo ought to be fined for introducing to 4-9 years old kids a “toy” that promotes guns."
So what about Nerf, Supersoakers, Capguns, BBguns, Air rifles *list goes ever on ever on (a cookie to who knows where that last bit came from)* Do all those companies need to be fined even more for marketing their products exclusively to children?

Anyways, where were people claiming to be worried about "teh childrenz" with the original NES/Famicom that had it's own light-gun controller?

I remember back when I used to use a gun-like wand to play my games. No harm ever came of it. Except of course when I'd play The Adventures of Bayou Billy, but that's because that game is horrible.

SELF-EDIT: ...although, admittedly, I'm thinking more about male children than female, and back in those days girls weren't likely to get those kinds of toys. Hrm. But still, they would've been aware of them.

I made a mistake in my first post. I meant to add "Except that the Wii Zapper was not meant to be aimed at humans and is for use with a gaming console. Lazer tag and water guns are meant to be aimed and fired at humans and other living beings."

I think these people's pure lack of common sense and enraging ignorance is at least ten times more likely to send someone on a shooting spree than any game ever could.

HELLO? Ever heard of Time Crisis? House of the dead? Did they ever send anyone on a shooting spree? NO, they were just freakin' fun games!

The Star Ledger is a complete piece of trash. Earlier this week the SL told me that because some Rutgers fans booed and cursed out Navy's football team, then the entire young RU fanbase desecrated the armed forces and the victims of 9/11. Personally I wasn't too happy with the cussing, but woulda seen it as a crass form of sportsmanship against a football team, and NOT meant to spit on the actual Navy. I was much more offended with being told how much I apparently hate my country.

So this doesn't surprise me one bit. Their readership pretty much pounces on every loaded question the editorials bring out. At least the Asbury Park Press doesn't pull this crap.

Oh... @Robb?
105 =P

As others have illustrated, the shock over this perplexes me. It's NOT like this is something new. The oldest lightgun game of which I'm aware is Crossbow, which hit in 1983, a year before Duck Hunt, yet all these people are shocked, SHOCKED that Nintendo would do something like this... Never mind that the very design of the Wii remote is and always has been ideally suited to shooting at your screen, or that Nintendo was the first company to bring a light gun into people's homes.

Maybe we need video game legislation after all. Parents are obviously incapable of paying any attention whatsoever. (Yes, I'm just being sarcastic, lest someone think I actually want legislation.)

I think the Zapper is a great idea...

Duck Hunt. I loved blasting those 8-bit fowls. This brings to light something I was thinking about over the last few weeks - retro games being 'worse' for kids then than modern ones. Like Road Rash. Full-on head on collision? No worries! I guess, though, 'modern' 'parenting' means pretending life is all sweetness and light - no guns, violence, murder - until you watch the evening news, that is. No, nowadays kids are weaned on Barney and other insipid tripe. Remember Fraggle Rock? That was good kid's entertainment.

Anyway, these parents fail at life - if your 9 year old kid is so impressionable, keep him/her from playing shooting games. Then they can blame you when they take the pre-req Halo-Studies 204 in college and fail!

15c worth of HPDE (I'm guessing here) mixed with white colored resin and molded into a $20 shape that resembles a weapon is NOT going to teach a kid how to shoot, is NOT going to make them violent, and ONLY your lack parental input will allow your kids to be screwed up.

OK, I'm done rambling.

@william

but take two didn't make the zapper, so Jack PROBABLY won't have a problem with it.

Edit: Best game ever

Nice to know that video game stupidity isn't a California-only syndrome.

"I think this a really dumb thing to do.. however, as a parent.. i make the choice what comes in my home.. This will not…. Just because it is available doesn’t mean we have to buy it."



Holy shit! A parent who actually gets it. We need to find this person and clone them!

Yes, because we all know that aiming this contraption is EXACTLY the same as aiming a real weapon. It's not even gun-shaped for frick's sake, unless you're talking about stuff from Star Trek.. I fail to see how this adds realism to shooter games in the slightest. I wonder if the people saying these ridiculous things realize that in an actual gun, the trigger is in the back and squeezed with the dominant hand?

What about the parents that DO teach their kids how to shoot a real weapon? Those bother me a lot more than parents who buy their kids a wii or this peripheral.

Also:

"I think this a really dumb thing to do.. however, as a parent.. i make the choice what comes in my home."

More parents need to think like this. Seriously.

Great, this is what we need. Children with guns learning how to aim and shoot. Then we can sit back and wonder what is happening to our country with kids killing kids……what’s next? Could we make it squirt blood, too?

Nintendo ought to be fined for introducing to 4-9 years old kids a “toy” that promotes guns. The next thing you know they will include an application to the NRA in the game. Who ever thought up this stupid game ought to be fired. I would NEVER purchase a Nintento product for my grandkids from here on…

I think it’s irresponsible for Wii to come out with a controller that looks like a gun so kids can play games simulating shooting. What kind of message are we sending as parents when we buy these things for our kids?


O
M
F
G


Have these people never heard of TOY GUNS. I mean seriously. is it not more dangerous to have a plastic gun replica that looks like a geniune gun and the child pointing it at a friend "playing" some game making sound effects? I mean that's what it would be to me.

The simple thought that this is the first time a child has had the chance to use a toy gun is simply unfathomable.


Besides. Only if we become star trek in the future will this kind of toy have any effect on the children.

There was a Zapper pistol for the NES 20 years ago, in fact I still have one, no, two, both the blaze orange and the gray models, so should I be starting up Vtech rampage 2.0 already?

And there were gun shaped controllers on arcade machines even before that, Hell, Operation Wolf and T2 The Arcade Game both had controllers actually modeled after a REAL uzi Submachine gun, did anyone bitch about THEM!?!? Hell, there are still arcade machines with realistic gun controllers, yet no one will say a thing, making the arguments these people are putting out entirely moot.

