Oh No! A Wii Zapper! Think Of The Children!

I came home from work Friday night to find my husband laughing a great deal at a website he was reading. Of course, I had to know why he was having so much fun. He had stumbled across a site allowing comments regarding the new Nintendo Wii zapper. That's right, a gun shaped object that will be used to shoot at things on your Wii console. It was the reaction of some to this Wii zapper that had him laughing so hard. Many think that the Wii zapper is evil, and will lead to violence. Here are a few of the posts.

I think this a really dumb thing to do.. however, as a parent.. i make the choice what comes in my home.. This will not.... just because it is available doesn't mean we have to buy it.

This person may think that the Wii zapper leads to violence, which I do not agree with on any grounds, but at least this person is smart enough to know that he or she is the parent, and isn't afraid to parent his or her children.

The problem with todays video games is that they are too realistic. The games of the 70s-80s were so unrealistic that it wasn't a problem. Look at all the school shooting since the mid 90's when video games became life like. Why are we allowing young people to become proficient with guns on these simulators that are marketed to kids these days? It is a real problem that should be controlled by lawmakers.

(reply to the above post)

gcom, the typical New Jersian with the "government should think for us" mentality. Where does this madness end? Do you want your legislator's, who already do such a wonderful job of representing us through their graft and theft of tax payer funds, to chew your food and wipe your rear for you too??

if your kid has trouble distinguishing between a make believe shooting game and real life, this toy gun controller is hardly going to be the factor that ultimately leads him to kill people. It's going to be your bad parenting skills.

I could not agree more!

(another reply to the same comment)

hey gcom, you do realize of course that school shoootings took place before the "mid 90's when video games became life like." The Boomtown Rats even wrote a song ("I don't like Mondays") about a school shooting
in 1979. The shooter was a 16 year old girl. And if we want to look at the broader subject of teen shootings (not limiting ourselves to the schools) then read about Charles Starkweather.
In response to your idiotic question "Why are we allowing young people to become proficient with guns on these simulators that are marketed to kids these days?" 1) They're not just marketed to kids - they're marketed to adults as well. Daisy air rifles are marketed to kids "these days" (and those days as well). 2) I let me children become proficient with guns by starting them on BB guns. "It is a real problem that should be controlled by lawmakers. " Should we also have the lawmakers ban hair blow dryers? They look more like guns than this thing does.

Some very good points...It continues.

To the parents who think this is a bad idea, do you ban squirt guns in your house too????

You bet they do! That is the saddest part! My son has friends who's parents are like this!

People like this are one of the reasons that we are raising a generation of weakling little wussies.

Very possibly! The Wii zapper argument isn't why, but the people who would argue a Wii zapper are the same who ones who don't let their children play sports because they might get hurt, or why they don't keep score in many little league games any longer because you might give a child a complex. It all adds up, are here come the thin skinned wussies! I say score the base ball game damn it! If my son's team looses that is right where I come in as mom extrodinaire. "It's OK son, you are just going to have to try harder next time. We can practice at home. I still love you!" Geez! How hard is that really? I lost a lot when I was a kid. Hell, I lose a lot now. Therefore, I practice!

Wow, and all this coming from the generations who experimented with sex and drugs, segregated african-americans, objectified women, and found beating their own kids was the most effective way to raise them. Don't worry though, you can find solace that when you're all dead and buried in the ground, the our generation will raise the next generation right. So could you do us a favor and die quicker already? We'd like to get to work fixing your mistakes.

Perhaps a little more quietly would be nice too... Yeah, that one may have been a tad below the belt, but it makes a point. Most of the people crying over guns today, probably had toy guns as children. Are they killers, and murderers? People in glass house shouldn't throw stones.

So, let me get this straight. Toy Gun = Bad. I guess none of us grew up playing cops and robbers, shooting water pistols, shooting BB guns, shooting elastic band guns, using cap guns, shooting a rifle, hunting, playing arcade first person shooters, playing with the original Nintendo zapper, the guns made for the Sony consoles, etc!
The outrage over a stupid toy gun on this site is absolutely retarded. I mean, seriously, come on! Since when did we get so pathetic that we can't take responsibility for our own actions. The children who become shooters did not do so from games, but from mental problems, bullying, poor parenting, and lack of social skills.
If we are so concerned about children learning to shoot toy guns, which as one commenter pointed out, are not realistic in any sense (no recall, no loading, have a strap attached to them, etc) why not actually do something that makes sense, BAN REAL GUNS! Toy guns don't kill people or make killers, REAL GUNS KILL PEOPLE! Have the people who are offended by this product have no common sense? Seriously, this debate is beyond pathetic.
But if you still want to ban these toys, make sure you ban your kids from laser tag, toy swords, water guns, heck, even ban them from playing the circus/carnival games where you aim the water gun and fill up a balloon to win a prize. Make sure you never let them hunt. This makes me laugh that anyone would actually be offended by this.

