If you’re over the age of twelve, I’m willing to bet that the Nerf Switch Shot EX-3 isn’t exactly on top of your holiday wish list. This might have something to do with the fact that it is made of brightly colored plastic… the fact that it is used to launch harmless foam darts through the air… or the fact that it often comes packaged with a game meant primarily for eight-year old boys.
But if you dismiss this hybrid Nerf gun out of hand, you may be missing out on the best Nintendo Wii light gun money can buy.
It’s been said that light gun shooters are enjoying a resurgence on the Nintendo Wii, and there’s good reason for that. Once a gaming niche that required a specialized arcade cabinet, an iconic NES Zapper or expensive accessories like the Namco GunCon, shooters can now be built to take advantage of the Wii’s existing infrared pointer functions — requiring no additional purchase to jump right into the game.
However — Star Trek phaser fantasies aside — not everyone wants to jump into a shooter wielding a remote control, and so a variety of companies now offer cheap plastic shells that more or less turn your Wiimote into a competent weapon.
Nintendo has their own two-handed Wii Zapper, but popular opinion typically calls out the $15 Nyko Perfect Shot as your best bet. I own one, and have been fairly happy with its performance.
But the Perfect Shot is certainly not perfect. While light in weight, its huge rectangular grip is not exactly what you’d call ergonomic. The blue trigger is prone to produce an annoying squeak when pressed. The orange latch on the front of the gun isn’t entirely secure. There’s no place to put your Wiimote strap — you’ll have to take it off every time you insert it into the shell. But most importantly, the Perfect Shot — and practically every other Wii gun produced to date — do very little for accuracy, because they don’t have sights with which to aim.
The Nerf Switch Shot isn’t perfect either. In particular, the orange trigger has some lateral play, the gun is even a little more front-heavy than its competitor, and the grip may be too small for larger adult hands. But in almost every other way, it handily trounces the Perfect Shot at its own game. Let’s take a quick tour.
Here, fresh out of the package and with a foam dart already loaded, is the Switch Shot in what manufacturer Hasbro calls “Nerf Mode.” As a Nerf blaster, the gun is highly accurate — at approximately the same distance from which you typically stand from your television, For reasons we explain in detail at our sister publication ToyCyte, the Switch Shot EX-3 is a fairly crappy Nerf gun. In order to transform it into the far more useful Wii mode, you must first remove the dart, press the orange button just to the left of my thumb to release the retaining flap, and pull the Nerf assembly out.
The hollow shell. Note the yellow dot in the front retaining flap, and the yellow corner shape at the back of the weapon — these are made of soft rubber that retain the Wiimote without plastic-on-plastic friction between the controller and housing.
With Wiimote locked in place, there are noticable gaps between controller and frame, but the assembly is very secure. Unlike with our Perfect Shot, this Wiimote didn’t rattle when shook vigorously. We were slightly disappointed with the gun’s handle — in addition to being fairly small, it also wasn’t quite as solid as the prototype we tested at the EA Studio Showcase.
This alcove at the rear of the weapon certainly allows the user to pass through a Nunchuk cable, but is also an excellent spot to stash a scrunched-up Wiimote strap, or even an accessory dongle. Back at the EA Studio Showcase, a producer for the Nerf N-Strike game told us the housing was large enough to fit the Wii MotionPlus. Also note: this gun has sights.
Compared to the Nyko Perfect Shot, the Nerf blaster is about two ounces heavier — and most of that weight is unfortunately balanced on the front of the gun. However, there’s also enough room on the front of the Nerf blaster for a second hand.
In head to head comparisons with the Nyko Perfect Shot in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles — a game best played with Wiimote and Nunchuk — I found that Nyko’s weapon was initially the more comfortable of the two. With less weight on the front of the gun over the course of a lengthy game, my wrist was slightly less fatigued and I felt free to jerk the gun around for quick shots… and since Umbrella Chronicles doesn’t let you calibrate the Wiimote to actually aim where you point it, I couldn’t take advantage of the Nerf weapon’s sights.
However, in Sega’s special-ops shooter Ghost Squad, these guns told a very different tale. With my second hand free to steady the weapon, the Nerf Switch Shot performed superbly. Using the front grip for stability, the Nerf blaster felt far more natural as a rifle or SMG than the competition… but more importantly, with one eye closed and the other aiming down the freshly-calibrated sights, I could finally pull off headshots on command. I could grip the gun’s handle tightly without feeling like my hands were digging into boxy ridges. My scores improved drastically.