OMG... I was 5 years old on Christmas of 1985. That was an important day for me, because it was the day that I received my Nintendo Entertainment System. I even have a picutre of me in my little red pajamas, a bow stuck to my head and an NES box in my hands.

Oh, and did I mention that it came with a gun? The original "Zapper" light gun (I had the gray model) to be exact. I spent many hours playing Duck Hunt and Bayou Billy with thing. Later, on the SNES, I got the gun that came with that system. I also had a Genesis, and their gun...it went with the Terminator 2 game IIRC.

Why do you care? Because I have not shot a gun at a person or animal in my entire life. I also don't own a gun, although I fully support the right to do so...I just don't have one. The Christmas in 1985 didn't make me a gun nut, and Chistmas in 2007 (or whenever it comes out) won't make some other little kid a gun nut.

If only there was anything that they, as helpless parents, could possibly do to prevent that toy from coming into their home and having their crotchfruit run rampant.

If only...

Okaay... How about banning those toy guns and gun replica we have in Wal-mart. And those very dangerous fire-cracker guns. These can train one to "aim, shoot and kill". And second, most of us play in our living room, not in the holodeck or a real life war zone.

Oh for the love of God. Haven't these people ever heard of the Nintendo light gun? Or seen games in the arcade with gun like controls? Those have yet to be accused of killing anyone, so why the **** are they complaining about the Wii Zapper?

Yet the wii is painting the picture that gaming is for kids and kids alone.

Someone needs to get out more. :\

I'm pretty much tired of making sensible arguments since no one listens so I'll just make it this simple: Can we have our games and be in peace? Thank you.

As long as people like that have too much time on their hands. They will find something that people have fun with and try to crush ruin it, bc its everyone elses fault expect their own.

Four things:

# 1. The person in that first quote sounds like a soccer mom stereotype.

# 2. "……what’s next? Could we make it squirt blood, too?" I don't understand this. Real guns squirt blood? What?

# 3. There was a gun for the Nintendo Entertainment System over 20 years ago- it came with the system- and as far as I can recall (I was only 2 in 1985, first got an NES in 1990) no one ever complained.

# 4. There is no reason whatsoever for Nintendo to make this. The whole point of the Wiimote is that it can be anything, and using your imagination is part of the fun. There's no need, none whatsoever, to place it a gun-shaped shell.

@Quad9damage

Uh, I've had a Wii since release, and as far as I can tell, the Wiimote can't do much of anything. Like aim accurately. That console just collects dust.

Nightwing, add rubber band guns, too. Actually, I learned in grade school how to use my thumb, pinky, and forefinger as a rubber band gun, so add HANDS to the list!

Oh my god. We have to OUTLAW THE HANDS BEFORE THE CHILDREN START KILLING EACH OTHER!

You know who I feel bad for? The kids of those parents quoted in the first part of the article. I don't think I need to explain why.

@ lumi

The Simpsons showed us exactly what will happen if we go down this path. Alien rulers will invade us and the only way to protect ourselves will be to pry a piece of wood from a nearby fence. A board with a nail in it may be our only salvation.

The Wii is specifically marketed to be for ALL ages. And also, where have these people been for 20 years?

I'm all for fining Nintendo (I hate those Fuckers), but doesn't the constitution allow the "bearing of arms". They're gonna learn sooner or later, just looks like it's going to be sooner.

lumi,
And when you mention rubber bands, that, of course, brings to mind...

Slingshots.
And, yes, I'm including the plastic toy ones.

Oh, and let's not forget slings (as opposed to the Y shaped slingshots). After reading Dark Tower, I hear that metal ball loaded slings can do some serious harm.

No, no, only video games do. I forgot. Sorry.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

@Richard

It has been longer than 20 years. First video game gun I know of was the Magnavox Odyssey's add-on gun in 1968, which while not very popular showed up in games ever since then. You also have the shooting gallery games after that using similar technology based on the pellet and bb games at amusement parks that Baer drew inspiration from. We've been making a game of shooting at things, and not designating it as an adult game for centuries. Native Americans have been tossing tomahawk axes, spears, knives, and other weapons for sport and training for as long as some of their tribes lived on this continent I imagine. If we suddenly get overrun by wild animals, 9/10 of our current population shits themselves and calls the police and fire department.

@ BlackIce

The second amendment refers to arming a militia technically speaking, used and understood by some to mean we can carry weapons. However, in reality you can neither raise a militia and arm them, nor can you carry a weapon in public except for assorted instances. The constitution gives us the right to bear arms against and overthrow tyranny but as of yet, the nonsense governments in power over the past two hundred plus did not qualify as such somehow. Go figure.

Afterthought:

Well, almost the same level as JT. Might have something to do with me being knowing a few KGB members back in the day, but we can say I hate JT and Nintendo.

Maybe it's a little off-topic, but I really can't find anywhere to say this. So here goes:

I want to see a game set in the First World War. If we can do that well, it proves that Games can do as well as movies in that degree.

I'm sure it's been said already but funny how back in the NEs zapper days NO ONE said a word about how it's going to train us to kill...and THAT looked MORe like a REAL gun.

Light Gun games were a whole lot more prevalent in the 80's and 90's then they are today, and frankly, I'm surprised Duck Hunt wasn't mentioned. The Wii-Zapper is NOT being promoted to 4-9 year olds, people of that age are for the most part incapable of buying anything without their parent being over their shoulder paying for it. It is my philosophy that the sooner you desensitize a child to violence and such, the less it will effect his/her mind as a teenager. I'd also like to point out that the NRA does not encourage violence, they fight to protect the second amendment, that's all. With that said, it is statistically true that the UK has a much higher crime rate than the US, despite the fact that it is illegal to carry a gun. Also the Wii-Zapper is not a "stupid game", it's just a peripheral, and it's most certainly not a gun, and kids won't know how to shoot once they pick it up, there is no sonic boom, or massive recoil when you fire the zapper. I wonder if they had the same complaint with Duck Hunt, a game which was undoubtedly played and enjoyed by members of that organization when they were younger. I think its a great irony to see that this organization acknowledges that Nintendo caters to a younger audience more so that Microsoft, or Sony, yet they criticize Nintendo for apparently marketing the Zapper to a younger audience (which, of course they don't; there is no ESRB rating on that peripheral and there won't be pictures of little kids playing with the zapper on its box). There are stupid people in the world just as there are stupid questions, and these people prove it.

