News.blog: Wii Zapper announced

Over a year ago, before the Wii was even released, rumours were rife about the possibility of a gun accessory for the Wiimote. Well, Nintendo finally announced one, and it's... not quite what we expected.

The Wii Zapper looks more like a Star Trek phaser rifle than the pistol we saw 14 months ago. The curvy, simplified white gun holds both the remote and nunchuck attachment in place, with the remote's B and nunchuck's Z buttons fixed like triggers on the device. It's clearly intended for two-hand use, with the front hand controlling the remote and the back hand controlling the nunchuck. It seems a bit more Super Scope than it is NES Zapper, but that doesn't mean it won't still be fun.

Since it seems to be just a housing for the remote and nunchuck, the Wii Zapper will probably work with almost any Wii games, though a handful of upcoming titles are being designed with the Wii Zapper in mind. Capcom's Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Sega's Ghost Squad, and EA's Medal of Honor: Airborne will all support the Wii Zapper.

If you don't plan on getting any of those shooters but still want to have some Zapper-centric goodness, the Wii Zapper will be shipping with its own pack-in software. No details have been announced about what the software is, but good money says it'll be something with the words 'Duck' and 'Hunt' in the title. The Wii Zapper and its pack-in game will together retail for $20 when they ship later this year (UK pricing has not yet been announced).