The small grip will likely keep it from being a must-buy for many — but in my house, the Nyko Perfect Shot has now been relegated to guest gun. When friends come over to play the upcoming House of the Dead: Overkill and The Conduit, I will pull it out so they can have something with which to hold onto their Wiimotes. For me, it’s Nerf… or nothing.
The Nerf Switch Shot EX-3 will be available in late November for $15 — but one lucky GameCyte reader won’t have to wait. Think you’d like to have a nice new light gun weeks ahead of your friends? Impress GameCyte with how much of a light gun fanatic you are in the comments below, provide a valid email address at which we can reach you, and we’ll ship our slightly used review unit (sans Wiimote) straight to your door. Entries will be accepted until Thursday, October 30th, and we’ll ship out your prize Halloween morning.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:29 am
the switch shot is going to be amasing. i as a huge nerf fan think that the small gun is great because of the sight, and synce its hollow and must not have manny internals must be great for modding! that little sucker can go as far as one of the biggest nerf guns, the longshot.( and when i mod it it will pwn) so i cant wait. i dont know about the game its coming with though… seems either fun, or really really dumb.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Great review, I forgot all about the Nerf Switch Shot, I haven’t heard anything about it in months.
It still leaves me wanting a more expensive and specialized “zapper,” in the vein of the Wii Guitar Hero controllers - utilize the expansion port. There is plenty of room on a handgun mold for a few buttons for the thumb, being able to reach the a button or pause the game without using your left hand would be nice.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I must say that I am a huge fan of lightgun games like Time Crisis and House of the Dead. The wiis perfect for games like that. My preference is more toward shooting zombies but I am a big nerf fan so this game might be worth a rent at least. Either way I wouldn’t mind having a pistol that doubles as a light gun. I’d hardly ever put it down.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I am so pumped for these guns to come out. I had two zappers with my nes back in the 90’s, and would play Duck Hunt all day long. I even brought it with me to college but everyone else I knew only wanted to play Mario, or push the gun up against the tv (which is totally lame!). These days I have a friend with a Wii and we play Umbrella Chronicles and House of the Dead quite a bit but he is too cheap to go out and buy any zappers so I need one of my own to show him the light (pun intended).
October 27th, 2008 at 9:15 am
finally a chunk of plastic for the wii that does something else other than just sit there when you’re not playing. Nerf guns feel right and I would get some use out of the gun once i’m done playing. those wii wheels just sit there now along with my old dreamcast games and light gun. been spending more time with nerf guns over those light gun games lately on the wii, but i’ve been waiting for this game and would love to win it, since I probably won’t buy it til next year. would love to have it and start playing those light gun games with a real housing. the nerf game looks great cuz I could actually play it with the younger relatives as opposed to house of the dead or umbrella chronicles. great review, want it even more now.
October 29th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Wonderful review, thanks for sharing. As both a Light Gun enthusiast * and a Nerf Gun modder, I have been looking forward to getting some info on this gun. I am glad to hear that it comes out ahead of the pack on the Wii front, and a little bummed that they did so much to nerf the Nerf aspect of it. Why does Hasbro keep trying to foil our efforts at world domin- I mean shooting each other from further away???
I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on one of these, and seeing for myself how much it can improve my own scores.
*I still play Duck Hunt after all these years. None of that wussy “hold the gun up to the TV stuff for us. No sir, we got as far back from the TV as possible with the cord, and even let the 2nd player control the ducks to throw in some extra juking to up the difficulty. (I wonder how many people know that Duck Hunt has a multiplayer aspect? It wasn’t in the manual if I remember right.) It was a sad day when I learned that my LCD TV wouldn’t work with good old DH (not to worry, I have another). If I ever get enough out of debt from my house, cars, kids and all that, I want a Silent Scope cabinet of my very own - I could play that game all day!
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
@Ambience 327:
A WINNER IS YOU!
As soon as we saw your comment, we knew you were in the running — flattery, humor, conveying the notion you actually read the review, these are all big pluses here at GameCyte.
But what pushed you over the top as the biggest light gun junkie here was your attempt to educate fellow gamers. Who knew that Duck Hunt had multiplayer?
Enjoy your Switch Shot!
Sean
November 4th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Thanks Sean. I can assure you that the Switch Shot will be well loved, both as a Light Gun (er, motion gun, er…um…) and as a Nerf weapon of mass destru- um, shooting foam at people.
My one question though - have YOU pulled out a copy of Duck Hunt to try the multiplayer mode yet?
-A327