Ready, Aim, Fire: Wireless Gun Controllers

Anyone coming out of a time capsule from the late 80’s would be pretty shocked when they looked at today's game consoles. No, not because of the way they work - it’s that there is a specific kind of accessory available to use as a controller that does the opposite of promoting peace and good fellowship. As in guns, you know, weapons of destruction. Considering that back in the day Nintendo shied away from any violence (going so far as to call their light shooter a “zapper”), what you can get to use as a video game controller for any of the games consoles out there could be considered shocking. Me, I just think it’s wild fun.

So here’s some examples of “gun” accessories from companies who seem to share with me one wicked sense of humor when it comes to using a video game console....

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Let’s start with something we can wrap our hand around - the Crossfire Remote Pistol. It’s Penguin United’s answer to what you need for games where shooting at something or someone is the soup of the day. But unlike other “guns” out there for the Wii, the Crossfire isn’t just a plastic shell you stick the Wii’s controller in to play-pretend at being a shooter. Because the entire controller is built into the gun’s design. That also means you can use it it in non-shooting games, but why bother?

So give it a grab and rest your thumb against the “A” button (where the D-Pad lives too), with “B” right there nicely waiting for your trigger finger to twitch. And since there’s built-in vibration and audio speakers, you’ll feel and hear when you’ve hit something. Oh, works fine for lefties too so don’t bother taking up knife-throwing.

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No wires and no need to get a video game - this chainsaw baby is for going mobile. As in 36 inches long and 13 pounds of "weapons grade" plastic powered by batteries. Otherwise you'd never hear the sound of the chainsaw or feel the gun vibrating from the chainsaw's "teeth." Removable clip and sliding handle for comfort and reassurance, natch. But mostly just a fun thing to tote around the house or for Halloween. (c) Amazon

Now, come on, who wouldn't think that this great wireless gun controller isn't super sweet? This is just what you need for hacking some good zombie parts.

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Considering the extreme violence and multitude of shooting games, the Guncon 3 pretty much dances alone at the party for the PS3. But the good thing is that it uses a Wii like point of view - doesn't try to rely on the old light gun tech of "seeing the screen" when that can't work with LCD and front projection screens and today's HDTV tech. Instead it uses a marker like a Wii that gets placed by the image and that the gun reacts to. And a good job reacting it does too, so wipe off that palm and take aim.

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Where it gets outrageous is when you pull out Komodo's Buckshot. Yes, this nice big baby is a fully functioning Wii controller wrapped around the frame of a.....shotgun? That’s right. A pump action shotgun. Pull the trigger to make the “A” button serious. Then access the functions of a Wii’s Nunchuck while firing away as the “B” button turns into a hair-trigger. Of course you have to reload, that’s where the slide-action of the pump comes into play. Which is fast too - good for quickly getting rounds back in the chamber when times critical. Usually that means when you’re taking on monsters or Zombies reaching close to poke holes in your brain for a quick drink like it’s Jamba juice. Add nice little touches like rubber grips to keep those sweaty hands from slipping and tooling through the graveyard becomes more fun than a day at the beach.

Oh, it comes in a bright chrome red which looks more candy-like than the all black model. But the red is probably better if you take it out of the house with you - people can be real touchy and some of them have guns that don’t need a Wii to fire at.

Resources

Amazon

Innex (Komodo)

Penguin United