Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training packaging, details

by Eric Caoili { Sep 21st 2007 at 11:20AM }

Along with releasing a boxart preview of its upcoming Wii Zapper (due 11/19/07), Nintendo also shed some light on its bundled game, Link's Crossbow Training, earlier today. The shooter will have 27 stages in total over three different modes -- Target Shooting, Defender, and Ranger -- all of them multiplayer, but played one at a time.

Target Shooting plays as expected, asking you to hit bull's-eyes as they pop up and move around the screen. Defender pits you against a variety of enemies charging towards you from all directions; you can to aim off screen to turn Link and face your attackers. While playing in the Ranger mode, you can actually move Link by using the nunchuck's control stick, exploring and fighting your way through the different missions.

Blast past the post break for close-up shots of the Wii Zapper logo and the Link's Crossbow Training bit.

[Via Press Release]

Tags: light-gun, links-crossbow-training, wii-zapper, zapper, zelda

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ELIJAH @ Sep 21st 2007 11:31AM

What!?, Tingle gets no hot air balloon sniping love.

Rocketman @ Sep 21st 2007 11:42AM

I think this controller is a failure of design without forethought.

They could easily have added additional buttons on the trigger handle (front section) to compensate/replace those buttons lost on top of the Wiimote. In that fashion, the zapper would act as a proxy to the nunchuck - the zapper would plug into the Wiimote, and the nunchuck would plug into the zapper. To me, this device is much too restrictive to developers.

Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Sep 21st 2007 11:48AM

I think this is definitely a step bass-ackwards, since you're essentially going back to 2handed controllers, instead of free-hand controllers...

I like to dance like Johnny Bravo after sniping or killing people in Red Steel, so there.

Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Sep 21st 2007 11:51AM

Do the Johnny Bravo dance!

*shakes hands in the air*

ELIJAH @ Sep 21st 2007 12:00PM

@NUSHIO i am killer in red steel. And believe that the design is going to offer a more engaging design(Kinda like holding a tommy gun). "SAY HELOW TO MA LITTU FRIND" (spelled phonetically).

psyborg @ Sep 21st 2007 12:23PM

Its sad but I'll probably like Zelda's Crossbow Training more than Twilight Princess, lol. I think nintendo is turning me into a casual gamer. ;)

Genome4824 @ Sep 21st 2007 12:36PM

I'm pretty freaking excited.

why do we need the wii-mote face butttons? It's a GUN. Point, Shoot. Moving is a bonus.

and I'm glad I stopped labeling myself a hardcore gamer ;)

vidGuy @ Sep 21st 2007 12:48PM

Meh. I'll probably ask for it for Christmas or something, I'm not wasting my own money on it.

Larz @ Sep 21st 2007 2:24PM

This thing is designed stupid. IGN had a better idea with their virtual mock-ups.

This one is MUCH better IMO: http://videogame.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00461&cat=Others&dept=Wii

And probably even this one too: http://videogame.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00463&cat=Others&dept=Wii

Drew @ Sep 21st 2007 1:25PM

Is there any reason you couldn't play these two-handed (like a normal game? Wiimote, Nunchuck, one in each hand).

There are more "gun-like" wiimote holders out there if it's just a "feel" thing.

Sonic_13 @ Sep 21st 2007 1:38PM

lol @ comment #1

I am very excited for this and will be picking one up the night it comes out ( on the 1-year launch anniversary!).

I really like the packaging too. Can't wait to see some game screenshots. 27 levels + the Zapper sounds like a good deal.

Bidoof Protection Military @ Sep 21st 2007 2:54PM

Yeah, I'm not too crazy about how the Wii Zapper looks. Hopefully, it plays better than it looks.

And Link's Crossbow Training actually sounds kinda cool. Surprised it got a T rating, though.

chuck @ Sep 21st 2007 6:58PM

yeah, i mean i don't know, it looks cool and all, but lets think about this, the two games so far that we've got out that are FPS's that would use this control scheme are Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 3. i've not played RE4, so i don't know the control scheme, but i know MP3, so i know that this thing is a big box of fucking useless for that game.

care to guess why? perhaps since when i pull the trigger on this thing ill stand there jumping up and down unable to access the A button or the Down button to be able to shoot beams or missiles. gee, so you have a totally awesome concept for controlling a first person shooter, and the biggest release on the system so far that is just crisp and amazing, and then you release a "zapper" that "supposedly" for playing a game like this, that totally leaves out the option of actually pressing the button you need to press to play the damn game.

sorry for the bitching on that note, but i've played the hell out of MP3, and so i was pretty excited when i heard about this peripheral, but now that i've seen it, i really wonder what games they plan on using it for other than Legend of Zelda: Link Spooges on Zelda's Face Minigame.

i mean really, i kind of had some weird idea in my head that this was supposed to be fan service for what would become a bunch of awesome FPS's on the Wii. now i just feel like its some shitty piece of plastic that looks uncomfortable and useless past a shitty minigame that comes with it.

Bing @ Sep 21st 2007 3:55PM

@chuck

I've got agreat idea! Let's be critical of a product before we ever get our hands on it! Obviously if Nintendo produces something the looks bad at first, it will be bad (the Wii, DS, new genres, etc all being RARE (sarcasm here) exceptions). Horray for thoughtless bashing.

Also, Retro Studios didn't hear about the Wii Zapper until we did. Read their interview, dumbass. If they HAD known about it previously, they might have considered implementing it. That said, a two-handed control scheme seems FAR better for Metroid ANYWAY -- the left-handed grappling chain is a pretty good example of that.

I, for one, am excited about this. Not so much for the zapper, but for the Zelda game. I's pay $20 for it alone without thinking twice.

Larz @ Sep 21st 2007 4:02PM

Those aren't the only 2 FPS's. Plus there's stuff like the shooting game on Wii Play which I think is the target of this type of pseudo-peripheral.

JohnnyThunder @ Sep 21st 2007 4:28PM

The Zelda cross bow training is a surprise to me..
But ill end up getting it anyway :)

JohnnyThunder @ Sep 21st 2007 4:30PM

Looks good to me :)

JohnnyThunder @ Sep 21st 2007 4:30PM

Looks good to me :)

Mr Khan @ Sep 21st 2007 5:24PM

Well, the whole point of having games be "zapper compatible" is so that they aren't ergonomically uncomfortable to use with the Zapper

Rocketman @ Sep 21st 2007 5:27PM

I'm not being critical - I'm being rational.

The zapper essentially removes easy access to any of the buttons on the face of the Wiimote, which (if the zapper was built as an actual proxy) could instead have been simulated by alternative buttons placed on the side of the Zapper; consider the placement of the grenade button on the game Operation Wolf and you'll understand what I mean.

By leaving the buttons inconveniently on the top of the zapper, this limits the number of controls a developer of a zapper-based game might implement and therefore limits the potential number of options available to a player.