@DragonBomber

It's not that. Those bastards think all gamers are 5 years old. Why the hell do you think they come out with crap like Cooking mama? And the Wii for that matter.

Oh, right, and as for the second amendment, it needs to be updated or removed. It's pretty much void nowadays; they only need for guns in our nation is for hunting, which is fine. I guess. But overall, there there are few militias, and no need really, either (unless they want to gripe about the Mexicans and the Canadians, like the modern-day minutemen). Can't remember the last time we were attacked by the British, hmm...

"It’s not that. Those bastards think all gamers are 5 years old. Why the hell do you think they come out with crap like Cooking mama? And the Wii for that matter."

Ohhh, so it's the whole "only M Rated games are cool" demographic, is it?

They don't think that. They don't make many games like that any more. Most anything else is just some 3rd party adaptation of a cartoon that's multiplatform or something.

And come on, the name of the system? Um.... get the crap over it? It's not like people are gonna laugh at you over the name of a freaking system you own.

And lay off on the language, man, it's not making you look any more mature.

I have to ask; was there ever a time when nerf was called out for selling gun like toys to children?

@BlackIce, Leftie

Metroid Prime. Super Smash Bros. Resident Evil series (ported, but so what, it's still there). Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Legend of Zelda. Castlevania series. Need I go on? Wow, that five-year-old has some serious skill, cause I don't know any five year olds who can get through games like that by themselves.

@Nekowolf

Yes I know they make a few (okay, possibly an understatement) decent games. But the system (Wii) comes out as being a cute, family friendly device for casual gamers (That's how it is marketed). I hate that.

Sorry, I know this is off-topic, but...

@nightwng2000

I would SO play that...Stephen King is awesome; btw, did you read his account in the back of On Writing? He goes into his accident and such.

Ahh yes, anti gun and anti game stupidity in one sleek package.

@BlackIce, Leftie

So, you're against casual gamers. Okay, riiight...I mean, since a casual gamer is a gamer who plays every now and then, while compare to hardcore gamers like us. And also, you're against family-friendly, so that means you're also against families playing a game together.

Even though, that is in large part of what the Wii is, a "family friendly device for casual gamers." Compared to PS3 and XBox, with their button-stuffed controllers which newer or more casual gamers would have a harder time getting used to, and with less games for the family, which leads to a drop of demographic due to the growing number of hardware and games directed at hardcore gamers leaving little left for those who are not, and only play from time to time, like my sister.

This really shows the stupidity of some people, good for the parent who was quoted in the last bit of this article for showing some common sense unlike the rest of those parents >_> .

@Nekowolf

Just like i'm against American's right to exist! (No.. i'm not)

I'm not against them, I just have a particular dislike of them. Besides, the controller on a PS2 only took about 10 minutes to figure out, and a PS3 less than that (okay, it's like a Dualshock controller).

i want to see these parent groups prove us wrong. I have yet to see any evidence that this device is being marketed to kids,or marketed at all. I have never seen any ads for the Wii Zapper.

I want to see these parents groups who never seen/ touched a real gun, play these shooting games on the Wii (or any other gun sim) then go to a gun range, and, with no training or instruction other than safety and signing some sort of waiver, accurately fire a real gun.

@Soul:

The good thing is that even stupid parents end up with brilliant children. We can only hope their futures are brighter than the dim bulbs of their genetic donors. Wouldn't it be great if common sense was an infectious disease spread by more than just late night contact after some fermented beverages? Of course it could backfire, and we'd have Vulcans running around mind-melting with one another for kicks.

its jersey for christ sake! everyone shooting people there!

oh and i did find a game that comes with a NRA application...which was also a NRA game but none the less...

This...SHELL is no more than a plastic molding for a wii-mote and nothing more. there have been MANY gaming periferals that knockoff guns. nintendo's NES zapper, the super scope, the gun con![not a nintendo product]

Another thing is that im more worried about the protrail of gangsta's on the disney channel turning kids into gangbangers than a stupid toy!

ill add one more thing: please to the new jersey parents, there are lots of stuff out there that can teach kids about gun use. super soakers, squirt guns, BB guns[although the age limit...] and those Nurf guns that look like military knockoffs. so please...GO TO HELL

@E.Zachary Knight

Another brilliant arguement. Perfectly sculpted. Shows up JT so much really.

Anyway, I find it slightly hard to accept that Nintendo was ever Hardcore, but in the days when I wasn't gaming, It is possible they were. I'll take your word for it.

I'm also not disputing the fact that Nintendo has done so much for gaming, but they weren't the only ones in the race that long ago. It wasn't just them.

Finally, i'm not asking Nintendo to change. I'm saying i'm not happy with it. I took up my other options (Sony at the time. I made my choice before the Xbox came out). Still, I have yet to see a game on Nintendo Systems that convinces me they are worthy of respect in my eyes.

@ finaleve

Immediately after 9/11 there was a HUGE surge of box cutters at the Dollar Tree, and other discount stores. Fun little thing I noticed. They had been there before, but until after the attacks there were no displays of them set up. There are plenty of weapons to be had to do real damage to people for a couple bucks a pop, but how often do we hear parents yelling about the dangerous weaponry in their homes, on the shelves of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and their beloved Wal-Mart? Anything can make a weapon, let alone be the inspiration for a child's imagination that lacks proper stimulation, education, recreation, and supervision.

This is absolutely outrageous, what happened to the good old days when little boys would just play with plastic guns, Action Man, G.I Joe's, army men and other assorted non-violent consumables.

This is clearly training our children to kill, I personally am going to ban all video games in my house and take my children to engage in healthy activities.

