The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
When we first laid eyes on the Nintendo Wii's controller, visions of light gun games danced in our heads. The unique design of the Wii remote surely lends itself to such a genre, but when played in practice, it isn't necessarily a satisfying experience in its own right.
Since the launch of the Wii, several manufacturers--including Nintendo itself--have taken on the challenge of designing a perfect Wii peripheral that brings us back to the days of classic arcade light gun games.
At CES 2009, Nyko introduced the Wand, a Wii remote replacement that has the ability to send and receive button commands and vibration via its Trans-Port technology.
We liked the Wand on its own, but we wanted to see Trans-Port in action. With the Nyko Action Pak, we finally get to see the first implementation of the technology in the form of a pistol.
The Action Pak includes both a Wand and the pistol grip. We're not sure how that helps someone who may have bought the Wand separately--and for some reason it doesn't appear as if the grip can be purchased on its own.
What's exciting about the Action Pak is that its trigger is not a piece of plastic that just attaches to the Wii remote so it can engage the B button when pulled. The pistol's trigger is its own button, totally free from having to touch the Wii remote. The device connects to the Wii remote and sends the B button command to it when you press the trigger.
This sort of change in design is welcome to anyone who has had experience with the Wii Zapper or the Nyko Perfect Shot--two accessories that rely on hitting the Wii remote's B button. While those two products can become irritating after extended gameplay sessions, the Action Pak pistol requires much less force to operate.
