Link's Crossbow Training Announced

By Eric Wright / Monday, 10 September 2007

Nintendo has announced that the Wii Zapper controller peripheral will come bundled with a demo game entitled Link's Crossbow Training. The Wii Zapper, utilizing a design reminiscent of a submachine gun, will hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The device will be released on November 19, 2007 - one year after the release of the Wii console in the United States. It will carry an MSRP of 19.99 USD. The Wii Zapper design was revealed at E3 2007 According to Nintendo, Link's Crossbow Training will have players control Link in a world built in the style of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Link will progress through a series of tests to improve his crossbow marksmanship. Players will begin shooting at stationary bull's-eyes and graduate to moving targets before having to defend Link against hostile creatures. Link's Crossbow Training Nintendo also acknowledged three upcoming games as designed specifically with the Wii Zapper in mind. Medal of Honor Heroes 2, scheduled for a November 6 release date by publisher Electronic Arts, will feature an on-rails Arcade Mode in which players can shoot enemy soldiers in a World War II setting while the game handles movement. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, scheduled for a November 11 release date by publisher Capcom, is another on-rails shooter. The game will feature various franchise characters exploring locales from previous series entries, as well as new locations like the Umbrella Corporation's stronghold. The Resident Evil series saw its Wii debut with Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition on June 19, 2007. Ghost Squad, scheduled to arrive in Q4 2007, is a modified port of an arcade light-gun game originally released in 2004. Publisher SEGA hopes the Wii Zapper will allow players to replicate the arcade light-gun experience at home. "The Wii Zapper combines our remarkable controllers into one housing with a classic style reminiscent of arcade-style games," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Both veteran and first-time players will find it brings a whole new dimension to games where targeting is key and provides even more exciting game-play experiences." Whether or not the Wii Zapper is a viable control option for currently-available games remains to be seen. Stay tuned to The Wiire, where this writer can't wait to play Duck Hunt with 21st-century firearms.