Like paint ball and laser tag, that's so far removed from reality it couldn't possibly bear any resemblance.

I think it's about time parents practiced what they preach and finally "grow up". Stop looking for excuses to bitch about things, there's still plenty of genuine problems with society that need fixing.

With all the talk about the Wii Zapper being a "gun", and the comparison to the original Zapper, and I noticed some referred to it as a "shell", I decided to look up the Wii Zapper info.

Shell is actually more accurate. While the original Zapper was a complete "controller" peripheral, the Wii Zapper is nothing more than something to stick the original Wii controllers into. My original thought when I first saw this story today was "Oh, it's a TOS Phaser II or III". But because some of the negative comments implied it was a gun controller, like the original Zapper, I refrained from saying such.

Now, I see I was closer to that analogy than I thought. While the Wii Zapper shell provides nothing additional other than a shape, as opposed to a Phaser II or Phaser III addon providing additional power, the Wii Zapper shell alone, just as the Phaser II or III without the Phaser I plugged in, is useless and therefore not even really a gun.

I just thought that analogy was nice.

....

Shut up. I'm not a Trekkie. I just like Star Trek. :P

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

They think this is training kids to kill? A light gun? When I was a preteen I had more water squirtguns than I could count. When I was a teenager my friends and I used to run around with cap guns pretending to shoot and kill each other. Boys have been playing Coyboys and Indians for centuries. Somehow most of us managed to avoid becoming murderers. The pussification of American needs to end.

Dang those little wiimotes in the shape of a rifle. Before them was cap guns, water guns, laser tag, paintball guns, and even pellet guns. We need to protect kids from the water people. When you turn that corner you have a RIGHT not to be shot with little lasers of watery death. Whats next loading real bullets into that water gun? Think of the children.

@Meggie

I just answered that. See my response to Nekowolf.

@nightwing2000

Nethanks. A PS3 is so much more lucrative in my eyes.

@E.Zachary Knight

You are assuming then that all AO's have Sex in them? Of course not all adults like the Sex, Drugs, Rock'N'Roll approach. I like Motorstorm, I like MGS. They are oriented around winning races and.. well.. Sneaking really.

I just generally prefer games that are big with Explosions than games that have something else (Not storylines though. I love a game with a good storyline).

@BlackIce, Lefty and everyone arguing with him

Suum Cuique

@This article

So, people being stupid and being quoted on it. Meh, by their standards, I should have killed all of Europe and some South American countries by now. How? Duck Hunt was the first game I played, wait, third game, right after Zelda 2 and some baseball game for the NES. One of the next games was Doom. I loved Area 51 and Time Crisis in the arcades. I so SHOULD have been a mass-murderer according to this overwhelming evidence, but so far, I've yet to get in trouble with anyone other than my parents ONCE. I'm like that enigmatic family recipe, what makes me so good?

Suum Cuique = "To each his own"

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

I meant that about three or so do not have the rating for sexual content.

you know personally i dont give a crap about the wii zapper (ok maybe for resident evil whatever the new one is maybe i would buy it for that)

I mainly only want the wiiiiiii for two reasons

1.for when im working and someone there asks what im doing tonight i get home i get to say "im gonna go home and play with my wii"

2.Virtual Console

thats it

GP: I played RE with it at E3, it was lots of fun...

Ah the joys of people getting up in arms over something that looks nothing like an actual gun, has the trigger where the stock would be, lacks sights of any kind, no recoil etc. Seriously are people this out of touch with reality that they think something like the zapper could actually help you learn to shoot? It makes no sense whatsoever.

SHEEZ. Didn't Nintendo do THE EXACT SAME THING more then 2 decades ago with the Lightgun ?

Also, this gun would be AWESOME for such classics as DuckHunt.

@E.Zachary Knight

The ERSB doesn't mean anything to me. The BBFC dictates what I buy.

Lightzapper.. Superscope.. weve down this path before, with more realistic looking controllers. Other than cops being trigger happy i cant think of any problems we've faced from these things.


anyone else find it ironic that this generation Nintendo is the one causing all the controversy?

people seem to forget, if they don't like it, don't buy it, on a side note i remember reading playing with toy guns and the like actually reinforces the differance between playing and reality, that with careful parenting a child realises that what their doing is just play and not meant to be done in real life with real guns. The problem with this is most parents just point fingers.

Let's remember that this is New Jersey. Land of the raccoon eyed, greasy haired, toxic waste mutant who happens to be a denizen of some dysfunctional suburb. It's no wonder that parents would complain about something looking like a gun and therefore in their shriveled minds, we are training little johnny and jane to become contract killer bent on adolescent destruction of their peers.

What a lot of these parents fail to realize is that they initially bought their children the wii to entertain one of their little east coast, bad toothed, fat-assed, couch formed misfits so they could get off their enlarged ass pads and actually experience something akin to cardiovascular exercise. Now they complain about a combination controller because it barely, if at all resembles a gun. Look, I realize that most of these knuckle-dragging drechs are about as clueless to the fact that these are games, as they are that their progeny will amount to possibly nothing more than a Soprano's Redux extra later in their lives. But they don't have to ruin it for the rest of us who actually understand the distinction between a game and reality, even though these hyperventilated retards only care about where their next Prada fix is going to come from.

Kid: "I want a Nintendo Wii with the zapper attachment and a copy of Metroid Prime 3!"

Santa: "No way kid, you'll shoot your eye out."

This is so weak. the guns they put out in Japan for the nintendo are much more realistic looking and they don't have the problems we have. We make the guns look more like toys to shelter stupid american kids and they still grow up to shoot eachother. I think it is more about the rage towards parents who have kept someone sheltered for so long that causes the break, something to finally make mom and dad take you seriously and stop treating you like a little kid that can't even handle a very fake looking toy gun.

here are some comparison pictures for the different gund released in Japan and in america.

In Japan the Wii Zapper looks like this.