OK, started off strong, but finished with banning real guns. I guess this person didn't read about my experiment. I will recap it for you. I place a loaded 9mm on my kitchen table all by itself. The shocking part about this experiment is that it didn't shoot or kill anyone. Maybe, just maybe, guns aren't evil, but SOME of the people who have them are? I also think that banning guns to keep them out of the hands of evil people won't work. Banning guns would only stop the good people who would obey the gun ban. The evil people would still get them. Ask the United Kingdom. They know the reality of this.

We should eliminate all cooking utensils from the home. Forks and knives are dangerous weapons that will illicit youth violence. Garden tools like rakes, shovels, and hoe's could be used for chopping up and getting rid of the corpses created by adolescent serial killers. The non-corn end of a broom resembles a japanese bo-staff, one of the deadliest hand weapons in history. Not to mention that a toilet plunger (with the rubber part removed) resembles a filipino kali-stick, another deadly weapon we shouldn't allow in the home. And Yo-Yo's? OMG THE
HORROR!
We should all be required to wear Nerf clothes, and eat with sporks (the really cheap fragile ones only...the good ones could put an eye out). If you cannot handle teaching your children the difference between a game and reality, then maybe you should consider putting your kids up for adoption. Your obviously not qualified.

This one was just funny. It also pointed out the other dangerous items found it life. I have even owned a pair of pants that I swear was trying to strangle the life right out of me. Don't even get me started on high heel shoes! What about pine cones? I have a very close friend who could tell you that I don't need a gun to inflict damage. All I need is a pine cone.

I see that the comparison has been made with the older Nintendo light gun, which probably looked more realistic than the Zapper for the Wii. What about the SNES Super Scope? Did that make your kids want to take a bazooka to school? The guns that come with games like Time Crisis and Vampire Night were, apart from the color, more realistic looking than the Wii Zapper. If parents don't like something, don't buy it. The parents that think this is a bad idea is exactly why the video game industry gets such a bad rap. With parents unwilling to take the blame for their kids behavior.

AMEN! Your children are your responsibility. Do your job!

I registered here just to respond to this story. As a father of 3, an executive in the high tech industry, an Orthodox Christian and an avid gamer, I have to say that this is one of the most appalling "stories" I have come across in a while. The description of the Wii Zapper that the "journalist" uses is so heavily loaded, out of touch and presents this discussion as nothing more than a sensationalist diatribe. Talk about baiting. Wow. As for some of the responses to the loaded question that the "journalist" cites in her article, they are equally ridiculous. "Great, this is what we need. Children with guns learning how to aim and shoot. Then we can sit back and wonder what is happening to our country with kids killing kids......what's next? Could we make it squirt blood, too"
Hate to tell you this, but kids have been simulating weapon play since, well, forever. Tell me that you have never picked up a bent stick as a little kid and pretended it was a weapon and I'll call you a liar. Period. Wonder what is happening with your kids? Try paying attention to them.
A "very concerned grandparent" wrote:
"....Why don't they enclose an application to the NRA in every box as well....the marketing person who came up with this brain child of an idea should be fired."
Ok "concerned grandparent", how about going after EVERY manufacturer of weapon based toys. Plastic swords, water guns, etc. Willing to bet that this "concerned grandparent" has, more than likely, never picked up a game controller but has picked up a rifle in a shooting gallery at a fair or boardwalk amusement center.
AND...here is the best one:
Another reader commented, "I think it's irresponsible for Wii to come out with a controller that looks like a gun so kids can play games simulating shooting. What kind of message are we sending as parents when we buy these things for our kids?"
First, the controller does not look like ANY gun I have ever seen except, maybe, in Star Trek or Star Wars movies. Actually, no. I have never seen any "gun" that looks like this toy.
Secondly, the only message you send YOUR kids if you purchase this against YOUR will is that your kids can control you and whine enough until you give into them. How about acting as a PARENT first and setting the examples YOU want them to learn. For goodness sake, laws are not going to control bad parenting.
Shame on this "reporter" for such obvious tripe. How about focusing on real problems to assist with parenting, like teaching parents to grow a backbone, set boundaries for their kids and learn to become a PARENT first, lest we become a society of Lohan parents who just want to party with and have their kids "like them so we can hang out".

Thank God a parent of three who has his head on strait!

Just stop it already. Toys and video games don't turn kids violent, bad parents do. This is no more dangerous than the original NES Zapper, cap guns, Super Soakers, squirt guns or any other dumb shooting toy. Stop trying to find a way to shift blame for irresponsible guardianship and absentee parenting.

I know I have said the same, on numerous occasions. Thank God I am not alone.

Oh no! We better stop letting our kids play baseball too! It's teaching them how to swing a blunt weapon at a target! Idiots.

Pretty much. That pretty much sums it up.

There are many other comments, and you can register and leave your own if you care to. This, and more, can all be found here.