Customer Reviews

Wii Magnum Gun

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This Wii Gun is quite fun once you get used to it. Using it is a bit heavier then using the plain wii remote by itself but you'll get the hang of it. The little extra weight may slow your hand movement a bit, but it also helps steady your shoots a bit at the same time. Pulling the trigger to press the B button also takes getting used to since it takes a few milliseconds to pull the trigger to active the B button then pressing the button without the gun, but that can be fixed (tape anyone). With most wii shooter game out right now like the shooting game in Wii Play or the Boo mini-game in Super Paper Mario, you can press the B button instead of the A button to shoot. So if there's a shooter game that only use the A button to shoot, then you're out of luck. Pay no attention to the other review that says that this can't work with a nunchunk. Underneath the handle of the gun is a slot that you can plug in the nunchunk, so game such as Elebits and Red Steel will be no problem. Plus since the whole nunchunk is not attached directly to the gun, you can move them both separately. One other thing worth mentioning is that using the Wii Gun for too long can cause cramping in the finger but nothing too serious. Overall this is not a necessity but if you need a gun attachment to feel more in the game and can't wait for the Nintendo Wii Zapper, This is the one.

I purchased two of these light guns to use with my new Resident Evil : Umbrella Chronicles game. It works. You use the nunchuck to collect items, recharge weapon, change weapons, and avoid obstacles. You use the gun simply to press the "B" button which acts as a firing trigger. It feels a little heavy on your hand. The first issue that I noticed was that in order to fire, you had to press the trigger completely in. After a few hundred bullets, your finger will get a bit tired with the constant friction against the lower side. I switched fingers but gave up on the gun after a few chapters. After a few levels, my index finger was sore. When a friend came over to play, he gave up on the gun as well. I placed a small cloth piece underneath the wii remote to give it a more sensitive triggering mechanism. This helped somewhat, but after a few dozen times, the remote starts coming off the gun. I thought a rubberband would help with this, but decided to just ask for a refund instead.

NOTE: PLEASE keep all of this in mind while reading this review.

I have quite a few (if not all) the gun-based Wii games out there. That includes Ghost Squad, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and both House of the Dead games (2&3 Return and Overkill). I believe this will be the most THOROUGH review on Amazon since I've played every game without attachments and with 2 other attachments besides the Wii magnum: the official Wii Zapper and Nyko's Perfect Shot.

Now... onto the review.

The very unfortunate thing about Nintendo's Wii Zapper is its design: it's not that comfortable. Some reviews on Amazon (as well as a few video game sites) pointed out that it's fine, as it resembles the shape of a paintball gun, and that using 2 hands steadies your aim. That's fine. But, unlike a paintball gun, you don't have to flick it or shake it, which is what causes your arms to get tired after extended hours of play, ESPECIALLY with RE Umbrella Chronicles and HotD: Overkill, which have gameplay elements that REQUIRE you to shake the Wii remote as an attack.

After playing with the Wii Zapper, I felt I needed something else more arcade-style. So, I borrowed the Nyko Perfect Shot from a friend to try it out before wasting more money. While it's designed quite well, there's 2 problems: 1) the molding is TIGHT, so you have no choice to take off the wrist strap to put it in and 2) the gun's TRIGGER! It's spring loaded AND there's quite a bit of space between pulling the trigger and the actual click of the remote trigger. Your index fingers will get tired after just 10-15 minutes of continuous shooting.

Then... I found the Wii Magnum from browsing Amazon. Looked nice (and cheap, too!) so I picked one up. It pretty much operated like the Perfect Shot (trigger and all). But, unlike the Nyko gun, I was able to disassemble the magnum with ease, and REMOVE the spring from the trigger. Doing this is ESSENTIAL, as it gives you the best features of the Zapper and Perfect Shot.

Meaning?

You'll get the same responsive trigger from the Zapper with the shape and comfort of the Perfect shot. PLUS, you don't have to take the strap off! There are small crevaces that allow you to dangle the strap off the sides (and still let you put it on, if you choose) VERY COOL!!

Rating:

With the spring- C+
Without the spring- A

Take advice from a devoted gamer... this is the gun to get.

The gun is all style and no substance. It looks nice, feels good, until you actually have to use it. The trigger takes a fair amount of effort to pull -- yes, it does result in finger cramping in time. The other issue is that there is a pretty significant delay between when you squeeze the trigger and when the shot is actually fired. This is because there is a plastic bar that goes from the trigger to the button on the Wii-mote itself. Because it is so long, there is a fair amount of friction to overcome. The result is a delay of less than a second, but significant and irritating. Compare it to the crossbow, which has the trigger directly underneath the Wii-mote. There is no delay, and no extra effort is required.

Bottom line: Good idea, poorly executed.

This gun is deffinatly al lot of fun to use but it doesnt work with Resident Evil 4, which is the reason i bought it. No biggy though there will be other first person shooter, Metroid. Anyother problem is you have to take ff the wii strap or else it gets in the way it is kinda wierd but if you have 2 wiimotes then your fine, also it is very easy to put the strap back so no problem. For only $20 bucks it is a good deal the sort of duck hunt game on wiiplay is a lot of fun. This thing does take a liitle bit of time to get use too mainly becuase you have to pull the trigger fully not just a little (finger gets tired but not a big deal). Bottom line it is worth $20 bucks and even though it has its flaws it makes the games more realistic and fun.