I love how folks like Jack up there say "we have a real problem with gun crime in this country," and go on to blame a piece of plastic which is used to play a game.

Second ammendment rights aside, which is an issue that shouldn't be raised here, the majority of gun crimes involve illegal weaponry. THAT is what should be cracked down on.

And Thompson, say something that makes sense or say nothing at all - you're one of the worst pitchfork and torch wielders of all.

GAHHHHHHH. Not this shit again.

These parents need to go to an arcade sometime. More often not at least 1/3 of the games there are light gun games.

# Nekowolf Says:
September 14th, 2007 at 11:47 am

Oh, right, and as for the second amendment, it needs to be updated or removed. It’s pretty much void nowadays; they only need for guns in our nation is for hunting, which is fine. I guess. But overall, there there are few militias, and no need really, either (unless they want to gripe about the Mexicans and the Canadians, like the modern-day minutemen). Can’t remember the last time we were attacked by the British, hmm…

Nekowolf, you are an idiot who neither understand the Constitution, the Constitutional process, nor understand the necessity and history of the 2nd Amendment. First of all, you can't update or remove any amendment to the Constitution without 2/3'rds of the House and the Senate approving such an action, secondly you need 2/3'rds of the states and their state legislatures to approve such a measure and they have 5 years to do so. If they don't ratify removing or modifying the 2nd Amendment within that time frame, then nothing gets done. Status Quo and you are back to bleating like a knuckle-dragging moron about how unfair it all is.

Also, your total lack of ignorance on what the 2nd Amendment does is fairly breathtaking. The 2nd Amendment serves 2 primary purposes. The first purpose is that it gives the right of any able bodied man and in this case, woman, the right to own and bear firearms for the purposes of setting up a militia. Every able bodies man or woman in this country is automatically a militiaman. Also, it states that a well regulated militia, which is all able bodied men and in this case women as well are necessary for the security of a free state. Try to understand what the means while you aren't snacking on ho-ho's and cases of pringles. Thirdly, there is a reason why the 2nd Amendment wasn't and isn't the 1st Amendment and that is, is that our forefathers understood that the freedom and liberty to speak without fear of arrest or subjugation is the essential and most necessary aspect of a free country, a free society, and a free people. And in order to secure that freedom the people need to be able to defend it that 1st Amendment by invoking the second. If, for any reason the 1st Amendment should fail, then the people have the right and the ability to use the 2nd Amendment to secure the 1st as given to them by the Constitution.

So you can spew your stupidity about hunters, mexicans, and canadians, but it doesn't amount to a hill of beans, because you have no concept of what you are talking about, which is characterized by your own words that I quoted for everyone to read. Understand what the 2nd Amendment is before you start spouting off on it like a spoiled child.

@ Jack Thompson (I'm on a roll)

"Oh, now I get it, Dennis. Any parent who is opposed to kids’ rehearsing gun violence with a simuated gun is “brandishing pitchforks and lighting torches.”

Are you out of your mind, Dennis? There is a problem with gun violence in this country, and Nintendo is feeding that problem. What a dork.

Jack Thompson "

Nintendo is doing no such thing. Ignorant people are feeding the problem. Gun violence has existed since the conception of the gun. It is not a new thing. the biggest causes of gun violence are gang activity, drug use, alcoholism etc. Video games are so far down the list that you cannot even see it from the top of the list.

Additionally, I believe you told your therepist that you would stop with the ad homiem attacks.

... Um, okay. Honestly people. I agree with a lot of the above comments. Let me make this as simple as I can for all ya'll... er... "responsible parents" If you don't think your kid is ready, turn your back on the peripheral. Nobody will give a d**m, Maybe you will cost Nintendo some spare cents in the expense report. Big whoop. Oh my god, I swear. And I agree with another above comment. You let them run around with 'realistic' guns, water guns, dart guns, pellet guns...etc...(responsible ones, choose your weapons...) when those actually *shoot* something. Something that can be potentially hazardous. Here, however, if im not mistaken. As in the original "Zapper" design, IR beams were sent at the target on the screen. And so, your kids, or as should be more properly named, young ones, would not burn each other's retinas out on this thing... And another thing. Not only 'Kids' (referring to anybody under the age of 18 by my standard, and many others' as well) play these games, but also people over those ages.

Not all kids are gullible. I say this myself from having grown up around swords, guns and death. I came out alright otherwise, and you guys are flipping over a piece of plastic? Irrational if not immature. Get over it and make a choice. Buy or not, and live with it.

Oh, and one last thing for you. What about Time Crisis, Secret Mission, Police Academy, etc... Those arcade games with light guns, and you see lil tykes, and grown men on them when some are a LOT more realistic then this...

Yours, with greatest hope for all remaining human morality,
Zehn

@ Jack

Go away.

Thompson,

I wrote this article so your comments to Dennis are misplaced.

That said, I don’t feel my “brandishing pitchforks and lighting torches” remark was unfair. Look at the anger in some of those comments. Many are suggesting that Nintendo should be fined and employees fired. Pretty silly reaction don’t you think? After all, the Wii Zapper is just a plastic toy, it barely resembles a gun, and you don’t even point it at the TV screen to aim.

Andrew Eisen

Zehn,

Try bringing your own writing up to a decent level. Yours is no better than his.

so how many of you played duck hunter on the old nintendo as kids or the multitude of other shooter games that had "gun" like controllers made for them?? To all of those who say that "I think it’s irresponsible for Wii to come out with a controller that looks like a gun so kids can play games simulating shooting" to anyone who thinks like that or similar and played any of the games I mentioned well I feel that you are a hypocrit and well hell dont deserve to call yourselves americans. When american youth can no longer discern the unreality of shooter and all other video games and movies from the true reality it will be the fault of their parents for not teaching them those differences.

Edit: Latter not Former

@Jack Thompson


"Are you out of your mind, Dennis? There is a problem with gun violence in this country, and Nintendo is feeding that problem. What a dork."


