From the Editors of Common Sense Media

July 19, 2007

At a recent media briefing during the E3 Media & Business Summit, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime delighted in announcing that the Wii "has proved itself the video game system for everyone." If that's so, then why are they introducing a gun-like accessory for shooting games?

In the middle of previewing several new family-friendly offerings (Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart Wii among others) and a promising new active-play title called Wii Fit, Nintendo introduced the Wii Zapper (name not final), a controller that looks and plays like a gun.

The Wii Zapper will come packaged with games like the upcoming bloody first-person shooter Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and will also be available for purchase as a stand-alone accessory. Users will now have the all-too physical experience of actually pulling a "trigger" (there is also a joy stick element to the Zapper) when they shoot someone. This is not a great development for kids.

While we understand Nintendo's thinking -- they want to bring hard-core gamers to the Wii --we have to wonder what a family-friendly platform is doing adding a tool so intimately violent and imitative of real-life violence. After reaching out successfully to non-traditional gamers -- young women, moms, dads, and grandparents -- they risk sullying a family-friendly game system with a gun.