Nice gun, well balanced in the hand. I bought two of these to play House of the Dead 2&3 with because I remembered the original arcade game had a similar style of gun. I like it cause you can aim and fire with one hand, as opposed to the Wii Zapper which requires you to use two hands to operate the gun.
After playing HoD with this gun for two hours, my trigger finger was sore and developed a blister due to the high spring tension. I opened up the gun and removed the spring. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Now the trigger has virtually no travel to fire the B button. The trigger action is now as fast and soft as using the Wiimote without the gun. Also this elimiates the firing delay that a few other reviewers talked about. It's so much easier to kill zombies now!
I also agree that the Wii strap does get in the way when inserting the wiimote into the gun. It's possible, but not too hard to leave the stap on, and get the wiimote into the gun.

4-stars, but it can be made a 5-star!. OK, this is a gun shell extremely similar to the Nyko Perfect Shell. It has the same pass through to plug in the nun-chuck, with a better shaped trigger and a more comfortable grip on the handle. The weight is about the same. The trigger pull is a problem. The travel is about twice as long as the Perfect Shot and the spring is a lot stiffer. If, however, you are willing to take your screwdriver and open it up, you can easily weaken the spring and make this gun truly perfect! Big fun to be had with RE: Umbrella Chronicles and House of the Dead, or any game that works with the wii zapper.

Buy two, look like John Woo! (Caution: product does not actually cause player to resemble John Woo or Chow Yun-Fat except as a coincidence. Firing two guns can cause you to fail to hit anything with either and look a bit of a dork.)

I picked up this gun attachment at a local store tonight, and after having played with it for just a little over an hour, I can definitely say that I'm sorry that I spent the $9 on it that I did. Here are a few of the reasons that I hate it:

1: Getting the Wiimote in and out of the thing makes you feel like you're going to break it. There are no instructions included with it showing you an "Easy way" or "The Right Way" to get the Wiimote in, you just have to kind of force it in there and bear with the creaking and (shudder) cracking plastic noises you hear while you're shoehorning everything together.

2: Anti-ergonomic design. Yeah, I've got big hands, but honestly... sharp stabbing edges at the back of the gun above the handle? Why? When trying to hold the guy the way a gun should be held, these corners wear my thumb knuckles raw. Ouch.

3: It's It's NOISY! When trying to pull the trigger repeatedly and quickly, this squeaky-squeaky-bang-bang will drive you mad. I'd try adding some kind of lubricant to the plastic parts that grind against each other to help deal with the squeaking, but I don't want to get oil on my hands every time I want to play with this, but that wouldn't help with any of the interior plastic parts banging against each other on each squeeze and release.

4: This is my biggest issue with the device. The trigger has it's own spring mechanism which is too strong to allow the player ANY level of rapid firing, and you need to pull the trigger back almost a full centimeter(!) to get this thing to fire. Too much resistance plus too much distance before results. What does that spell? My trigger rate dropping from something in the area of 10 shots per second with my Nintendo Zapper to something more like 2 or 3 with this atrocity.

Overall rating: It made me bleed. Literally. FAIL.

Wii Magnum GunPlaced wii remote into cradle in gun plugging it into connector. But pulling the trigger did nothing. The connector held the remote too high for the trigger to connect with the "B" button. The only way it would work is if I squeezed the remote hard into the gun with one hand while I pulled the trigger with the other. Making it impossible to aim aty target. Needless to say, I returned it quick.

As im sure you all know already, the gun looks and feels great, the trigger has to go all the way to the front of the remote so it has to be pulled pretty hard and has a delay. I get that, it was a decent try, im sure the wii magnum 2 will rock, if there is one. The part that bothers me is the people that keep complaining about all the games that it doesnt work for, the wii has been out for a year, the wii zapper has been out for a couple months. So as a programmer for capcom, what do you do when you want to remake resident evil 4 for the wii? Abandon it because nintendo hasnt launched a gun design? NO! you want money, so those crafty programmers figured out ways to make game play work without a gun, for example, RE4, you pull the B button to raise your gun (this makes you grip the remote tighter and steadies your hand) then you shoot using the A button which is on top of the remote, brilliant! So before you start bashing programmers of great games and some people who worked pretty hard on this gun do yourself a favor and TURN YOUR GAME CASE OVER!!!!! in the top right corner it shows what the game is COMPATIBLE with! crazy i know, someone was thinking at nintendo. for you challenged people out there Wii Magnum = Wii Zapper!!! GET USED TO IT! Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 3 are two of the best games i have ever played and the wii makes them so much more convincing, but i wouldnt dream of using a zapper or magnum on them, its just not how they were programmed to be played. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles if you look really closely (and i know its hard they make that darned zapper icon SO hard to spot) it says that the game is compatible with gun attachments, the boot up screen even tells you the correct way to use them! So dumb people, STFU and read the game packaging before you assume that a gun will work for the game! Call of Duty 3 launched with the Wii! Thats 12 months BEFORE the Wii Magnum even existed, so of course it doesnt work with it. There are people LOADS smarter than you creating these games so that they can be played without a Wii Zapper or Magnum. The good news for you idiots is that now that the zapper is on sale those same programmers would have to be pretty dumb to make a shooter and not make it zapper compatible. As for the product, buy a wii zapper to hold you over until you find a better version of this gun.