Provide evidence that Nintendo is directly responsible for the gun violence problem. Cite the sources of this evidence if possible. You have 48 hours to respond to this or your statement will be considered to be null and void.

LOL, I take it these parents never heard of Duck Hunt. For decades there have been 'gun' controllers. The NES had the Light Gun. The SNES had the Super Scope. The Wii now has a Zapper(Which is a plastic shell that has to be separately purchased). To my knowledge almost every console from '85-'99, save for the N64, has a light gun (So pretty much everything up to the Dreamcast, and of course the PS2 had Guncoms). Suddenly its a big deal...

The politicians have created some mythical correlation between violence and video games. Strangely, despite constant efforts no studies show anything conclusive. This probably has to do with the fact that EA doesn't share a nice chunk of their profit with them, while the members of the MPAA and RIAA do.

Society in general is very violent. Its not violent because we are shown violence but because it is the nature of the species. Facts are that since the advent of the NES and as the culture of gaming has grown violent crime has plummeted. So... considering that all the earlier generations had was Pong and sports what was their excuse? What video game violence does do is the same thing as what movies and TV do. They desensitize us to the violence, but in a nation who has spent a significant portion of its short history sending young men off to wars to use the guns and suffer the violence they are so worried about this is beyond hypocritical.

@ Jack Thompson
You are wrong again and as always.

@ BlackIce, Leftie
There are more to video games than just violence and I have both God of War games, GTA: SA, DMC3 (Special Edition), MGS2&3, RE4, etc. Why do you think that the Wii is meant only for kids? With games like Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, Metriod Prime 3, and Manhunt 2, I seriously doubt that the Wii is a children-only console.

@ Miraba
Not a problem.

First off, I said the 2nd Amendment needs to be UPDATED OR ERASED. NOTE the UPDATED and the OR. Updated in that it needs to could be reworded to be more properly be placable in current society. Society from then has dramatically changed from then to now.

@Erik

I really don't have any arguments for you. Partly because I agree with you, and partly because you were actually respectable, which brings me to...

@Asmodeus

Oh, struck a nerve did I? Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about you; all you got out of me was laughter, and a few other thoughts. "First of all" I know how majority vote works. That doesn't mean something SHOULDN'T happen. What about woman's rights? That should've happened (and did) yet a lot of people were against it. I guess since, way back when, they would have in no way agreed to it, nobody should have ever tried, right? I mean, that is what you're implying, that even if it is not possible now, you should not even bother to trying, in spite it might serve inspiration in future generations. I mean, after all, reform doesn't happen overnight.

Now then, I know quite well what the 2nd Amendment does. It gives the right to bear arms in establish militia. However, militia is no longer necessary, considering we now have a full standing army, navy, air force (which would have never been though of then), and the National Guard. Now if you could please take the time from being an ass, perhaps you could act more proper instead of looking like another certain someone we ALL can think of who goes off on nothing but insult and injury. And for the hell of it, I'll throw police forces and other specialized armed forces.

"So you can spew your stupidity about hunters, mexicans, and canadians, but it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, because you have no concept of what you are talking about, which is characterized by your own words that I quoted for everyone to read. Understand what the 2nd Amendment is before you start spouting off on it like a spoiled child."

See, all the more reason why I believe you failed to actually read. I said guns were okay if used for hunting purposes, I fail to see the "stupidity" in that. And that currently, you have armed people like the Minutemen who stand at the borders of Canada and Mexico with guns loaded, but no real power. Although knowing them, they'd probably point a gun at your head and tell you to go back, which seems pretty irresponsible if you ask me.

And it's that very problem why this is even an issue; irresponsibility. So maybe if you stopped insulting my like a spoiled child who doesn't like to hear when they don't get their way, perhaps you'd understand the concept of argument and politeness. I could go down to your level, but I actually want to look fairly reasonable. But hey, if you want to keep the 2nd Amendment in an outdated form, fine, but I still think it should be revised to fit more into modern culture, and stricter gun laws and such. The least you could do is be more appropriate instead of insulting me in some way in every paragraph. Oh, and I prefer Ding Dongs over Ho-Ho's :D

Scotland, I don't think Wii tries to advertise that gaming is only for kids. They are trying to promote E rated games as a family activity, but that's more to broaden their demographic than to make a statement about gaming.

They wouldn't pick up Red Steel if they thought gaming was only for kids.

@Draq

it looks more like a generic SMG than an Uzi brand SMG. an Uzi is very distinct.

I don't hear any parents complaining about water guns. How's this different?

Lemme go ahead and make a statement.

I've handled Handguns, Rifles, Shotguns. I've worked on a gun range. I'm accurate with a handgun up to 300 feet in most cases, and with a scoped rifle I'm accurate up to 600 yards with a good scope. I suck with shotguns for some reason.

I also play video games. Lots of them when I'm not working. IN the middle of Metroid Prime 3 right now.

How many violent crimes have I ever engaged in?

0

By jacks own logic, that disproves all his claims about video games. Remember, he claims a Sample Size of one as proof of something.

My point is, it is a far cry from playing a game like metorid or GTA, to handling and shooting real guns. I know ,cause i've done both, having worked on a shooting range, i've fired my fair share of weapons.

There is a VAST diferance. But apparently people like jack and his fellow sheeples are to stupid to understand that.

@Erik
Jack's comments become null and void the second they leave his lips.

people are stupid
i never met a kid (boy) in grade school that didnt have some kind of life szed replica gi joe gun that lit up. these kids ran around and played war but of course when its a game then it becomes bad.

Do these people think before they speak?

I ran around from the age of around 7-8 with plastic and metal guns that were replicas of the real things and fired Caps, which were little rolls of paper with gunpowder 'bumps' on them. They were very common about 20 years ago, in fact, all the kids in the area would play 'War' while their parents looked fondly on.

Later guns took these yellow plastic 'caps' that were louder, and more reliable, but much more expensive. Roll-cap guns are still the best.

There's hardly anything new with either the idea of a gun used to play a game, nor kids playing games with replica guns. I'll admit it was in the UK, not the US, but it was far from uncommon to see kids running round with anything from pistols to machine guns 20-30 years ago.

*UPDATE*

God and Mother Nature to be held accountable for trees that lose branches that become sticks that could resemble a gun.

I also liked to mention that Capcom made a controller for the GCN that resembled a Chainsaw. a Chainsaw, my friends. No one flipped at that.

Wow, guys, you should give this a break, oy. Or you can link this article to all the dissenters. But I just reccomend commenting on the one about the Japanese prime minister liking Games and manga, oy. :)

@finaleve

there was also a PS2 version of the chainsaw as well (yeah yeah, minor detail) and my guess as to why it didn't cause an uproar was it was miniature in comparison to a real chainsaw

Dear Jesus. Duck freaking Hunt.

The problem is is that parents are getting lazier and illresponsible these day. That why kids are getting dumber and lacking more common scence.

The Zapper is still a toy. It don't teach you how to reload a gun or react to recoil. Also the Zapper look nothing like a gun. What type of gun have you place your left hand behind your right hand?

The parents complain because they don't want to teach the kids what real and what not. Parents are getting too illresponsible in other aspect of teaching kids.

I am 16 year old. I can even now see the intelligence gape between my generation and the next generation. I mean when my generation was in elementary was much smarter than the kids in elementary now a days.

Why don't the parent lock up their real guns and have fun with the kids playing games with fake guns? They should spend more time with family than in pro-family meeting where talk about family but not with their family.

All the lazy parents want is to be lazy and keep things the same. They are too tire to change and fear any thing new that they don't understand. They want keep the statics quote the same. By doing so they prevent advancement of civilization, society, technology, economy, and world peace.

So if I can learn how to expertly operate a real gun by using the Wii Zapper, then logically I can become an expert guitar musician by playing Guitar Hero. Which is fantastic news cause I'm quite good at Guitar Hero! By using that same logic all I need is the latest version of Flight Simulator and a flight stick and I can earn my real life pilot's license without ever flying a real plane!! Let's go even further, using the same logic I wanted hundreds of dollars on driver's ed when I was younger. All I needed was a copy of Gran Turismo and a steering wheel perphieral and I'd have had my drivers license in a week!!!

Oh great a bunch of idiots from New Jersey, who clearly don't know what they are talking about are trying to tell Nintendo how to run their business.

Perhaps these people might be future winners of the darwin awards.

Actaully I take that statement back.

The newspaper called it a gun like remote? Yeah if you ever find a gun that looks like the wii zapper let me know. For god's sake it looks almost like a toy raygun.

Just a quick comment on the main page poll regarding Manhunt 2: it really should have an option to select "Wouldn't have bought anyway", or something similar. Ya know, if you're planning on using the feedback to make a point or anything...

Kotaku's verson of the story sheds a bit more light on this. It would appear the light zapper parents were shown was not the nintendo one but.. one by a 3rd party that DOES look a lot like a real handgun.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/cold-dead-hands/new-jersey-parents-angry-about-...

As you can see, that wii zapper is a bit more realistic and menacing than the offical one. Course some of those parents, and Thompson, are idiots but... yeah.

Murry,

Yes but that picture was shown on the poll results article after all the comments had come in.

Readers were shown no picture, not even the wrong one, when the question was asked.

Andrew Eisen

Christ, JT, the world doesn't revolve around you and your idiotic bigotry. Stay on topic - this is GAME politics.

Yeah, he really, seriously needs to get his own blog. His 'press releases' are long, boring, and off-topic. Just like all these responses to his idiocy.

@general531

Nintendo Corp really sees it that way..

@Everyone else who wants to have a go at me.

It's been a day, just drop it already. I said what I said, and I stand by it and my explanations. This does not make it right, however. It is my point of view, we can agree that I am entitled to it.

Once again this just ends up going back to parenting. If the parents will step up and help their kids to distinguish right from wrong, fantasy from reality, it won't matter if the Zapper looks like this or if it looks like a dead-on M16-A2. I was given a REAL gun the moment my dad felt that i was both strong enough to hold it and old enough to listen to what he said about how to use it (this happened to be around age 5 or so) and I have been shooting them ever since. In fact, he used his Parental Control and although I owned a REAL gun I wasn't allowed to play with bb guns, because he felt that they would cause me to lose my respect for just how powerful a real gun is and the damage it can cause if used wrongly. I HAVEN"T EVER KILLED ANYBODY because he taught me right from wrong and how to properly use and treat firearms...but..although i wasn't allowed to play with bb guns, He did let me play duck hunt with the old light gun (which i feel is far more realistic than this Wii version) and those games because he taught me fantasy from reality. It is that type of thing that needs to start happening in this country. PARENTs using the control they have

ATTENTION RETARDED PARENTS:

A plastic shell for the Wii Remote is not going to turn your kids into serial killers. I have a third party gun shell for the Wii that makes it look like a shotgun. Have I killed anyone? NO. I also have a shell that makes it make like a steering wheel, and no, I'm not driving cars yet. With your crappy logic you may as well take away your kids game of Wii Sports because it promotes the use of Baseball Bats. Besides where in the Hell are your kids going to get a real gun anyway? Unless your child has three hundred dollars or more, you have nothing to worry about. The shell doesn't even look like any gun I've ever seen.

@BlackIce, Leftie

No, what they're seeing is smart business. A relatively untapped demographic; the casual gamers. But yes, some children as well. Because when those children grow up on good ol' Nintendo, they'll keep coming back for more. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, etc. All classics and even now, I still love to play some of those old games from the days of NES and Super NES. Unlike Sony and XBox, who are targeting already hardcore gamers. They're not expanding the demographic, just thriving on what Nintendo has built up for them; and if you think I'm wrong, you need to learn some history, especially after the Crash of '83.

And no, I won't drop it, cause I too have my own opinions, and while I won't express them entirely, I will certainly keep thinking them. But I will say one thing that, too, is my opinion. That is "opinion" is no excuse for idiocy. We've seen more than enough example of that.

@bob

"My cousins mother never let him touch a toy gun and he hit the queer wagon when he turned 16.Boys need guns they need that experience its a right of passage.People are just so damn dumb."

Maybe it's just my bad, and I apologize if it is...but that seems like a somewhat anti-homosexual statement...But what I can say with certainty, I find it a very poor analogy. Although yeah, some people are "just so damn dumb." There are more than enough articles on the site to show that.

@nekowolf:

I agree, and hope that was merely a poor choice of words, and not an anti-homosexual statement.

...some people are “just so damn dumb.”

Four words: John Bruce "Jack" Thompson. I rest my case.

@ GP

thank you for finally taking action against JT's random posts.

My city just had an art and wine festival today, and one of the booths was selling "toy" guns. Forget the exposure to alcohol and the damage it obviously causes, whoever is selling these guns needs to be stopped!

Er, Dennis'

I stopped reading at "New Jersey."

[...] Source Game politics Daniel Roswell @ 4:03 pm [...]

@Seiena:

Thank you for repeatedly insulting me….first off there are no AO games period…it’s a game death sentance if it was actually used then the Playboy game wouldn’t be Rated M.

That's not exactly the case... there are plenty of AO titles, though it is true that most of them are PC Pornographic games. And unless the Director's Cut of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude was available on consoles (I seem to recall it being a mail-order only thing on their website) then that only leaves the 'Hot Coffee' edition of GTA:SA. (Don't even get me started on what's wrong with that -- the fact that the content that *caused* the rating in the first place was NOT accessible IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER unless you had a Gameshark or similar device... PC version of course had a different way, but again, just a mere downloadable addon.)

So while AO games aren't commonplace, they're far from 'They don't exist.' (At least on consoles)

just look at the frigging thing. if they thought this was bad, heaven forbid they find out about lazer-tag

Sounds like something the MAVAV would say. And nothing on that site is logical or real. Just a joke some kid came up with. I play tons of shooters and shoot pellet guns, but I'm actually a pacifist. When will adults grow up and learn that kids won't kill each other because they play games.

It seems more like Nintendo should be chastised for making such a dumb looking gun than making one in the first place. Seriously, that looks terrible and uncomfortable.

Also, keep in mind, these are the parents who probably don't let thier kids watch TV, listen to music, have fun. You know, things that I for one modeled my childhood after.

[...] However, these responses may be the case of?misleading sentence construction of Star Ledger’s question. Originally taken from GamePolitics, according to them, this was Star Ledger’s original question: “Wii announced over the summer that it’s coming out the a [sic] gun-like remote, so kids can play shooter games, with, well, a shooter. What do you think about making a wand in the shape of a weapon so play is more realistic? …Is it harmful? …Will you buy one for your kids?” [...]

No - first off... IF you dont want your children USING this item - then DONT BUY THE GAMES.

Do all of you soon forget Duck Hunt for the ORGIONAL nintendo?

how THAT looked more like a gun, then even this thing.


Get the hell over the cry baby stuff about what message it will premote, if you dont want your kids using it, dont buy your kids First Person Shooter Games... Don't blame Wii on your serious lack of judgement.

I blame the parents and jackass wrongson: arse attorney, games are nothign more than games, people who think otherwise are absolute retards with no sense of fun. ive grown up on violent videogames, ive played duckhunt to the extent the picture was burnt into the tv. look at me now, people think i am the most kind, generous, timid, laid back person out there and even to this day i play some of the most violent games in 7.1 surround sound with high definition monitors and tv. does that make me a killer? does that make me a stick of dynamite with a lit fuse? hell no, it makes me a gamer, nothing more. that whole big deal with manhunt back in the day when some kid got killed by someone who apparently played the game. noo that is a load of crap, the media made it sound worse than it was, in fact, it was the kid who got killed who owned a copy, the killer never even heard of the game. thats what is happening now. columbine, of course the kids had games but it doesnt mean games influenced them to shoot up an entire school, they were bullied and treated like crap and couldnt take it anymore, you should be worrying about bullies. the fact that you idiot parents believe that video games cause violence is like saying if you see the word "sex" on an application for a job it would immediately make you go rape someone, think about it. you parents need to relax and think a bit more instead of jumping to conclusions. the only thing that causes violence among gamers is people who challenge them saying what they play makes them killers. nintendo is not to blame, nintendo is being creative like what your kids should be doing, in fact i have been praying for another light gun, its abotu time because it makes such a fun aspect to games. in fact, why are we complaining about games that are violent, there is more violence on tv, there is violence, sex, drug use, guns, blood, gore, swearing, like come on think about it

[...] - New Jersey Parents React Negatively To Wii Zapper http://gamepolitics.com/2007/09/14/new-jersey-parents… [...]

this is why i hate stoopid ppl.

You know I thought it was only a matter of time before someone started complaining about the Wii's gaming apparatus.

Its true, You don't have to buy these games. Theres parents like mine who buy me any game I want and then the others who worry that playing tennis and seeing the ball bounce off another player is to violent for their kids. Adults these days, they just seem to be going like I don't know, It isn't normal to complain about a plastic gun. We should just ban everything then. Baseball teaches kids to beat out windows, playing catch teaches kids to egg houses, kick ball teaches kids to kick people to death, the list goes on, Don't buy the gun if its to violent and leave the rest if us alone. Stupid parents, your making your kids pussys and making them unpopular ruining their childhood.

[...] Hesse notes some parental disagreement with Harrison’s view: In a recent New Jersey Star-Ledger online survey, one grandparent responded to news of Zapper by writing, “Why don’t they enclose an application to the NRA in every box as well? … The marketing person who came up with this brainchild of an idea should be fired.” [...]

Wow, people in NJ are dumb... (As if shooting in video games is new.)

Have you ever been to an arcade? Ever?